Reversal
In accounting, reversal means an offsetting entry that undoes a posted entry.
- Layer
- Lexicon
- Defined in
- Lexicon
- Components
- 3
Not a rule
Bookkeeping mechanic and internal control — not codified. US GAAP governs recognition, measurement and presentation — not the mechanics a bookkeeper uses to get there. Anyone citing a standard for this word is citing the wrong thing.
Every citation in this system, with the text we read and the date we checked it, is in US GAAP and where these rules come from.
The lesson that teaches this
Accounting, 0 to 1 — a free course taught end to end on one month of one company, with the spreadsheet exercises to work it yourself.
Reversal, in use
Quoted from the 5 documents that use the word — what it does to an interface, in the spec's own sentence.
Rules: balance check always visible · unbalanced is a prominent error with the difference stated · source and status on the header · no delete action on a posted entry — absent, not disabled · reversal linked bidirectionally, both entries remain visible · evidence inline.
A reversed entry and its reversal are visually linked and both remain visible.
AdjustingEntryForm defaults autoReverse to true for accruals and shows the reversal date inline: "Reverses 1 Oct 2026".
For founders
The same idea written for a founder: what it costs a startup that ignores it, and what to do in a real month.
- ReversalsA posted entry is never edited or deleted. A mistake is cancelled by an equal and opposite entry, and the right entry is posted after it.
- Accrued expenses vs accounts payable: the differenceAP is a bill you’ve received; an accrued expense is a cost incurred before the bill arrives. When to accrue, and how reversing entries work, by example.
- General ledger and double-entry bookkeeping, explainedHow double entry works: journal entries, debits and credits, normal balances, running balances, the trial balance, and why posted entries are reversed.
What it is not called
Each of these is a real word for a different thing. Using it here is what makes a product read as though it was built by someone who has not done the work.
- delete
- undo
Components that render this
The concept is not documentation-only. These are the components that name it in their specification, grouped and stated exactly as the catalog states them.
Also in Core ledger
Work with this concept
The calculators that compute it and the ledger payloads that carry it. A definition is where a reader starts; these are where they go next.
- Writes, concurrency and rate limitsWhat happens when you write, and how fast can you go?API
- Reversal vs reversing entryA reversal is a new entry that cancels a posted entry that was wrong, leaving both in the ledger; a reversing entry is a planned reversal of a month-end accrual on the first day of the next period, so the real bill can be booked normally.Compare
Defined in Lexicon. This page is generated from that document, so the two cannot disagree.