paper journal entries - old sk00l?

When I was a staff accountant some, ahem, years ago it was absolutely mandatory that for month-end we had to provide paper journal entries to be signed off on by the Controller. Once month-end was completed we were required to print out the entire general ledger (just in case the system crashed we would have hard copy back up). Fortunately someone figured out we were killing a lot of trees for these paper generating projects so we ended up finding soft copy solutions (journal entries in excel files, .pdf of general ledger, etc). I was recently asked by a smart up-and-coming accountant:

isn’t keeping standard journal entries in excel and a .pdf of the general ledger redundant?

Wow. Did I ever feel old - and she was very right. With today’s financial software you can print out your journal entries or general ledger anytime you like. As well, companies have to back up their financial software elsewhere in order to be audit compliant so even the soft copy methods were becoming redundant. For most small companies the finance staff is less than three so any way to reduce additional work is always appreciated.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting eliminating paper trails. Unique journal entries still require backup which should be included in your month-end close binder and best practices is to have month-end working papers that mirror your annual audit working papers to keep you on track. But this old-sk00l girl had to admit and let go of the requirement for a standard journal entry listing and a printed general ledger in favour of the Controller’s checklist, trial balance and solid balance sheet account working papers.

I love it when people question the tried and true.