General Ledger in Accounting: What Every Law Firm Needs to Know

A general ledger is the key to managing your law firm's finances. Think of it as the master record of all your firm's financial transactions, kept in a ledger, given the strict regulatory requirements and ethical considerations. Attorneys need to be on top of their financial game and a general ledger is a great way to stay compliant, organized, and aware of your firm's financial health. Otherwise, you risk real financial complications that will set your company up for failure.

This guide is a comprehensive resource that'll help you navigate the intricacies of general ledgers in accounting. You'll learn how a general ledger works, the benefits of general ledger accounting, as well as the difference between journals and general ledgers.

What Is a General Ledger in Accounting?

A general ledger is a comprehensive accounting record, a master document that logs every single financial transaction a business makes.

From money coming in (credit) to money going out (debit), each transaction is logged and sorted into accounts for later financial analysis. 

Within the accounting ledger, individual accounts are maintained for assets, liabilities, equity, income, and expenses. General ledgers help you keep track of finances. They help with tax reporting, prevent fraud, and provide a clear financial picture. They're a go-to financial resource that ensures financial statements are accurate and up-to-date.

What Does the General Ledger Account Include?

We've already touched on what an accounting ledger includes, but let's dive into the details. These general ledger accounts are sorted into several categories, which we'll explore below.

• Asset: This represents everything your law firm owns that has value. This includes tangible things like cash, office equipment, and buildings, as well as intangible assets like intellectual property and goodwill. It reflects what your firm possesses and can be used to generate revenue.
• Revenue: A ledger tracks the income your law firm generates from its services. This includes fees from clients, settlements, and any other income sources. This account shows the money coming into your firm from its core operations.
• Equity: This represents the ownership stake in your law firm. It's the difference between your assets and liabilities, essentially reflecting the value of your firm after all debts are paid. This account shows how much your firm is worth to its owners.
• Liability: Your firm's financial obligations, such as loans, accounts payable, and accrued expenses. This account shows the money your firm owes to others.
• Income and expenses: These are closely related. Income accounts track the revenue generated from your firm's services, while expense accounts track the costs associated with running your law business, like rent, utilities, salaries, and other day-to-day costs. These accounts help you analyze your firm's profitability.

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How a General Ledger Works

The best thing about a general ledger is its ability to provide a comprehensive view of a company's financial state, allowing stakeholders to make informed decisions. In this part of the article, we will discuss the six key aspects of how it works in a legal context, exploring its structure, functions, and significance. 

— Financial Data Organization

A general ledger is the primary tool used to organize and store a company's financial data. It provides a complete record of all your law company's financial transactions, including revenue, expenses, assets, liabilities, and equity. By organizing this data into categories, a general ledger allows for easy tracking and analysis of financial information.

Each financial transaction is posted to an individual sub-ledger account within the general ledger. These accounts are organized according to the company's chart of accounts, which is a list of all the accounts used to categorize financial transactions. The chart of accounts is typically customized to meet the specific needs of the company and may include accounts for cash, accounts receivable, inventory, accounts payable, and equity, among others.

— Transactions

A general ledger is responsible for summarizing any transactions and ensuring that they are accurately recorded. Each transaction is recorded as a journal entry, which includes the date of the transaction, a description of the transaction, and the debit and credit entries associated with the transaction.

Once journal entries have been recorded, the accountant generates a trial balance report, which lists the balance of each account in the general ledger. The trial balance is then checked for errors and discrepancies. If any errors are found, adjusting entries are made to correct them.

After all errors have been corrected, the adjusted trial balance is used to generate the company's financial statements, including the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement. These statements provide a comprehensive view of the company's financial health and are used by stakeholders to make informed decisions about the company's future.

— Double-Entry Bookkeeping

Double-entry bookkeeping is the foundation of the general ledger system and it is based on the principle that each financial transaction affects at least two sub-ledger accounts. For example, when a company purchases inventory on credit, it increases its inventory account and increases its accounts payable account. This dual-entry approach ensures that the accounting equation (Stockholders' Equity = Assets - Liabilities) remains in balance.

Each entry in a general ledger has at least one debit and one credit transaction.Debits are recorded on the left side of the journal entry, while credits are recorded on the right side. To ensure that the accounting equation remains in balance, the total debits and credits for each journal entry must be equal.

The accounting equation is fundamental to double-entry accounting. Assets represent what a company owns, liabilities represent what a company owes, and stockholders' equity represents the residual interest in the company's assets after deducting its liabilities. 

— The Balance Sheet and the Double-Entry System

A balance sheet is a financial statement that provides a snapshot of a company's financial position at a specific point in time. It follows the accounting equation format, with assets listed on the left side and liabilities and stockholders' equity listed on the right side. 

The double-entry system ensures that transactions on both sides of the accounting equation balance. When a transaction is recorded in the general ledger, it is compiled and summarized in the balance sheet. This process helps ensure that the balance sheet is accurate and that the accounting equation remains in balance.

