A transaction should be recorded first in a journal because the journal provides complete details of a transaction in one entry. Further, a journal forms the basis for posting the transactions into their respective accounts into the ledger. Transactions are recorded in the journal in chronological order, i.e. in the order of occurrence with the help of source documents. Journal is also known as ‘book of original entry’, because, with the help of source documents, transactions are originally recorded in books. The process of recording the transactions in journal and then in the ledger is presented in the below-given flow chart.