Definition of Ledger

Ledger

A book or database in which accounting transactions are stored and summarized.

Ledger

A collection of all the different accounts of the business that summarize the transactions of the
business.

General ledger

A book that contains all the accounts of the company and the balances of those accounts.

General ledger

The master set of accounts that summarizes all transactions occurring
within a company. There may be a subsidiary set of ledgers that summarizes into the
general ledger.

Ledger cash

A firm's cash balance as reported in its financial statements. Also called book cash.

Subsidiary ledger

An accounting record giving the detailed transactions in an account; the subtotals of the debits and credits are posted to the control account maintained in the general ledger. It helps to keep the general ledger free of clutter.

Accounts

‘Buckets’ within the ledger, part of the accounting system. Each account contains similar transactions (line items) that are used for the production of financial statements. Or commonly used as an abbreviation for financial statements.

Bank reconciliation

The process of taking the balances from the bank statement and the general ledger and making adjustments so that they agree.

Book

cash A firm's cash balance as reported in its financial statements. Also called ledger cash.

Capital lease

A lease in which the lessee obtains some ownership rights over the asset
involved in the transaction, resulting in the recording of the asset as company property
on its general ledger.

Chart of accounts

A listing of all accounts used in the general ledger, usually sorted in
order of account number.

Control account

An account maintained in the general ledger that holds the balance without the detail. The detail is maintained in a subsidiary ledger.

Date of record

Date on which holders of record in a firm's stock ledger are designated as the recipients of
either dividends or stock rights.

Holder-of-record date

The date on which holders of record in a firm's stock ledger are designated as the
recipients of either dividends or stock rights. Also called date of record.

job order cost sheet

a source document that provides virtually
all the financial information about a particular job;
the set of all job order cost sheets for uncompleted jobs
composes the Work in Process Inventory subsidiary ledger

Open account

Arrangement whereby sales are made with no formal debt contract. The buyer signs a receipt,
and the seller records the sale in the sales ledger.

P&S (P and S)

Purchase and sale statement. A statement provided by the broker showing change in the customer's net
ledger balance after the offset of a previously established position(s).

Posting

The process of taking journal entries and recording them in the general ledger.

Subsidiary account

An account that is kept within a subsidiary ledger, which in turn
summarizes into the general ledger.

T account

The format used for a general ledger page. The name of the account is put on the top line, and a vertical line is dropped from the top line (hence the "T"). Debits are recorded on the left side, and credits are recorded on the right.

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