General Ledger

Detailed transaction history for every account. See every journal entry that affects your accounts.

Overview

The General Ledger (GL) is the complete record of all your financial transactions. Every invoice, bill, payment, and journal entry is recorded here in chronological order.

What it shows

For each account, the GL displays:

• Every transaction that affected the account
• Date of each transaction
• Description (narration)
• Debit or credit amount
• Running balance
• Source of the transaction

When to use General Ledger

Investigating account balances

• See every transaction contributing to a balance
• Trace how an account balance was calculated
• Find specific transactions by date or amount

Audit trail

• Complete history of financial activity
• Shows source of every entry (invoice, bill, bank, etc.)
• Essential for audits and compliance

Error checking

• Find duplicate entries
• Identify misclassified transactions
• Verify transaction amounts

Report columns

Generating the report

Step 1: Select account(s)

Choose which accounts to view:

• Single account — Detail for one specific account
• Account category — All accounts in a category (e.g., all Expenses)
• All accounts — Complete general ledger

Step 2: Set date range

• Start date — Beginning of period to review
• End date — End of period
• Presets — This Month, This Quarter, This Financial Year

Step 3: Filter by source (optional)

Narrow down by transaction source:

• Invoice (ACCREC)
• Bill (ACCPAY)
• Payment received (ACCRECPAY)
• Payment made (ACCPAYPAY)
• Bank transaction (CASHREC/CASHPAID)
• Transfer (TRANSFER)
• Manual journal (MANJOURNAL)

Step 4: Click Generate Report

Understanding the layout

Account sections

The GL is organised by account. Each section shows:

ACCOUNT: 1000 — Bank Accounts
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Date       Journal    Description           Debit  Credit  Balance
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
01/07/2025 JE-0001   Opening Balance                      $10,000
05/07/2025 JE-0005   Invoice INV-001 payment   $1,500          $11,500
10/07/2025 JE-0012   Bill BP-003 payment              $800   $10,700
15/07/2025 JE-0020   Office supplies purchase    $150          $10,550

ACCOUNT: 4000 — Sales Revenue
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Date       Journal    Description           Debit  Credit  Balance
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
05/07/2025 JE-0005   Invoice INV-001                    $1,500  $1,500
12/07/2025 JE-0015   Invoice INV-002                    $2,200  $3,700
18/07/2025 JE-0025   Invoice INV-003                      $800  $4,500

Opening balance

For each account, the GL shows:

• Opening balance — Balance at start of date range
• Running balance — Updates with each transaction
• Closing balance — Final balance at end of date range

Source type indicators

The Source column helps identify transaction origins:

Navigation and sorting

Sorting

Click column headers to sort:

• Date — Chronological order (default)
• Journal # — By journal entry number
• Description — Alphabetical
• Amount — By debit/credit amount

Pagination

For large ledgers:

• Navigate pages at bottom of table
• Default: 50 entries per page
• Adjust page size if needed

Search

Filter by:

• Date range
• Source type
• Description keywords (if search enabled)
• Amount range

Mobile view

On smaller screens:

• Sort dropdown instead of clickable headers
• Card view showing key fields
• Tap to expand full transaction details

Exporting

CSV export

1. Generate the report
2. Click Export → CSV
3. File downloads as General_Ledger_YYYY-MM-DD.csv

CSV includes: account code, account name, date, journal #, description, source, debit, credit, balance.

Common use cases

Finding a specific transaction

1. Set date range around when it occurred
2. Filter by source type if known (e.g., “Invoice”)
3. Sort by amount or description
4. Review entries

Reconciling an account

1. Select the account (e.g., Bank Account)
2. Set date range to match statement period
3. Compare GL transactions to bank statement
4. Identify any differences

Verifying an invoice was recorded

1. Select relevant revenue account
2. Filter by source = “ACCREC”
3. Look for invoice number in description
4. Verify amount matches invoice

Checking GST coding

1. Select GST accounts (GST Collected, GST Paid)
2. Review transactions affecting GST
3. Verify source documents have correct tax codes

Best practices

Regular review

• Review high-activity accounts monthly
• Check for unusual transactions
• Verify large or unusual amounts

Before reconciling

• Generate GL for bank accounts
• Compare to bank statements
• Identify discrepancies early

Audit preparation

• Export GL for the full financial year
• Provides complete transaction trail
• Supports other financial statements

Error investigation

When something looks wrong:

1. Check Trial Balance first
2. Run GL for the affected account(s)
3. Trace transactions to source
4. Identify and correct errors

AU-specific notes

BAS audit trail

The GL provides evidence for BAS figures:

• GST Collected account shows all GST on sales
• GST Paid account shows all GST on purchases
• Source types confirm cash vs accrual treatment

EOFY documentation

For tax agent/accountant:

• Export full GL for financial year
• Provides complete transaction record
• Supports other year-end reports

Superannuation tracking

Review Superannuation Payable and Expense accounts:

• Verify all super has been accrued
• Check payment dates
• Ensure compliance with quarterly payments

Troubleshooting

Can’t find a transaction

• Check date range (may be outside selected dates)
• Try different account (may be coded to wrong account)
• Remove source filters
• Check if draft (drafts don’t appear in GL)

Balance doesn’t match expectation

• Verify date range includes all expected entries
• Check opening balance at start of period
• Look for reversing entries or adjustments
• Compare to source document amounts

Too many entries to review

• Use source filters to narrow down
• Reduce date range
• Focus on specific accounts
• Export to CSV for spreadsheet analysis

Transaction coded to wrong account

• Note journal entry number (JE-XXXX)
• Find source document (invoice, bill, bank transaction)
• Edit the source document to correct account
• Or create adjusting journal entry

Related pages

• Trial Balance — Account balances summary
• Balance Sheet — Financial position
• Profit & Loss — Performance summary
• Bank Reconciliation — Matching bank to GL

Last updated: February 24, 2026