What is a Ledger Entry?

A ledger entry is a record made of a business transaction. The entry may be made under either the single entry or double entry bookkeeping systems, but is usually made using the double entry format, where the debit and credit sides of each entry always balance. A business may record hundreds or thousands of ledger entries in each reporting period.

What is Included in a Ledger Entry?

A standard set of information is included in every ledger entry. These items are as follows:

Transaction date. This is the date of the transaction being recorded.
Transaction number. This is the unique transaction number assigned by the accounting software to the transaction.
Account numbers. These are the accounts in which the numeric information about the transaction will be stored. For example, this might be the cash account (for a cash receipt or disbursement), or perhaps the utilities expense account (to record the receipt of an electricity bill).
Debited and credited amounts. There must be at least one numeric debit entry and one numeric credit entry, stating the amounts to be stored in each designated account. The total of all debits must equal the total of all credits.
Description. This field includes a brief description of the reason for the ledger entry.