The Books - Journal, Ledger, and Trial Balance NARRATOR: The books of a business contain the following tools: The Journal, The Ledger and The Trial Balance. These three things work together to keep track of the story of a business. The journal is used to keep track of the transactions of the business in chronological order, and shows the effects of each transaction on the accounts within the books. The Ledger is where all of the transaction information contained in the journal are grouped and organized by account. It shows the cumulative effects of the transactions by account, and then the ultimate balances of the accounts. The Trial Balance is a list of all of the accounts, and their balances, as seen in the Ledger. All of these things are integral parts of the recording process within the Accounting Cycle of a business.