Difference between Journal and Ledger

The difference between Journal and Ledger is that the journal is the first step of bookkeeping and the ledger is followed by the journal. Because the bookkeeping involved the predefined/Standard process of recording all the business transactions in the books of account. This process is known as the accounting cycle. The accounting cycle starts from the journal and followed by the ledger, trial balance, and final accounts. 

Meaning of Journal:-

Journal in Accounting is the process of analyzing and recording business transactions in chronological (day-to-day) order. This book is also called the Book of Prime or Original Entry book. The journal entries are the foundation of the accounting system and it is also a first step of the accounting cycle.

Meaning of Ledger:-

It is a book of accounts in which we kept all the transactions of a particular account separately. With the help of a ledger, we get whole the information about a particular account in a single place. but in the journal, all the transactions are recording date wise but if we want the total balance of a particular account then it is very difficult to get it.

Chart of Difference between Journal and Ledger: -

Basis of Difference	Journal	Ledger
Meaning	Journal in Accounting is the process of analyzing and recording business transactions in chronological (day-to-day) order.	Ledger is a book of accounts in which we kept all the transactions of a particular account separately.
Type	it is the subsidiary book	It is the final book of account.
Order of Recording	In the journal, all transactions are recorded in chronological (day-to-day) order.	In the Ledger, the transactions related to a single account(Cash, Bank, etc.) are recorded in chronological (day to day) order in a particular ledger account.
Name of Process	Journalizing	Posting from journal to ledger.
Format	In the format of the journal, debit and credit are two different columns.	In the format of the Ledger, debit and credit are two different sides of an account.
Nature of Account	All transactions are recorded in the same book called a journal.	All transactions are posted in the particular ledger account according to the nature of an account.
Balance	It is very difficult to know the balance of a particular account.	The ledger is prepared to know the balance of a particular account.
Narrations	Journal contains a narration for every transaction	Ledger may or may not contain a narration of every transaction.
Also known as	The book of prime or original entry book	The book of second entry and statement of account.
Process of Balancing	It does not include the process of balancing.	It includes the process of balancing or closing a ledger account.
Financial Statement	We can not prepare financial statement directly from the journal	We can prepare financial statements directly from the ledger but not so easy for larger businesses.
Revenue	The Journal not providing any information about the total revenue earned during the year.	In the ledger, we can get to know about the revenue earned during the year from the total Sales accounts.
Closing Balances of the Assets	It is very difficult to know the closing balance of the assets at the end of a particular accounting period.	It is very easy to know the closing balance of the assets at the end of a particular accounting period.
Folio	Journal contains a ledger folio column.	The ledger contains a journal folio column.
Total Columns	Journal contains a total of five columns	The ledger contains a total of eight columns.
Sides	It does not have any side.	It has two sides i.e. debit and credit side.

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Conclusion: -

Journal is the original entry book and we record all day-to-day transactions in the journal first then after we post these all transactions in the related ledger accounts. Both are the step of the accounting cycle. Thanks for reading the topic please comment with your feedback whatever you want. If you have any questions please ask us by commenting.  Check out T.S. Grewal's +1 Book 2019 @ Official Website of Sultan Chand Publication