Picking and using the right worksheets for each file
Ledger offers 13 worksheets that you activate à la carte, per file. Some contain elaborate calculations (capital assets, long-term debt, income taxes, sales taxes), others are so simple there is nothing to explain. This page tells you how to activate a worksheet, which one to use when, and which ones deserve a dedicated tutorial.
Activate a worksheet
Worksheets are opt-in. None are present by default, to keep the sidebar light. You decide when you open the file which ones are relevant, and you can add others along the way.
- Open the file for the year.
- In the left menu, under WORKSHEETS, click Worksheets.
- Check the ones you need. Ledger also offers a Smart suggestions section at the top: these are the worksheets that the client's TB makes likely (for example, if there are capital assets on the balance sheet, the Capital assets worksheet is suggested).
- Checked worksheets appear immediately in the sidebar, under WORKSHEETS. The others remain available on this page, without cluttering the navigation.
If you uncheck a worksheet that is already filled in, Ledger keeps the data. Just re-enable it later to find everything exactly as it was.
The 13 available worksheets
Here is the complete list, as it appears in Ledger. Click a card to open its tutorial. The more subdued cards at the bottom are the worksheets simple enough to do without a tutorial: their description on the “Worksheets” page is all you need to use them.
Worksheets with a dedicated tutorial
Acquisitions, disposals, accounting amortization and tax CCA. Account configuration per client.
Loan schedules, interest payable, merchant cash advances (MCA/Vault) with early payoff.
Sales tax return under the Quick Method, with an automatic entry.
Reconciliation of GST/HST/QST balances in the books vs the returns filed, plus the adjusting entry.
Federal and provincial provision, instalments, refundable portion, entries. “Owed = positive” convention.
T3/RL-16, T5/RL-3 and T5008 slips entered box by box; summary by income type, carried to T2 schedules (3, 6, 7, 21).
Taxable employee or shareholder benefit when the employer provides a vehicle (operating costs + standby charge).
Pro-rating of business-use-of-home expenses, federal and Quebec, with the 18(12) cap and the carry-forward.
Adoption of ASPE (Section 1500): transition entries, opening balance sheet, reconciliations for the impact note.
Worksheets without a dedicated tutorial
These worksheets are straightforward enough to use without a separate document: the description on the “Worksheets” page and the field labels tell you everything.
Pro-rata allocation over the fiscal year. You enter the total amount and the period covered, and the worksheet calculates the portion to expense.
Entry of accrued liabilities at year-end, with an automatic adjusting entry.
Capital leases (ASPE 3065): classification, current and long-term obligation, leased asset, taxes.
Free-form Excel-style sheets: cells, formulas, totals, .xlsx export. No structure imposed, it's up to you to build it.
Which worksheet for which need
A quick reference, if you're not sure which one to enable:
- A non-zero capital asset account on the balance sheet: enable Capital assets. Ledger puts the suggestion at the top of the configuration page if it detects it in the TB.
- A loan agreement or a long-term line of credit: enable Long-term debt. For a merchant cash advance (Vault, MCA), use it as well, with the “merchant cash advance” mode.
- An asset under a capital lease (vehicle, equipment): enable Capital leases. Ledger suggests it when the TB shows a capital lease obligation or a leased asset.
- The client uses the GST/QST Quick Method: enable Quick Method (sales taxes). Otherwise, use Sales tax reconciliation to reconcile the books with the returns filed.
- Year-end with income tax to provide for: enable Income taxes. Suggested automatically when there is a balance or tax activity.
- The corporation holds investments (dividends, interest, gains): enable Investment income reconciliation to enter the slips and carry them to the T2 schedules.
- A shareholder or employee uses a company vehicle: enable Automobile benefit. It can't be detected from the TB, so enable it manually.
- A consultant or self-employed person who uses their home for work: enable Home office.
- First review of a client coming out of a compilation: the First-time adoption worksheet is offered automatically for the transition entries to ASPE.
- You need a free-form spreadsheet (ad hoc calculation, budget vs actual comparison, table summary): enable Spreadsheets.
In 80% of cases, letting Ledger suggest which worksheets to enable when you open the file is enough. The list above is mainly useful to understand why a worksheet should have been suggested, or to manually enable the worksheets that can't be inferred from a TB (automobile benefit, home office, spreadsheets).
Printing a worksheet
Each worksheet has its own Print button at the top of the page. The PDF it produces is complete: line detail, intermediate calculations, generated entries. That is what the reviewer or the partner examines at review time. There is nothing to configure beforehand: the layout uses the firm's branding (logo, font, accent colour) set in the settings.