Journal Entries & Ledger Practice Questions for CA Inter
Stop reading theory and start drilling. This post gives you exam-pattern journal entry practice sets with full answers, common mistake warnings, and a ledger posting walkthrough — all in one place.
By the SuperAccountant Editorial Team
Why Journal Entries Still Trip Up Even Smart Students
You can read the rules of debit and credit ten times and still freeze when a fresh problem lands in front of you. That is not a knowledge problem — it is a practice problem. Most resources explain what a journal entry is; very few actually sit you down and make you solve one before moving on.
This post is different. You will get drill-style practice sets covering the transaction patterns that appear most often in B.Com and CA Inter papers. Every entry comes with a worked answer and a "why" — so you build the muscle memory to crack any variation the examiner throws at you.
The Golden Rules — A 60-Second Recap
Before the drills, here is the one framework you must anchor everything to. There are two approaches: the Traditional (Personal/Real/Nominal) approach and the Modern (Accounting Equation) approach. CA Inter increasingly tests the modern approach, but both are valid.
Modern Rules (use these as your default):
| Account Type | Debit When | Credit When |
|---|---|---|
| Asset | Increases | Decreases |
| Liability | Decreases | Increases |
| Capital / Equity | Decreases | Increases |
| Revenue / Income | Decreases | Increases |
| Expense / Loss | Increases | Decreases |
Pin this table somewhere visible. Every single journal entry you will ever write flows from these five lines.
Practice Set 1 — Basic Cash and Credit Transactions
Work through each transaction yourself before reading the answer.
Transaction 1: Ramesh starts a business by investing ₹5,00,000 in cash.
Answer:
Cash A/c Dr. 5,00,000
To Capital A/c 5,00,000
(Being capital introduced in cash)
Why: Cash (asset) increases → debit. Capital (equity) increases → credit.
Transaction 2: Goods purchased on credit from Suresh & Co. for ₹80,000.
Answer:
Purchases A/c Dr. 80,000
To Suresh & Co. A/c 80,000
(Being goods purchased on credit)
Why: Purchases (expense) increases → debit. Suresh & Co. (creditor/liability) increases → credit.
Common mistake: Students often debit "Suresh & Co." here. Remember — you owe Suresh money, so he is a liability, not the receiver of benefit in this transaction.
Transaction 3: Sold goods to Priya Traders for ₹1,20,000 on credit.
Answer:
Priya Traders A/c Dr. 1,20,000
To Sales A/c 1,20,000
(Being goods sold on credit)
Transaction 4: Paid rent ₹15,000 by cheque.
Answer:
Rent A/c Dr. 15,000
To Bank A/c 15,000
(Being rent paid by cheque)
Practice Set 2 — GST-Inclusive Entries (Exam Favourite)
GST entries are mandatory for CA Inter. The key rule: input tax credit (ITC) is an asset; output tax is a liability.
Transaction 5: Purchased raw material worth ₹2,00,000 (intra-state) plus CGST @ 9% and SGST @ 9% from a registered dealer. Payment by NEFT.
Answer:
Raw Material A/c Dr. 2,00,000
Input CGST A/c Dr. 18,000
Input SGST A/c Dr. 18,000
To Bank A/c 2,36,000
(Being raw material purchased with GST paid)
Why: Raw material (asset) increases. Input CGST and SGST are also assets — they represent the ITC you will claim later under Sec 16(2)(c) of the CGST Act 2017. Bank (asset) decreases → credit.
Transaction 6: Sold finished goods to a customer in another state for ₹3,00,000 plus IGST @ 18%.
Answer:
Debtor / Customer A/c Dr. 3,54,000
To Sales A/c 3,00,000
To Output IGST A/c 54,000
(Being inter-state sale with IGST charged)
Why: Inter-state supply attracts IGST, not CGST+SGST (refer to Sec 5 of the IGST Act 2017). Output IGST (liability) increases → credit.
Practice Set 3 — TDS Entries (Often Ignored, Always Tested)
Transaction 7: Your company pays professional fees of ₹50,000 to a consultant. TDS @ 10% is deducted under Sec 194J of the Income Tax Act 1961. Payment is by cheque.
