The e-Ledger is the journal and general ledger held electronically and sealed with a certificate approved by the tax authority. Unlike invoicing, correcting a mistake here is very costly.
01. How the Process Works
Journal entries for the month are converted into a ledger file in XBRL format at period end, and a summary of the file is uploaded as a certificate. The tax authority returns the sealed certificate, which is then archived.
02. Nothing Changes After the Certificate
Once the certificate is uploaded, no entry can be added to or removed from that period. An invoice arriving late is posted to the following period. Firms without a pre-close checklist therefore accumulate correction entries all year.
03. Chart of Accounts Compliance
The ledger file must map to the account code structure the tax authority expects. Firms that built their own chart of accounts freely most often get stuck at this step on their first attempt.
04. Frequent Errors
Vouchers missing a document type, records with an empty counterparty tax number, entries dated outside the period, and rounding differences. All four throw errors during file generation and delay the close.
05. Upload Calendar
Certificate upload deadlines are set by legislation and lateness is penalised. In a firm uploading monthly, the accounting close calendar must be planned backwards from that date; the period-lock feature in the ERP is used to enforce it.
06. Retention
Ledger files and certificates must be kept for ten years. Even with the integrator's archiving service, holding a second copy in your own environment saves time during an audit.