posting
/ POH-sting /
Posting is the step that moves information from the journal into the ledger. Once a transaction is written as a journal entry (organized by date), posting copies each debit and each credit from that entry into the matching account in the general ledger (organized by account). Think of it as filing: the journal is the incoming mail in date order, and posting sorts each item into the right folder so balances can build up.
Concretely, for each line of a journal entry, the accountant finds the named account in the ledger and records the amount on the same side it appeared in the journal — a journal debit becomes a ledger debit, a journal credit becomes a ledger credit. Posting the June 2 entry 'debit Rent Expense 600, credit Cash 600' means adding 600 to the debit side of the Rent Expense ledger account and 600 to the credit side of the Cash ledger account. Nothing about the amounts or sides changes; only the organization does.
Historically, posting was careful manual copying, with a cross-reference number written in both books so you could trace an amount back and forth (this trail is called posting references). In computerized systems, posting happens automatically the instant an entry is saved, so the journal and ledger update together. Either way, until an entry is posted, the ledger — and therefore every balance and report drawn from it — does not yet reflect that transaction.
Posting the entry 'debit Supplies 400, credit Accounts Payable 400' means: go to the Supplies ledger account and add 400 to its debit side, then go to the Accounts Payable ledger account and add 400 to its credit side. Same amounts, same sides — just refiled by account.
Posting changes where an amount is filed, never its value or its debit/credit side.
Posting should never change an amount or flip a side. If a ledger total looks off, the error is usually a missed posting, a double posting, or a wrong account — not the posting concept itself.