Framework

The eight-step accounting cycle

The question it answers

When closing the books each period, which steps must a finance team take each transaction through, from double entry to adjustments, to produce accurate financial statements?

Origin
Elliott and Elliott, 2019
Diagram type
Process by phase
Level of analysis
Firm
Topics
Corporate finance
Stack of clay coins beside a rising glass bar chart, icon for finance

Diagram

The eight-step accounting cycle

  1. Record
  2. Identify transactions
  3. Journal entry (double entry)
  4. Post to ledger
  5. Check and adjust
  6. Unadjusted trial balance
  7. Adjusting entries
  8. Adjusted trial balance
  9. Report and close
  10. Prepare statements
  11. Close the books

Sources

References

Listed A–Z by author surname, Harvard style. A source with a DOI links to https://doi.org/…; one without links to its page or says plainly that it has no DOI.

  1. Elliott, B. and Elliott, J. (2019) Financial Accounting and Reporting, 19th edn. Harlow: Pearson.No DOISource page