When is an accounting entry considered to have a slide error?

An accounting entry is considered to have a slide error when the decimal point is misplaced. This type of error occurs when the intended amount is shifted left or right due to the incorrect placement of the decimal point, resulting in a significant discrepancy in the stated value. For instance, recording $1,200 instead of $120.00 dramatically alters the financial statement's representation of assets, liabilities, or expenses. Such errors impact the financial results more severely because they can misrepresent the scale of transactions, leading to misunderstandings in financial reporting and decision-making.

While it is important to recognize other types of accounting errors, they represent different issues. Omitting a transaction entirely reflects a complete miss of data, while reversing numbers affects the calculation but not the scale as dramatically as a misplaced decimal. Misclassification of expenses also raises concerns about how transactions are categorized but does not involve a numerical error that misstates amounts due to decimal misplacement. Therefore, the defining characteristic of a slide error lies in altering the magnitude of a numerical entry via an incorrectly placed decimal point.