General Ledger
See every posting to an account in a period, with its opening balance, running balance and closing balance, and open the document behind each line.
Before you start
- Set up the chart of accountsThe ledger is listed by posting account, and each account's normal side (debit or credit) decides the sign of its balance.
- Enter opening balancesOpening balances are part of each account's opening balance.
- Set up dimensionsOnly if you want to filter the ledger by a dimension value.
In this article
The General Ledger lists, for each posting account, the balance before the period, every posting in the period and the balance after it. Use it to answer "what went into this account?" or to trace a figure from the Trial Balance back to its documents.
Steps
Open the General Ledger and choose the filters
In the menu on the left, select Reports, then General Ledger. It opens for Today. You can also open it from the Trial Balance by selecting an account's name.
- Date: Today, This week, This Month, This Year (1 January to 31 December) or Custom (a Start date and an End date).
- More Filters adds a filter.
- The filters you can add: Account Class (a whole branch of the chart), Account Name (one account), Customer, Vendor and Dimension. Each one shows as its own box with a cross to remove it.
- Apply runs the ledger with the filters. Reset to Default clears them.
- Search the accounts on screen.
- Negative values: how negative balances show.
- Export saves the ledger as shown to Excel.
- Customize Columns: hide columns you don't need.
Read an account
Each account is a block. Select its name to fold or open it.
- The filter in use, here one account.
- The account.
- Opening Balance: everything posted before the period.
- One line per posting: Date, Name (the customer or vendor), Description, Transaction Type, Transaction Number, Debit, Credit and the running Balance.
Under the lines you see Totals, Closing Balance, Balance Change and Account Total.
- Select a customer's name to open their transactions.
- Select the transaction type of a journal, invoice or bill to open that document.
How the figures are worked out
| Figure | How it's worked out |
|---|---|
| Opening Balance | All postings before the start date. For an account that normally holds a debit (assets, expenses) it is debits less credits; for one that normally holds a credit (liabilities, equity, revenue, and contra accounts such as accumulated depreciation) it is credits less debits. |
| Balance on each line | The previous balance plus this line, in the same direction. |
| Totals | The debits and credits posted in the period. |
| Balance Change | The period's movement in the account's own direction. |
| Closing Balance | Opening balance + balance change. |
So a credit balance on a liability shows as a positive number here, while the Trial Balance shows it as Cr. Both are the same amount.
Good to know
- Customer and Vendor filters show only the lines tagged with that customer or vendor (invoices, bills, payments, and journals where the party was chosen).
- Accounts with no postings at all in the history don't appear.
- To see every posting batch rather than every account, use the Journal Register.