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Errors

No bookkeeping system can be guaranteed to be entirely free of errors.
Human beings are fallible, and even automated and computerised
systems are less than perfect. For example, a computer cannot possibly
know that a supplier has sent you an invoice that never arrived.

The following are types of errors:

 Errors of omission, where a transaction has been completely
omitted from the ledger account.

 Errors of commission, where one side of the transaction has been
entered in the wrong account (but of a similar type to the correct
account, for example, entered in the wrong receivable's account,
or in the wrong expense account). An error of commission would
not affect the calculation of profit, or the position shown by the
statement of financial position.

 Errors of principle, where the correct and incorrect accounts are of
different types, for example, entered in the purchases account
instead of a non-current asset account. This type of error would
affect the calculation of profit, and the position shown by the
statement of financial position.

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