starter · Lesson 5 · 8 min
Journals, ledgers, T-accounts
The journal is the story in time. The ledger is the story by account. They are the same entries, two views.
Journal then ledger
Classically you wrote a general journal (date, narration, debit account, credit account) and posted those lines into the general ledger. Cloud software posts for you. The structure is unchanged: a dated, narrated, balanced set of lines that then accumulate in each account.
Special journals are just screens
Old books had a sales journal, purchases journal, cash receipts, and cash payments. Xero’s Sales, Purchases, and bank reconcile screens are those journals with validation on top (a sales invoice must have a contact, due date, and tax). A manual journal is what you use when no special screen fits: depreciation, accruals, opening balances, owner adjustments, error corrections.
Reading a ledger account
Run Account Transactions (Xero) or an account register (QBO) for Checking. Every deposit is a debit, every payment a credit, running balance on the debit side if the account is in funds. If Checking shows a credit balance, either the books are overdrawn or something was posted backwards.
Check
Choices shuffle each visit. Misses send you back to the section — Look back clears the quiz so you can try again.
Choose an answer, then check.
You should use a manual journal to:
Practice: T-account: Checking, Raise the invoice