tilikirja

Tilikirja, or tilikirja in Finnish, is a bookkeeping term for the ledger or account book used to record financial transactions. It serves as the central record where debits and credits are entered for each account and is essential to double-entry bookkeeping.

The name derives from tili, meaning account or ledger, and kirja, meaning book. Historically, tilikirja could refer to a physical book kept by hand or to the ledger component within an accounting system used to organize and summarise financial activity.

A tilikirja typically includes entries that show dates, descriptions, associated accounts, and monetary amounts. In double-entry bookkeeping, each transaction affects at least two accounts with corresponding debits and credits, keeping the overall ledger balanced. The collection of all individual tilikirjat forms the general ledger, which underpins financial reporting such as statements and the balance sheet.

In modern practice, the term tilikirja remains a common conceptual and sometimes practical label for ledgers within accounting software. While many organizations use digital ledgers, the idea of a tilikirja as a structured record of all financial movements persists, and it may be referred to as the general ledger or ledgers for specific accounts.

See also: tili, kirja.