Ledger
The append-only record of every money movement in your product, from which all balances, earnings and revenue are calculated.
Updated October 2026 · with examples from our own builds
What does ledger mean in practice?
A ledger records each money event, such as a sale, a refund, a commission or a payout, as an entry that is never edited, only reversed by a later entry. Balances are worked out from the entries, so the history always explains the total.
It answers questions a payments table can't: what each provider is owed right now, what the platform earned this month and why a balance changed. It is also what your accountant or an auditor will ask to see.
The common failure is money data scattered across several tables that each record part of the story. Consolidating them later is a project in itself, so it pays to start with one ledger.
Ledger at a glance
- Rule
- Entries are never edited, only reversed
- Answers
- Who is owed what, and why
- Warning sign
- Payment data spread across several tables
Where has ledger come up in our builds?
In January 2026 payment records were spread across a payments collection and two purchase histories, nothing tracked platform revenue and refunds reversed nothing. We replaced them with one ledger for clients, trainers and the platform, and each entry stores the commission rate it used, so a rate change applies forward only.
Each Premium subscription event becomes a ledger entry numbered LE-YYYY-NNNNNN, posted only after its RevenueCat webhook has been stored once under its event ID.
Every completed booking settles the platform's commission, 20% by default, into an append-only ledger.
Common questions about ledger
Do I need a ledger if my payment provider already keeps records?
Yes. The provider knows what it moved; only your ledger knows what each provider is owed, what you earned and how refunds affected each side.
How are mistakes fixed in a ledger?
With a new entry that reverses or corrects the wrong one, never by editing it. The history then shows both the mistake and the fix.
Related terms
Planning a product and not sure where ledger fits? Ask us, or browse all 116 terms in the glossary.