Statements and settlements
Save statements, record settlements, and get notified when a balance changes.
Ledger is in alpha. There are no Ledger fees during alpha.
Statements save records for reporting. Settlements mark entries as settled, and balance monitors notify your application when a balance meets a condition.
Statements
A statement saves an account's posted opening balance, closing balance, and entries for a period. Later backdated transactions don't change a saved statement, so it stays a reliable record of what was reported.
{
"account_id": "acct_...",
"effective_at_lower_bound": "2026-09-01T00:00:00Z",
"effective_at_upper_bound": "2026-10-01T00:00:00Z",
"description": "September statement"
}This includes entries dated September 1 up to, but not including, October 1. The statement returns starting_balance, ending_balance, and entry_count. You can also list its saved entries.
Settlements
A settlement totals an account's unsettled postings, records the net amount against another account, and marks the covered entries as settled. The other account is called the contra account. Each posting can be settled only once.
Use this to record a seller payout or a transfer to a bank account in the ledger. Your payment provider still handles the actual transfer.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
settled_account_id | Required. The account whose unsettled entries are covered. |
contra_account_id | Required. A different account in the same ledger and currency. |
effective_at_upper_bound | Only cover postings before this accounting date. Omit to include everything unsettled. |
{
"settled_account_id": "acct_vendor...",
"contra_account_id": "acct_bank...",
"description": "Vendor payout"
}If the covered entries net to zero, the settlement marks them without creating a transaction.
Balance monitors
A balance monitor watches an account and emits a balance_monitor.triggered event when a condition becomes true, such as a wallet dropping below $5.
{
"account_id": "acct_...",
"alert_condition": {
"field": "available_balance_amount",
"operator": "lt",
"value": "500"
},
"description": "Low wallet balance"
}The monitor sends an event when a balance change makes the condition true after it was false. It does not send an event just because the condition is already true when you create it.
To watch a different account or change the condition, replace the monitor.