General ledger

Entities define functional currency, reporting context and ownership relationships. Functional currency is the basis of each entity’s trial balance. Group reporting translates the included entity results into a common currency using reviewed account policies and source periods.

A Group unit holds consolidation and elimination entries. It does not operate the legal entities’ bank accounts or subledgers. A group adjustment identifies its own eligible posting period and does not alter a subsidiary’s closed ledger merely because consolidation needs a correction.

Controller maintains the accounting structure and reviews changes. Subledger controls do not prevent legitimate bank or tax adjustments through their authorised workflows; they prevent an unrestricted manual journal from bypassing the supporting evidence.

Journal entries hold the entity, eligible period, date, transaction currency, rate type, rate and approval status. Journal entry lines hold account, cost centre, foreign debit or credit and functional debit or credit. Lines retain the rate applied and any approved override evidence.

A journal balances in functional currency. Configured rounding treatment accounts for conversion residue. Tax conversion can use a separately prescribed basis, which remains identifiable rather than silently replacing the accounting rate. A missing rate follows rate exceptions before posting.

Subledger transactions post through their authorised source workflow. GL Accountant prepares manual accruals, prepayments and reclassifications; a different authorised Controller approves them. Approval decisions preserve the source revision, actor and any currency-based authority comparison. Approval delegations retain dated authority without bypassing conflict checks.

Posted journals are immutable. A reversal is another journal linked to the first. Rejecting an already posted payment must reverse its journal and applications before retry; reopening the bill alone does not undo the ledger effect. Unique source references prevent repeated posting of the same action.

Accounting periods belong to an entity. Open periods accept authorised routine postings; soft close accepts the permitted close adjustments; hard close refuses further postings. Admin reopening follows the recorded emergency procedure with actor, date, reason and independent Controller authorisation. Audit adjustments use an eligible adjustment period.

The period described by a report is separate from the period receiving a new journal. A tax filing can report a hard-closed month while its later liability transfer or payment posts to an eligible open period. Intercompany transactions retain a period for each entity and their group reporting context.

Allocation runs and allocation lines retain the source amount, target accounts and cost centres, driver quantities, total driver and allocated shares. The targets reconcile to the source before Controller approval and posting. Reclassification within an entity changes where cost is attributed without creating extra total expense.

Fixed assets and asset movements preserve additions, disposals and carrying changes. Depreciation lines record each asset’s beginning basis, method, convention, units where applicable and calculated amount. Depreciation runs summarises those workings for independent review and a journal. Posted asset changes remain linked to their source rather than overwriting the calculation history.

Migration imports open invoices and bills without posting, alongside the complete reconciled opening GL balances once. Each item links its migration batch and opening journal; original basis plus prior revaluation agrees to imported carrying value. Subsequent settlement uses that remaining basis. Posting the imported documents as well would duplicate the opening control balances.

Budget versions and Budgets retain entity currency, version and budget-rate date. FP&A Analyst prepares the plan; Controller locks the reviewed version. Group comparisons distinguish budget translation from actual accounting rates.

Trial Balance links balances to posted lines and their foreign amounts. Journal Entries Awaiting Approval, Period Calendar and Close Task Board show decisions and progress without treating a draft calculation as a posted result.