Ledgers

Ledgers appear on the record they belong to, such as a process or an order. Open a ledger to see its line items, its balances, and its status.

Read a ledger

Each line item shows what it is, its amount, and its type. Depending on how your ledger is set up, you may also see:

Column	Meaning
Units / Unit Count	What is being counted (for example hours or pages) and how many.
Estimated / Projected	Expected amounts, before the actual amount is known.
Countered	A negotiated amount. On a payment, it shows the funds not yet applied to any item.
Posted Date / Paid Date	When the item was recorded and when it was paid.

The ledger shows two totals:

• Balance: debits minus credits, across every item with an amount.
• Adjusted balance: the same, but only for items included in the total. Use it for the amount actually owed after excluding items under dispute or written off.

Icons on each item show whether it is included in the adjusted balance, locked, or linked to a child ledger (a separate ledger whose total feeds this line). Select the include icon to include or exclude an item. Items whose template doesn’t allow exclusion can’t be excluded, and locked items can’t be changed.

Add and change items

Add a line item when the ledger allows extra items. Some ledgers are fixed to the items their template defines; QBO will tell you if a ledger can’t take new items.

When you save an item, QBO recalculates the ledger’s balances straight away. To refresh a line that comes from a child ledger, select its refresh icon.

Ledger actions

The ledger’s options menu includes these actions, depending on your permissions:

Action	What it does
Calculate	Recalculates every item (from rules, defaults, and child ledgers) and the balances.
Approve	Generates the invoice, if the ledger has one, marks the ledger Approved, and locks it and its items.
Post	Records the ledger as final: sets the posted date, marks it Posted, and locks it and its items.
Authorize And Capture	Charges the balance to the active stored payment method for the record. If nothing is owed, the ledger is posted instead.

These actions are unavailable once a ledger is locked. Someone with permission to update locked ledgers can still make changes.

Caution

Approving and posting lock the ledger and every item on it. Check the amounts first.

Note

Menu labels can vary by installation; your administrator can rename or hide options.