Light's general ledger is the central accounting system where all financial transactions are recorded. This article explains the ledger structure, how documents flow through it, and its relationship to other modules.
What is this page about
This page is the starting point for Light's general ledger: how the chart of accounts is structured, how a document becomes ledger transactions when you post it, how multi-currency and tax amounts are stored, and which statuses control what. Read it before the other general ledger articles, which build on these terms.
On this page
- What is a General Ledger?
- Ledger Accounts (Chart of Accounts)
- Account Hierarchy
- Ledger Transactions
- Entry Status
- Document Flow to Ledger
- Multi-Currency Posting
- Tax Handling
- Ledger Accounts Features
- Posting Rules
- Document Status and Ledger Impact
- Immutability and Audit Trail
- Clearing and Reconciliation
- Ledger Reporting
- Company Entities and Ledgers
- Accounting Periods
- Key Features
- Best Practices
- Related Articles
What is a General Ledger?
The general ledger (GL) is the master record of all financial transactions:
- Every debit and credit is recorded
- All transactions are linked to ledger accounts (chart of accounts)
- It's the source of truth for financial reporting and compliance
- All transactions are immutable once posted
The GL is where AP invoices, AR invoices, payments, journal entries, and other documents ultimately post as transactions.
Ledger Accounts (Chart of Accounts)
Ledger accounts are identified by an account code, typically six digits by convention, and each carries one of five classifications:
Asset Accounts: what you own
- Cash, Bank Accounts, Accounts Receivable, Inventory
Liability Accounts: what you owe
- Accounts Payable, Loans, Accrued Expenses
Equity Accounts: the owner's stake
- Contributed Capital, Retained Earnings
Revenue Accounts: money earned
- Revenue, Non-Operating Income, Interest Income
Expense Accounts: money spent
- Personnel Costs, Cost of Sales, General and Administrative Expenses
The chart of accounts is your company's GL structure. All posting flows through these accounts.
Account Hierarchy
Ledger accounts come in three categories that structure the chart of accounts:
Standard accounts: regular accounts that transactions are posted to
Header accounts: organisational headings only, with no transactions posted to them
Sum accounts: aggregate the balances of a range of account codes for summary reporting
Header and sum accounts serve reporting purposes only, allowing both detailed and summary views.
Ledger Transactions
Transactions in the ledger record the actual debit and credit:
Components:
- Account: which GL account, for example Cash 100000
- Debit amount: increases asset and expense accounts
- Credit amount: increases liability, equity, and revenue accounts
- Date: when the transaction occurred
- Reference: link to the source document, such as an invoice or payment
Transactions follow the fundamental equation: Debits = Credits (double-entry bookkeeping)
Entry Status
When viewing ledger transactions, you can toggle the Entry status to control which transactions are displayed:
- Simplified: shows only transactions that have a net impact on the ledger, filtering out reversed transactions. This gives you a cleaner view of active entries.
- All: shows all transactions, including reversed entries. Use this when you need the complete transaction history for audit or investigation.
Document Flow to Ledger
Financial documents flow through Light and post to the ledger:
-
Domain modules create documents:
- AP creates Invoice Payable (bills)
- AR creates Invoice Receivable (customer invoices)
- Payments module creates bank payments
- Users create manual Journal Entries
-
Documents are drafted: created in Draft status, where they can be edited freely
-
Documents are posted: status changes to Posted, generating GL transactions
-
Transactions become immutable: once in the ledger they cannot be changed, only reversed
-
Reporting pulls from ledger: reports query GL transactions for financial data
Multi-Currency Posting
When posting a document in a foreign currency:
Document amount: the amount in the document's original currency, for example 1,000 EUR
Local amount: converted to the company entity's local currency using daily rates
Group amount: converted to the corporate group currency for consolidated reporting
Light stores all three amounts, allowing reporting in any currency.
