Primary, secondary, reporting: the decision tree

Primary ledger: the main book — chart of accounts, plus calendar, plus currency, plus accounting method. Four things, locked together. Reporting currency: the same transactions in a different currency, at balance level, journal level or subledger level, and each level has storage and performance implications. Secondary ledger: a genuinely different representation — a different accounting method, a different chart of accounts, or a different calendar. The classic case is a local statutory basis alongside a group basis. The decision tree has four branches. Different currency only, everything else the same → reporting currency. Different accounting rules or a different chart of accounts → secondary ledger. Different legal entity, everything else the same → same ledger, different balancing segment value. Different fiscal calendar → a separate ledger, with no way around it. Secondary ledgers double your close work, double your reconciliation surface and double your maintenance. Use one when it is…

In this module: Module 4 · Chart of Accounts and Ledger Design

1. 1What we're building
2. 2The decision you can't undo
3. 3Anatomy of a chart of accounts
4. 4Segment labels and qualifiers
5. 5Running the design workshop
6. 6Sizing segments: the arithmetic
7. 7Building value sets
8. 8Structure, instance, deployment
9. 9Loading account values
10. 10Account hierarchies and why reporting needs them
11. 11Building and publishing a hierarchy
12. 12Accounting calendars
13. 13Currency and conversion rate types
14. 14Primary, secondary, reporting: the decision tree
15. 15Building the primary ledger
16. 16Ledger options and completing the definition
17. 17Cross-validation and segment value security
18. 18What breaks
19. 19Lab briefing: Meridian Trading