Prepare & Print General Ledger in QuickBooks

Preparing & print a general ledger in QuickBooks allows the users to be able to maintain the transactions in an easy manner. Not, just that, but with the required techniques, one can easily be able to sync various required data onto any platform; be it a phone or tablet in a matter of minutes.

Hence, in the ‘portable’ world that is always on the move, one can easily be able to access their account and everything it sustains in a matter of minutes (or even seconds). The fun does not end here; the QB has been designed for the effortless maintenance of the financial costs of the organization, and the sum of expenses and to be able to calculate the income along with data maintenance in an easy manner.

Basically, this has become more of a norm as the dual aspect of accounting, requires the user to record the different business transactions in the book of accounts. Therefore, it is necessary that a minimum of at least two different accounts are maintained during the documentation of the transaction onto the books, according to the DUALITY PRINCIPLE. This is to be able to ensure that while one account decreases the other should be growing. This way the various aspects of transactions like give and take during the transaction or credit and debit are well indicated by the account.

Therefore, it is essential that we have a system (like this) that allows us to be able to locate the final position of every item after the end of the said accounting period.

Also, one must bear in mind, that every transaction undergoes a process before finally being recorded in the book of accounts. The journal or also known as the ‘Original Book of Entry’, is the place where the very first transactions are entered. Later these transactions are posted onto the specified accounts that are each included in the General Ledger after the completion of the journal.

Later on, the Trial Balance Sheet undergoes the process of updating, with the balance of every General Ledger account. This account balance is eventually entered into the income statement and the balance sheet after the trial balance comes to completion. So, how do you go about the process of basic location, Printing, and generating the general ledger? Let us find out:

General Ledger: What it is all about?

To be precise, the QB General Ledger comprises Debit and Credit accounts for all the transactions that take place. It can also be called a detailed report that is inclusive of all the transactions that take place each time. This is the reason for you to get hold of the QB accounting software, as it simplifies the process of managing the company’s financial data and other related aspects that previously required manual intervention. But, first, let us find out what is General Ledger.

A general ledger is referred to the individual account and transactions associated with each account that has been recorded in a well-planned manner. Also, General Ledger is responsible for the detailed information about various transactions conducted via each of these associated accounts; thus, also known as a SET OF ACCOUNTS. For instance, if you have made a purchase from a certain organization throughout the year for your business, all the credit or card transactions will be well-recorded under the ‘said organization account’ in a neat manner. Something that you can retrieve at any point in time as required.

So, in case you need to know the details of the outcome of the transactions with respect to a certain account, on a specified date, General Ledger can easily help you with a simplified understanding. Also known as the Principle Book of Accounting Systems, General Ledger is an asset one must know of.

Other aspects of accounting, like how much you owe a certain customer on a specified date, can also be retrieved from General Ledger. Likewise, the amount that you owe a certain creditor on a certain date can also be known if you need to retrieve it anytime.

General Ledger: Simplified Meaning

Simply put, General Ledger is referred to as a Principle book that comprises all the accounts. This can also be considered to be one of the most important accounting records for your organization. Similarly, the Journal and the Ledger both allowed all the required accounting entries.

This also implies the fact that you need to enter the business transaction first in your journal. Bear in mind that you need to note down every one of your journals in the appropriate sequence that it has occurred. Also, you need to classify and transfer all the transactions to the appropriate General Ledger account after the entry has been made into the Journal.

Finally, you need to understand that General Ledger, comprises specified accounts where the ‘grouped’ or liked transactions are kept under record. Each of these transactions can be an expense, a liability, an asset, or even a person.

Functions of QuickBooks General Ledger

The general ledger keeps track of all the business transactions. This data is further categorized into income, liabilities, assets, owner’s equity, etc. These ledgers keep you posted about:

1. Updated Record of All the Transactions  

It is the easiest way to keep track of all your expenses. The QB General Ledger allows you to be aware of input error data. When the data of the transaction does not match, it identifies the error. Once you are done with the entry, you can cross-check all the entries and proceed further.

2. Monitoring Company Activities

The general ledger helps you monitor the company’s transactions. For example, it includes transactions like money credits into the business bank account. In addition, it also tracks expenses like paying salaries.