Tax Handling
Tax calculations occur during posting:
- Line-level taxes: each invoice line may have different tax rates
- Tax amounts: separated into tax GL accounts (liability)
- Net vs. gross: lines can be specified as net, where tax is calculated and added, or gross, where tax is already included
Tax is automatically calculated during posting and posted to dedicated tax accounts.
Ledger Accounts Features
Advanced ledger account capabilities:
Account classifications: Asset, Liability, Equity, Revenue, Expense
Account types: granular types within each classification, such as Bank, Accounts Receivable, Cost of Sales, Personnel Cost
Reconciliation accounts: Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable accounts used for clearing open documents
Header and sum accounts: for hierarchy and roll-up reporting
Account status: Active, Disabled (manually deactivated, can be reactivated), or Disabled Externally (deactivated via a connected ERP, cannot be manually reactivated)
Posting Rules
When documents post, several rules apply:
Period must be open: you cannot post to a closed accounting period
Required fields: all document fields must be complete before posting
GL accounts must exist: every account referenced must be in the chart of accounts
Amounts must balance: total debits must equal total credits
Document type rules: certain document types have specific posting requirements
If any rule is violated, posting fails with an error message.
Document Status and Ledger Impact
Document status affects GL interaction:
Draft: no GL impact. Can be freely edited.
Pending approval: awaiting approval before it can be posted. No GL impact.
Approved: approved and ready to be posted. No GL impact.
Posted: GL transactions created. Immutable, and cannot be edited directly.
Partially cleared: some GL entries have been cleared or matched. Reversing comes first if you need to modify it.
Cleared: all GL entries have been cleared or matched.
Void: removed from active lists, and remains in the GL.
Immutability and Audit Trail
The ledger is immutable by design:
- Posted transactions stay as posted: they are never changed in place
- Reversals instead of edits: to undo a posting, a reversing entry is created
- Audit trail: every change to a document is logged
- Accountability: you can always see who posted what and when
This prevents fraud and ensures financial data integrity.
Clearing and Reconciliation
Transactions in the ledger can be "cleared" as part of reconciliation:
- Bank reconciliation: bank transactions cleared against GL entries
- Payment clearing: invoices cleared when paid
- Customer clearance: AR invoices cleared when collected
Clearing links transactions without modifying them, so both remain as posted.
Ledger Reporting
Financial reports pull directly from the ledger, so they always reflect your latest posted transactions:
- Account balances by classification, covering asset, liability and equity accounts
- Revenue and expense balances for the period
- Transaction-level detail per account, through the General Ledger report
Open Planning & Reports → Reports to see the reports available to your company.
Company Entities and Ledgers
Each company entity has its own ledger:
- Entity-level accounts: each entity has its own chart of accounts, or shares one
- Entity-level transactions: transactions are always posted to a specific entity
- Consolidation: entity-level GL is pulled together for group reporting
Reports can be generated at entity level or consolidated across the group.
Accounting Periods
The ledger is organised into accounting periods:
- Period status: Open, accepting posts, or Closed, accepting none
- Period dates: start and end date of the period
- Year-end: special processing at year-end for closing entries
Periods control when transactions can be posted and when closing entries are created.
Key Features
Light's ledger includes:
- Immediate posting: posting a document updates the GL straight away
- Multi-currency support: converts and tracks FX for you
- Tax integration: automated tax calculation and posting
- Workflow integration: where you have published an approval workflow, documents route through it before posting
- Audit trail: complete history of all changes
- Customisation: custom GL accounts and properties
- Reporting: GL-based reporting
Best Practices
- Use consistent account coding: train staff on proper GL account selection
- Validate before posting: review document details before posting
- Post promptly: timely data matters, so post as transactions occur
- Review GL regularly: look for unusual or suspicious transactions
- Export for your archive: keep CSV exports of closed periods with your close file
- Maintain chart of accounts: keep your GL structure aligned with reporting needs
Related Articles
- Accounting document types and lifecycle
- Viewing and searching journal entries
- Creating manual journal entries
- Immutable ledger and audit trail
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