General ledger template for Australian businesses
A double-entry general ledger built for Australian books — GST calculated at one eleventh, a chart of accounts you can edit, BAS field labels on every account, and a trial balance that tells you when the ledger does not balance.
General ledger template
Excel (.xlsx) · 4 sheets · no signup
General information only, not tax or accounting advice.
This template is general information for Australian businesses. GST treatment, account coding and BAS reporting depend on your circumstances — confirm them with your accountant, a registered BAS agent or the ATO. It does not constitute legal, HR, or professional advice and should not be relied on as a substitute for advice specific to your business, workforce, or circumstances.
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What's in the general ledger template
Four sheets that work together. Enter a transaction once and it flows through to the trial balance.
Instructions sheet
How the ledger works, what the GST codes mean, and the ATO record-keeping rules that apply. Delete it once you have read it.
Chart of accounts
33 accounts covering revenue, expenses, assets, liabilities and equity, each with a default GST code and a note. Edit freely — the ledger reads from it.
Ledger sheet
150 pre-formatted rows with account and GST-code dropdowns, automatic GST, and a running balance that carries down the page.
Trial balance
Every account totalled straight from the ledger, with an out-by line that must read $0.00 before you report anything.
GST at one eleventh
Code a row GST and the GST column fills itself. FRE and INP codes leave it at zero, which is what GST-free and input-taxed items need.
BAS field labels
The trial balance flags which BAS label each account feeds — G1 total sales, G11 non-capital purchases, 1A GST on sales, 1B GST on purchases.
The ledger sheet
One row per transaction. The GST and running-balance columns are formulas — type over them and they stop working.
| Date | Reference | Description | Account | GST code | Debit | GST | Running balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/07/2026 | INV-1042 | Café takings — week 1 | Sales | GST | 4,400.00 | 400.00 | 4,400.00 |
| 03/07/2026 | BILL-338 | Coffee beans | Cost of goods sold | GST | 1,100.00 | 100.00 | 5,500.00 |
| 05/07/2026 | PAY-07 | Wages — week 1 | Wages & salaries | FRE | 6,200.00 | 0.00 | 11,700.00 |
| 05/07/2026 | SUP-07 | Super guarantee | Superannuation | FRE | 713.00 | 0.00 | 12,413.00 |
| 10/07/2026 | RENT-07 | Shop rent — July | Rent | GST | 3,300.00 | 300.00 | 15,713.00 |
Wages and super are coded FRE because neither is subject to GST — a detail most generic ledger templates get wrong because they were not written for Australia.
Why an Australian ledger is not a generic one
Most free general ledger templates on the internet were written for the United States. They look fine until you try to use one here.
GST, not sales tax
Australian GST is one eleventh of a GST-inclusive price, not a percentage added on top. A US template calculates the wrong number every time.
1 July to 30 June
The Australian financial year does not start in January. A ledger set up on a calendar year makes your year-end reporting harder than it needs to be.
BAS labels, not tax returns
If you are registered for GST you report on a business activity statement. Accounts that carry no BAS label are accounts you will have to re-code later.
Five-year record keeping
The ATO requires business records to be kept for at least five years, in English, explaining the transaction. That shapes what belongs in a description field.
How to set up a general ledger in Excel
If you would rather build your own than use ours, this is the order to do it in.
1. Build the chart of accounts
List every account you need with a code and a type — revenue, expense, asset, liability, equity. Give each one a default GST code.
2. Lay out the ledger columns
Date, reference, description, account, GST code, debit, credit, GST, running balance. Nothing else earns its place.
3. Add the GST and balance formulas
GST is the inclusive amount divided by 11, rounded to two decimals, and only when the code is GST. The running balance is the row above plus debits less credits.
4. Total it with SUMIF
A trial balance is a SUMIF per account against the ledger. Add an out-by cell so a mistake announces itself instead of hiding.
Every one of those steps is already done in the file above — the walkthrough is here because understanding the mechanics is what stops you breaking them.
Who uses a general ledger template
Usually one of three situations.
Small businesses before accounting software
Sole traders and micro businesses whose volume does not yet justify a subscription, but who still need books that hold up.
Bookkeepers taking on a new client
Rebuilding a set of books from bank statements and receipts, before deciding where the file should end up.
Anyone reconstructing a year
Records that were never kept properly during the year and now have to be, because a BAS or a return is due.
If your business runs on shifts, the ledger is the easy half. Getting the wages line right is the part that causes trouble.
Do you keep the books for shift-based businesses?
Cafés, venues, shops, clinics and care providers are the clients where payroll goes wrong quietly — the ledger balances while the award rate underneath it is wrong. Accountants and bookkeepers who bring those clients onto RosterElf earn recurring income for every employee managed.
Recurring monthly income
$1.00–$2.00 per active employee
Signup bonus
$100 per new client business
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Bronze through Diamond
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Learn moreDefinitions
Plain-English explanations of the terms used on this page.
General ledger template questions
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A general ledger is the complete record of every financial transaction in a business, organised by account. Each transaction is recorded twice — once as a debit and once as a credit — so the two sides always agree. That is what double-entry means, and it is why a trial balance that does not balance tells you something is missing.
The ledger is where your profit and loss and balance sheet ultimately come from.
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Yes. Download it, use it, edit it, keep it. There is no signup, no email wall and no trial. It is an Excel file.
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Australian GST is one eleventh of a GST-inclusive amount. Enter the GST-inclusive figure in the debit or credit column, set the GST code to GST, and the GST column calculates it for you.
Set the code to FRE for GST-free items, INP for input-taxed items, and N-T for anything not reportable on a BAS. Those three leave GST at zero, which is correct.
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Wages and superannuation are not subject to GST, so there is no GST credit to claim on them. Coding them GST would overstate your GST credits at label 1B and understate what you owe.
This is one of the most common errors in ledgers built from a generic overseas template, because those templates have no concept of a GST-free code.
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Yes. Insert rows inside the existing range rather than adding them below the totals row, so the SUM formulas pick them up. If you insert at the very bottom, extend the ranges in the totals row to match.
The running-balance column is a formula referring to the row above it — copy that cell down into any new rows.
Before you download
General information only — not legal advice
This document is a general HR template provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice and may not reflect the latest changes in legislation or apply to every workplace situation. RosterElf Pty Ltd and the template provider accept no liability for any loss arising from reliance on this document. Users should seek independent legal advice and customise the template to ensure it complies with all relevant laws, awards and workplace requirements.