General Ledger vs Journal, Subledger and Trial Balance

General journal vs general ledger

The general journal answers what happened and which accounts were affected. The general ledger answers what changed within a particular account and what its balance is. Both need cross-references so a reader can travel from a source document to the journal, then to every account posting.

Use fictional Cedar Studio’s six October 2026 transactions: J1 owner contribution $5,000; J2 cash services $1,200; J3 unused supplies purchased for $300 cash; J4 equipment purchased for $1,800 cash; J5 current-month rent $600 cash; and J6 services earned on account $800. Opening balances are zero, and tax and period-end adjustments are excluded.

The journal records J6 as debit 1100 Receivables $800 and credit 4000 Revenue $800, referencing INV-01. The Receivables ledger shows its $800 debit; Revenue shows that $800 credit alongside J2’s $1,200 credit. There is no J6 Cash posting because the customer has not paid.

Subledger vs general ledger

A receivables subledger identifies the customers and invoices behind the general-ledger Receivables control balance. In this example, the fictional customer Pine Atelier owes invoice INV-01 for $800, issued October 28 and unpaid at October 31. Its opening balance is zero, invoice debit $800, collections zero and closing balance $800.

Because this is Cedar’s only customer debt, subledger total $800 equals the general-ledger 1100 balance of $800. With many customers, the individual balances must still total the control account at the same cutoff. Do not post the subledger total as an additional sale after J6 has already updated the control account.

Trial balance vs general ledger

The ledger contains account activity and balances; the trial balance extracts each account’s net balance at a point in time. Cedar’s debit balances are Cash $3,500, Receivables $800, Supplies $300, Equipment $1,800 and Rent expense $600. Its credit balances are Owner capital $5,000 and Revenue $2,000.

Each trial-balance side totals $7,000. The six journal transactions instead total $9,700 on each side before netting within accounts. A trial balance is not a cash-flow report, a list of individual transactions or proof that every account is correctly classified. OpenStax notes that equal columns do not guarantee the absence of errors.

Chart of accounts vs general ledger

The chart of accounts is the approved directory: for example 1000 Cash, 1100 Receivables, 1200 Supplies, 1500 Equipment, 3000 Owner capital, 4000 Revenue and 6100 Rent expense. It identifies accounts and their types. It does not itself contain the six transactions or establish the account balances.

The ledger is the record populated using those accounts. A company may retain a chart account with no activity this month, while a trial-balance presentation may omit zero balances. Codes and naming vary; these illustrative numbers are not a required national or software standard.

Follow one invoice through the complete chain

INV-01 documents $800 of services performed for Pine Atelier. J6 records the two accounting sides. The customer subledger shows who owes the $800 and why. General-ledger 1100 aggregates the receivable; 4000 includes the revenue. The trial balance reports the resulting account balances at October 31.

If a later $800 collection occurs, it is a new entry debiting Cash and crediting Receivables, not another sale. It reduces that customer’s open invoice and the control account together. Keep the invoice, journal and receipt references so the sequence remains intelligible.

Choose the record that answers the question

To explain a balance, inspect the ledger and its supporting documents. To find who owes money, inspect the receivables subledger. To check arithmetic equality, use the trial balance. To choose a permitted account, consult the chart. None can substitute for all the others.

Fulla’s reviewed bank exports can support cash-source review, but do not contain every invoice, noncash adjustment or customer balance needed for this chain. The linked general-ledger template is a separate educational workbook, not automatic accounting generated from a statement.