How does the general ledger work?
Double-entry bookkeeping is the core. Every event has two sides: something comes in and something goes out, or a receivable and a revenue arise. By recording both sides, you get a system that checks itself.
The layout of your chart determines how much you can see later. If you book all costs to one account, your bookkeeping is correct but says nothing. If you book too finely, consistency gets lost because with every entry you have to choose between nearly identical accounts.
For the return, the trace counts, not the resemblance. Your general ledger does not need to have the shape of the return; you only need to be able to show which entries led to which amount on the return.
Where is the general ledger in the law?
For this term there is no statutory basis to refer to, and that is not an omission but the state of affairs. It is a term from bookkeeping practice, not a legal obligation with its own article.
What does apply sits one level higher: under Article 52 of the Dutch General State Taxes Act (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen, AWR), your bookkeeping must be verifiable within a reasonable time. How you set that up is not prescribed by law.
What does basestep do with the general ledger?
basestep works with a small, fixed chart of accounts instead of an empty chart you have to set up yourself. That is a deliberate limitation: a chart you understand gives more reliable bookkeeping than a chart that can do everything.
All calculations, explanations and signals in basestep are calculation support and instruction, not tax or legal advice. Amounts are estimates based on your own input; the Dutch tax authority (Belastingdienst) sets the assessment.
Where does it go wrong with the general ledger?
The two mistakes you run into most often in practice with this term, and what they cost you.
Letting the chart grow
An account you needed once stays and is then sometimes used wrongly. Fewer accounts you know are better than more accounts you guess.
Copying the return from a balance
An account balance is not the same as an amount on the return. The trace between them is what you must be able to show.
Further reading
Three places this term is tied to, inside this glossary and beyond.