Glossary

Common terms and concepts used in Ledgerly and double-entry accounting.

A

Account A category for tracking money. Accounts are organized by type (Asset, Liability, Equity, Income, Expense) and can be hierarchical.

Account Balance The current amount in an account. Calculated by summing all entries that affect the account.

Account Type One of five categories: Asset, Liability, Equity, Income, or Expense. Determines how debits and credits affect the account.

Asset Things you own or money you're owed. Examples: cash, bank accounts, investments, property.

B

Balance The current amount in an account, calculated from all transactions affecting it.

Balance Sheet A financial statement showing Assets, Liabilities, and Equity at a point in time.

C

Commodity A currency or investment instrument (stocks, bonds, etc.). Used to track different currencies and investments.

Credit (Cr) An entry that increases Liabilities, Equity, or Income, or decreases Assets or Expenses.

Currency A type of commodity representing money (USD, EUR, etc.). Each account is denominated in a currency.

D

Debit (Dr) An entry that increases Assets or Expenses, or decreases Liabilities, Equity, or Income.

Double-Entry Accounting A bookkeeping method where every transaction affects at least two accounts in equal and opposite ways.

E

Entry A single line in a transaction affecting one account. Each entry has an account, amount, side (debit/credit), and currency.

Equity Your net worth (Assets - Liabilities). Represents ownership value.

Expense Money going out. Decreases net worth. Examples: food, rent, utilities.

F

Full Path The complete account name including parent accounts, e.g., "Assets:Bank:Checking".

G

Goal A target amount to reach in a specific account by a target date. Used for tracking savings and financial objectives.

I

Income Money coming in. Increases net worth. Examples: salary, freelance income, investment returns.

Import Template A saved configuration for importing transactions from files, including column mapping and default accounts.

L

Liability Money you owe to others. Examples: credit cards, loans, mortgages.

N

Net Worth Assets minus Liabilities. Your total financial value.

P

Parent Account An account that contains child accounts. Used to create hierarchical account structures.

Pattern Text used in categorization rules to match transaction descriptions.

R

Recurring Transaction A scheduled transaction that automatically creates transactions from a template on a regular basis.

T

Tag A label attached to transactions for filtering and categorization. Examples: "groceries", "work", "tax-deductible".

Template A saved transaction structure that can be reused to quickly create similar transactions.

Transaction A record of a financial event with a date, description, and multiple entries that balance.

V

Validation The process of checking that transactions are balanced (debits = credits) and all data is correct.