3. Stalking the Business Expenses

Monitoring the daily expenses is nearly impossible. It helps to keep track of all the expenses with timely entries. You can check whether the entries are made under the respective heads and not written in the wrong accounts.

The Basic Fundamentals of QuickBooks General Ledger

The ‘Book’ under General Ledger comprises the recorded summary of the entire monthly activities. In a way, this is also known as the Master Record of all the business operations. A Double-entry approach is applied by QuickBooks in order to maintain track of the recorded entries.

If all the entries are done appropriately, the company’s finances will balance out likewise. To be precise, if all the balances of every account were to be totaled together, the total will amount to Zero.

The QB is known to maintain the specified record for every activity as and when we keep the records manually.

This comprises three Primary Journals, as follows:

• THE ACCOUNTS PAYABLE: This includes the everyday record of the company’s purchases and the bills that are yet to be paid.
• THE PAYROLL: This is the accounting system that helps keep track of the wages of every employee, the cheques cleared to pay for them, and the payroll taxes that are associated to them.
• THE ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: This comprises of the unpaid bills from the customers, clients, and the everyday record of the organization’s sales and revenue.

The Basic Classification of General Ledger

The three different kinds of ledgers that can be prepared are as follows:

The Purchase Ledger Or the Creditors Ledger

The Purchase ledger is responsible for all the transactions that are related to the business entity and are thus, recorded. Also, all the transactions that take place between you and the supplier are also recorded by this particular ledger.

Hence, the Purchase Ledger or the Credit Ledger displays all the amount that needs to be paid for the completion of the purchases that have been paid by you to your suppliers. In a way, the Purchase Ledger is responsible to keep track of the transactions that your company makes and help you maintain it. Finally, the Purchase Ledger also assists you to keep track, of the outstanding amount and the amount that needs to be paid over to the Creditors.

One can also get to know the following using the Purchase Ledger:

• The List of Suppliers
• The quality and the type of the goods that have been purchased
• Other purchases that involve large sums of Money.

The Sales Ledger OR the Debtors Ledger

This is one of the main types of ledgers that help you set up the company or the organization, also known as the Debtor Ledger. This particular ledger assists in maintaining track of all the transactions that occur with the debtors. But, what or who is a debtor? Basically, a debtor is referred to a business entity that has purchased your manufactured goods.

This also includes the collection of accounts that are associated with your customers. Also, it helps in the easy display of the amount owed by you to your customers or the amount they still owe you. Not, just that, but it also helps keep track of the sales return; this includes the things that the customers return. In a nutshell, the Sales Ledger is all about the various details and aspects of the things sold to the customers.

Here is a tiny list of the things that are recorded in your Sales Ledger:

• The Goods Sold and their type
• The sale date
• Goods amount
• The Tax details
• Name and details of the customers

The best part is that one can easily look back at the various details associated with the sales as they are completed. Likewise, the sales ledger also helps maintain a track of the payments that have been made or are pending for the customer.

The General Ledger

The general ledger is all that remains other than the sales and the Purchase accounts. Hence, it is required for the user to be able to create various Sub-Ledgers that comprise various necessary details to be able to compile a single ledger, which is also known as General Ledger. One can easily declare that the General ledger contains multiple details regarding the various accounts. These data can be thus, utilized to create the financial statement of the business. Likewise, the income statement and the balance sheets also comprise this financial statement.

Following are the details that one can easily retrieve from General Ledger:

• Assets
• Liability
• Gains and Revenue
• Losses and Expenses
• Owner’s Equity

How do I print the general ledger as per the activities?

You can print the General Ledger in two ways. One according to the monthly activity and another as per the year-to-date activity, Let’s get into the details for the following:

1. Printing the Ledger as Per the Monthly Activity

•  Select Print Reports, go to Transaction Reports, and click General Ledger.
• Enter the year and month (It will automatically detect the last entered transaction month).
• To print the ledger, keep the account range fields blank.
• Have a preview. Select print. The print resumes

Note: To print a particular range, you have to enter the beginning and ending account numbers. The transactions recorded within that particular month will be printed. In fact, if the transaction date is in another month but recorded in the specific month, it is also included.

