Free template
General ledger template
A working general ledger in Excel for a small business or a class exercise. Enter each line of each entry; the running balance by account and a trial balance calculate from it.
Download the template
Download the general ledger template .xlsx
What’s in the workbook
- General ledger tab: date, entry number, account, description, debit and credit for up to 400 lines, with each account's running balance
- Accounts tab: account number, name, type and normal balance, which sets the sign of the running balance
- Trial balance tab: each account's net debit or credit from the ledger, with totals and a difference check
Blue cells are inputs. Formulas recalculate in Excel, Google Sheets and LibreOffice. The sample data below is already filled in so you can see how it works; replace it with your own.
What the sample looks like
| Date | Entry | Account | Description | Debit | Credit | Account balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-01 | JE-0101 | 1000 Cash | Owner contribution | 50,000.00 | – | 50,000.00 |
| 2026-10-01 | JE-0101 | 3000 Owner's equity | Owner contribution | – | 50,000.00 | 50,000.00 |
| 2026-10-03 | JE-0102 | 1500 Equipment | Laptops and monitors | 6,200.00 | – | 6,200.00 |
| 2026-10-03 | JE-0102 | 1000 Cash | Laptops and monitors | – | 6,200.00 | 43,800.00 |
| 2026-10-05 | JE-0103 | 6300 Rent expense | October office rent | 2,400.00 | – | 2,400.00 |
| 2026-10-05 | JE-0103 | 1000 Cash | October office rent | – | 2,400.00 | 41,400.00 |
| 2026-10-12 | JE-0104 | 1200 Accounts receivable | Invoice 1001, Hollis & Co. | 8,500.00 | – | 8,500.00 |
| 2026-10-12 | JE-0104 | 4000 Service revenue | Invoice 1001, Hollis & Co. | – | 8,500.00 | 8,500.00 |
| 2026-10-20 | JE-0105 | 6200 Software subscriptions | Accounting and payroll software | 310.00 | – | 310.00 |
| 2026-10-20 | JE-0105 | 2000 Accounts payable | Accounting and payroll software | – | 310.00 | 310.00 |
| 2026-10-28 | JE-0106 | 1000 Cash | Payment on invoice 1001 | 8,500.00 | – | 49,900.00 |
| 2026-10-28 | JE-0106 | 1200 Accounts receivable | Payment on invoice 1001 | – | 8,500.00 | – |
| 2026-10-31 | JE-0107 | 6100 Wages expense | October payroll | 9,000.00 | – | 9,000.00 |
| 2026-10-31 | JE-0107 | 1000 Cash | October payroll | – | 9,000.00 | 40,900.00 |
| Totals | 84,910.00 | 84,910.00 |
How the workbook fits together
Set up the accounts
List your accounts on the Accounts tab with their type and normal balance: debit for assets and expenses, credit for liabilities, equity and revenue. The chart of accounts template has a starting list.
Post entries to the ledger
Each line of a journal entry gets its own row, with the same entry number on each line. The running balance shows the account's balance after that line.
Check the trial balance
The Trial balance tab sums the ledger by account. If total debits and credits differ, a line is missing or one side of an entry was mistyped.
What a general ledger is for
The general ledger is the complete record of a business's accounts: all posted entries, sorted by account, with the balance each one carries. Financial statements are built from the balances, and auditors and tax preparers start from it.
Most businesses keep the ledger in accounting software, which posts entries automatically and stops unbalanced ones. A spreadsheet ledger is useful for learning, for a very small entity, or for rebuilding a period someone kept poorly. Once volume grows, see the AI bookkeeping software in this directory.
General ledger template: questions
- What's the difference between the general ledger and a trial balance?
- The general ledger holds each posted line, by account. The trial balance lists only each account's ending balance, in debit and credit columns, to check that the ledger balances before financial statements are prepared.
- How is a running balance calculated?
- For an account with a normal debit balance, add debits and subtract credits; for a normal credit balance, do the reverse. The template looks up each account's normal balance on the Accounts tab and applies the right sign.
- What are subsidiary ledgers?
- Detailed ledgers for one account, such as accounts receivable by customer or fixed assets by item. The general ledger carries the total, called a control account, and the subsidiary ledger should agree to it. The aging report and fixed asset register templates are subsidiary ledgers.