A trial balance is a report that lists the balance of each account in the general ledger. It is used to ensure that the total debits equal the total credits, indicating that the accounting equation is in balance. Trial balance is also used to generate other financial statements, including the income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows.

— Error Detection

A general ledger is not just about recording transactions; it's also a tool for detecting errors. Financial statement data, while useful, often provides a high-level overview of your firm's finances. It might not reveal the underlying details that could point to potential errors. A general ledger, with its detailed transaction records, allows you to delve deeper and pinpoint the source of any discrepancies.

For example, if your income statement accounts show a lower-than-expected profit, the general ledger can help you identify the specific transactions that contributed to this shortfall. Perhaps there was an error in recording a client payment or an expense was incorrectly categorized. 

By examining the detailed account records in your general ledger, you can locate the error and make the necessary corrections, ensuring that your financial statements are accurate and reliable. It gives a detailed audit trail of every transaction, it helps you identify and correct errors, ultimately leading to more accurate and reliable financial reporting. 

— Transaction Examples

Let's bring the general ledger to life with some real-world examples from a law firm. Remember, every transaction involves at least two accounts- one debit and one credit, ensuring that the accounting always balances.

Balance Sheet Transaction

Most financial activities that occur at a law firm flow through the general ledger, from initial payments like client retainers to final payments of supplier invoices. Examining common transaction types provides insight into how specific events are recorded. 

As per the example for ABC Trading, the balance sheet is divided into two sections with the top part subtracting total liabilities from assets. Fixed assets are listed separately from current assets like cash that convert to cash within a year. For fixed assets, a horizontal format shows the original cost minus depreciation expense overtime to give the net book value. In this example, the net book value of fixed assets is $10,600. Current and long-term liabilities are also distinguished and subtracted accordingly. 

Net current assets of $44,300 are calculated by removing current liabilities from current assets. Adding this to the net fixed assets gives a total net asset of $54,900. Then long-term liabilities of $10,000 are deducted to give the final net assets of $44,900 shown on the balance sheet.

Income Statement Transaction

Let's analyze the income statement of a startup law firm:

The firm recorded $432.22 million in total income for November 2018. This amount represented the firm's total legal service revenue for the month.

In the general ledger, the firm would record this transaction by debiting the "Revenue" account for $432.22 million to record earnings. Then, on the income statement, the firm reports this figure as total income.

After accounting for a gross profit of $1,418.79 million and operating expenses of $79.06 million, the income statement shows that the firm achieved an operating income of $1,059.4 million for the month.

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Benefits of General Ledger Accounting

Not only does general ledger accounting help ensure accurate financial reporting- it also offers several other benefits that can help a business thrive. Some key benefits of leveraging general ledger information include improved financial reporting, simplified classification of business activities, enhanced oversight and governance, as well as streamlined tax preparation.

• Accurate financial reporting: A general ledger accounting system ensures that all financial transactions are accurately recorded, classified, and reported. With a general ledger system, businesses can easily identify and correct errors, reconcile bank statements, and track financial performance over time.
• Transactions classifying: A general ledger uniformly categorizes all transactions according to standardized charts of account codes for uniformity. This consistent classification of incoming and outgoing cash flows makes it straightforward to identify important metrics like operating costs, investment outlays, and financing cash flows on financial reports.
• Enhanced transparency and compliance: Maintaining full documentation of cash flows through a centralized general ledger allows businesses to demonstrate the accuracy and reliability of their financial statements, which is essential for external reporting and auditing purposes. A general ledger system also helps businesses comply with accounting standards and regulations, reducing the risk of non-compliance and associated penalties.
• Tax preparation: At the end of a law firm accounting cycle, key elements from the general ledger like revenues, expenses, and asset values readily feed into the preparation of tax documents. This streamlines the tax filing process for organizations.

What's the Difference Between Journals and Accounting Ledgers?

Journals and accounting ledgers may be mistaken for each other but they serve different purposes. While journals are used to record transactions chronologically, ledgers organize and summarize those transactions by account. In other words, a journal is like a diary of financial transactions, while a ledger is like a summary or index of those transactions.

Journals are used to record individual transactions as they occur, with each entry including the date, description, and amount of the transaction. This information is then used to create a journal entry, which is recorded in the journal in chronological order. Journals are typically used to record transactions that affect multiple accounts, such as sales or purchases.

Accounting ledgers, on the other hand, are used to organize and summarize transactions by account. Each account is laid out in a T-shaped table, with debits on the left, credits on the right, and sometimes additional columns for transaction descriptions and dates.

Conclusion: General Ledger in Accounting

The general ledger plays an indispensable role in financial accounting and should not be overlooked by attorneys. As we've discussed, it serves as the backbone of a firm's bookkeeping system, faithfully recording every monetary transaction that occurs. And with the right accounting software and bookkeeping assistance, keeping your general ledger in good order doesn't have to be an insurmountable task.

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