The reports in these cases are not date-sensitive. The entered account range is likely to cause an out-of-balance error. as the debit and credit transactions may not match the range.

2. Printing Ledger as a Year-to-Date Activity

• Click on Print Reports, Transaction Reports, and go to Cumulative General Ledger.
• Enter the beginning and end dates.
• Click on the preview to have a look at the screen, click print and the print resumes.

How do I print the general ledger in QuickBooks Desktop?

One can easily print General Ledger in QuickBooks in the following steps:

• Launch QuickBooks by opening it
• Navigate to Print Reports > Transaction Reports > select General Ledger from the Drop-down Menu.
• Click and select the Month and Year
• Next, Print the entire General Ledger, while keeping the accounts page blank
• In order to print for an account range, you can enter the beginning and ending account numbers.
• There can be an instance when the debits frequency does not match the credit transactions, for a certain limit, hence one can encounter a balance error while entering the account limits.
• This report is not time-sensitive
• This implies that the report will comprise of various transactions made within a certain month, despite the transaction being for a different month.
• This is advantageous for accountants who require to Record quarterly balances in certain circumstances.
• Now, select Print and Start Printing Now.
• Lastly, you can Print to the Printer or also preview the screen.

How to Locate General Ledger in QuickBook Desktops

In order to be able to successfully locate the QuickBook Desktops, you need to:

• Locate the QuickBooks Desktops Application
• Select Reports from the navigation panel located on the left side.
• Click the drop-down and Select ALL
• Scroll down to be able to locate For My Account section and click.
• Next, you need to CLAIM your General Ledger
• Select a date range and finalize if you need to use a cash or accrual basis
• Lastly, go on to produce the report by clicking on the RUN report

Steps on How to be Able to View General Ledger in QuickBooks Desktop

You need to be able to run the General Ledger report in QuickBooks Desktops to be able to view General Ledger.

In the QuickBooks Desktop, you can view General Ledger in the following ways:

• Go to the Reports Section
• Now, highlight the Accountant and Taxes Option
• Click on the General Ledger
• Now, select the option ADVANCED and select the In ISe from the Include field.
• Finally, click on OK

How do I find the General Ledger Report in QB Online?

The General Ledger Report consists of all the transactions for a particular date range. For instance, it includes the asset account such as Equity, Cash, Accounts Receivable, etc. You can also filter your search while looking for particular transactional data.

This report is available for all versions of QuickBooks Online. With these eight steps, you can find the General Ledger Report:

• Navigate to the left side and click on the REPORTS tab. A list of reports in QuickBooks online is available.
• Select the STANDARD TAB
• Now, go to For My Accountant field
• Click on General Ledger twice, in order to be able to display all the details
• Click on the preferred Date Range available in the General Ledger Report screen. You can utilize the Report Period drop-down Menu to do this.
• Click on CUSTOMIZE in order to be able to filter any data displayed on the reports.
• Here you will be faced with selecting CASH BASIS or ACCRUAL
• Click on Run Report in order to generate the reports.

Conclusion

Preparing the QuickBooks ledger is an important task. It is important for maintaining the day-to-day records of financial transactions. Prior to printing, you must ensure that the General Ledger is error-free and up-to-date. Do not forget to customize the report and have a thorough review of the ledger before printing. It is an effective summary of all the business transactions.

FAQs

Can I modify the appearance of the General Ledger Report before printing?

Yes, you can set the fonts, the alignments, modify headers and footers, and work with other options to suit your preferences. After you finish customizing the report, you can print it.

What should I do if there is an error in the printed ledger report?

If there is an error in the printed ledger report, then there is a problem in the underlying entries in QuickBooks. Check whether there are any mistakes made while making an entry. Correct the entry in the ledger and reprint the report once again to see the accurate information.

How can I share the soft copy of the QB General Report with others?

QuickBooks is versatile. Thus, you do not have to print the general ledger report every time you share it with others. You can also share a soft copy of the whole entry book. Open the file and save it in Excel format. The report is now ready to be shared with others like auditors, accountants, etc.