Answer:
Professional Fees A/c Dr. 50,000
To TDS Payable A/c 5,000
To Bank A/c 45,000
(Being professional fees paid after deducting TDS u/s 194J)
Why: The full expense (₹50,000) is debited. You pay the consultant only ₹45,000; the remaining ₹5,000 sits as TDS Payable (liability) until you deposit it with the government at incometax.gov.in.
Exam tip: Always mention the relevant section in your narration. Examiners award marks for it.
Practice Set 4 — Ledger Posting (Mini Walkthrough)
Many students journal correctly but lose marks because their ledger posting is messy. Use these three transactions to practise a clean Cash Account ledger.
Transactions:
- Jan 1: Started business with ₹3,00,000 cash
- Jan 5: Purchased goods for ₹40,000 cash
- Jan 12: Received ₹60,000 cash from a debtor
Cash Account (Ledger)
| Date | Particulars | J.F. | ₹ (Dr.) | Date | Particulars | J.F. | ₹ (Cr.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 1 | Capital A/c | 1 | 3,00,000 | Jan 5 | Purchases A/c | 2 | 40,000 |
| Jan 12 | Debtor A/c | 3 | 60,000 | Jan 31 | Balance c/d | — | 3,20,000 |
| Total | 3,60,000 | Total | 3,60,000 | ||||
| Feb 1 | Balance b/d | — | 3,20,000 |
Three rules for clean ledger posting:
- The account that is debited in the journal goes on the debit (left) side of that account's ledger page.
- Write the opposite account name in the Particulars column — "To Capital A/c" on the debit side, "By Purchases A/c" on the credit side.
- Always balance and bring down (b/d) at the end of the period.
How to Solve Any Journal Entry in Under 60 Seconds
Here is a repeatable process experienced students use:
- Identify what is coming in and what is going out. In every transaction, something is received and something is given.
- Classify each item — asset, liability, capital, revenue, or expense.
- Apply the modern rules from the table above.
- Write the debit first, credit second, indent the credit account.
- Add a narration in brackets — one line, enough to identify the transaction and the relevant section if tax is involved.
- Double-check: Total debits must equal total credits. Always.
If you practise this sequence on 20 transactions a day for two weeks, speed and accuracy will come automatically. The patterns repeat — GST purchases, credit sales, depreciation, bank charges, salaries with TDS. Once you recognise the pattern, the entry writes itself.
Want to know exactly which topics to practise first based on your current level? Try the SuperAccountant practice quizzes — they adapt to what you already know, so you are not wasting time on entries you have already mastered.
The 5 Most Common Mistakes in Journal Entry Questions
A quick checklist before your next mock test:
- ❌ Debiting the creditor instead of the purchases account when buying on credit
- ❌ Forgetting to split GST into CGST + SGST (intra-state) or using IGST for intra-state transactions
- ❌ Recording the gross amount as expense and ignoring TDS liability — always split the payment
- ❌ Writing "To Cash A/c" when payment is by cheque — it must be "To Bank A/c"
- ❌ Skipping the narration — examiners deduct marks; one line is enough
- ❌ Not balancing the ledger — a c/d balance is compulsory at period end
- ❌ Using "Dr." on the credit side — sounds obvious, but stress in exams makes this happen
Print this checklist and run through it after every practice session. Self-review is faster than waiting for a teacher to spot your errors.
If you are preparing for CA Inter alongside your B.Com and want structured guidance on Financial Accounting, check out the SuperAccountant cohort programme — live batches cover journal entries, subsidiary books, final accounts, and Ind AS basics in a single integrated track.
What to Practise Next
Once you are comfortable with the entries covered here, move to these slightly harder patterns:
- Depreciation entries — straight-line vs. written-down value under Companies Act 2013 (Schedule II)
- Bank reconciliation adjustments — journal entries for unpresented cheques and direct credits
- Consignment and joint venture entries — common in B.Com and CA Inter Theory of Accounts papers
- Rectification of errors — one-sided and two-sided errors with suspense account
Each of these builds on exactly the same five-row table of modern rules. Master the foundation, and these will feel like variations on a theme rather than entirely new topics.
If you're not sure where to start, take SuperAccountant's free 10-minute quiz at https://app.superaccountant.in/en/quiz — it places you at the exact phase of our curriculum that matches your current level, so you stop revising what you already know.