There has been a general ledger since abacuses were the cutting-edge technology of the time. General ledgers are still relevant nowadays even though computers have mostly replaced beads.

The reason for this is that the general ledger contains all of your company’s Balance Sheet Template, including its balance sheet.

There is a lot to learn about this bookkeeping stalwart –

What exactly is a general ledger?

All of your company’s financial information is summarized in the general ledger (also known as a general journal or GL). You may see a detailed breakdown of all of your financial transactions.

Before, the general ledger was actually a ledger, a big book where financial data was entered by hand. Of course, a paper ledger can still be used for bookkeeping. However, most business owners and bookkeepers prefer to utilize accounting software to generate their general ledgers because it takes a thousand times longer to do so manually.

Subsidiary ledgers keep track of the money your company makes and spends (also called sub-ledgers, or general ledger accounts). Using a sub-ledger is a lot like keeping a notebook for business transactions. That information is then entered into a master notebook, which is known as the general ledger.

Here are a few instances of sub-ledgers that are frequently used:

• Accounts receivable is a term used to describe the money owing to your business.
• Accounts payable is a type of expense account for money that your company owes to third parties.
• The term “cash” refers to all of your company’s liquid assets, including the equity of its owners.
• Inventories are the items you have on hand that can be sold or purchased to generate revenue.
• Sub-ledgers are determined by the type of business you operate. A bookkeeper who understands your sector can set up your books using sub-ledgers that are relevant to your business.

All your sub-ledgers account names and purposes are listed in your chart of accounts, which is a complement to the general ledger.

The importance of the general ledger can be summarized as follows:

• The GL is significant for three reasons

In order to keep track of your company’s financial performance and cash flow, financial statements are essential to use. To do this, they make use of information gathered in the general ledger.

The income statement, the balance sheet, and the cash flow statement are the three most important financial statements for small business owners. Because financial statements are important, the general ledger is important.

• You’ll need it when you file your taxes.

Using the general ledger to file your taxes is a necessary step. It is important to know how much money you paid out to a contractor in order to file Form 1099.

Checking the general ledger against the invoices will confirm that Form 1099 is being prepared accurately.

• You can see all of your transactions in one location.

The term “journal entry” refers to the process of recording a financial transaction in a journal, which has historically been done by hand, in journals. We still refer to them as diary entries since they are difficult to change.

There is a general ledger for all journal entries. Any stakeholder can examine the general ledger and see all accounting records in one location, rather than having to sift through bank statements, credit statements, and invoices in search of a specific transaction.

How Bench can assist –

Making journal entries takes time away from your business, which you might use to grow it. Using Bench, powerful software imports transaction data from your bank accounts and credit cards to automate your financial reports. Every piece of data is thoroughly scrutinized by your devoted bookkeeping team, ensuring that the information you use to make important business decisions is correct.

• Double-entry accounting and the general ledger

The most frequent accounting approach for small firms is double-entry bookkeeping. In this method, you can keep track of your day-to-day transactions and avoid any mistakes in your bookkeeping. The money that leaves a bank account (a debit) and the money that enters a bank account are recorded twice in every business transaction (a debit).

Double-entry accounting is the source of the phrase “balance the books.” Debit and credit balances must be equal in order to ensure financial stability.

Either the double-entry approach or the one with only one entry must be chosen when setting up a company’s general ledger. It’s not as widespread, but it’s better suited to smaller firms with fewer transactions each month.