General Ledger
Central repository for accounting data.
Workflow
- 01Transactions Entry
- 02Posting
- 03Trial Balance
- 04Financial Reporting
Data in and out
- IN Payroll journal from Payroll · per pay runWithout it: Labour cost is missing from the period and the month cannot close.
- IN Sub-ledger postings from Accounts Payable · continuousWithout it: Payables detail and the control account disagree.
- IN Revenue postings from Accounts Receivable · continuousWithout it: Revenue is recognised late or not at all.
- IN Depreciation journal from Asset Management · monthlyWithout it: Asset carrying values drift from the ledger.
- OUT Statutory and management reporting to Regulator and board reporting · monthly and annuallyWithout it: Statutory deadlines are missed.
- OUT Trial balance extract to Business Intelligence · dailyWithout it: Reporting runs on stale numbers.
- IN Matched and unmatched items from Bank Reconciliation · daily
- IN Payroll journal from Payroll · per pay run
- IN Depreciation journal from Asset Management · monthly
- IN Stock movements from Inventory Management · continuous
- IN Opening balances and master data from Data Migration · at cutover
If you change this
It implies 3 topics across 2 modules, including Data & Analytics which you might not expect.
See the path ahead →Designing the chart of accounts
The chart is the hardest thing to change after go-live, and the thing most often designed in a hurry. The question to keep asking is what belongs in the account code and what belongs in a separate dimension.
- Natural account: What the transaction is — revenue, salaries, depreciation. This is the only thing the account code should carry.
- Cost centre or department: Who is accountable for it. A dimension, not an account.
- Legal entity: Which balance sheet it belongs to, driving statutory reporting and intercompany.
- Project or activity: What initiative consumed it, where project accounting is in scope.
- Future-use segments: Leave room, but do not build segments nobody has a reporting requirement for.
A chart that needs a new account every time the business reorganises is a chart with organisational structure baked into the account code. Move it to a dimension before go-live, not after.
Journals and posting
- 01
Entry
Journals arrive from subledgers, integrations, spreadsheets or manual entry.
- 02
Validation
Balanced debits and credits, valid account and dimension combinations, open period.
- 03
Approval
Manual journals route for review against thresholds, with the preparer unable to approve their own.
- 04
Posting
Balances update and the entry becomes part of the permanent record.
- 05
Reversal or correction
Posted entries are corrected by reversal, never by editing history.
Period control
- Open: Normal transaction processing for the current period.
- Soft close: Restricted to finance for adjusting entries while subledgers are shut.
- Hard close: No further postings. Reopening requires explicit approval and leaves a trail.
- Year end: Balances roll forward, income statement accounts clear to retained earnings.
Metrics and KPIs to track
Manual journal ratio
Manual entries as a share of total journal lines.
Journal rejection rate
Entries failing validation or approval on first submission.
Suspense account balance
Value sitting in clearing and suspense accounts at period end.
Period reopen count
How often a closed period was reopened.
Chart of accounts growth
New accounts created per quarter, as a signal of design drift.
Alongside this