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.
Dotted words have a reminder. Hover on a computer, tap on a phone.
From earlier
- control account
- AR
- QBO
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. Practice drills deal a new problem on try-again.
Choose an answer, then check.
This try
You should use a manual journal to:
Practice this
Stay in the flow — open a drill without backing out to the list.