Guides · Bookkeeping
Journal vs ledger
Journal and ledger are the two classic books of accounting, and they do different jobs. The journal records transactions in order; the ledger sorts them into accounts. One feeds the other.
What each book does
The journal is the book of first entry: every transaction is recorded there in date order, showing what was debited and credited. The ledger is the book of accounts: those entries are posted into individual accounts, so each account shows its running balance.
In short, the journal is chronological and the ledger is account-wise. The same transaction lives in both, seen two ways.
Why both are needed
The journal answers what happened and when; the ledger answers how much is in each account. Without the journal, you lose the sequence and the story of a transaction; without the ledger, you lose the balances that make a business readable.
The flow from journal to ledger — posting — is what turns a stream of events into a set of account balances.
How Lekha keeps both views
Lekha records each transaction against the party and document behind it and keeps the running position on both sides, so the chronological record and the account-wise view stay consistent.
Lekha records what your documents say and tracks the money on both sides — what you owe and what you are owed. It records and tracks; it does not replace your accountant.
Questions
- What is the difference between a journal and a ledger?
- A journal records transactions in date order as they happen; a ledger sorts those entries into individual accounts, each showing a running balance.
- Which comes first, the journal or the ledger?
- The journal. It is the book of first entry; entries are then posted from it into the ledger accounts.
- Why keep both a journal and a ledger?
- The journal preserves the sequence of transactions; the ledger gives the account balances. Together they show both what happened and where a business stands.