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Read the general ledger

Step-by-step use case to read the trial balance and then the general ledger of an account through the NovaFisko API, with the running balance.

Updated on 10/05/2026 Edit this page

This guide retrieves the trial balance of a fiscal year, then the detailed movements of an account with its running balance. It is intended for reporting, consolidation and dashboard tools.

Prerequisites: a token with the read ability and the public_token of the company.

Step 1: find the fiscal year

Statements are always calculated for a fiscal year, identified by its id.

curl https://api.novafisko.com/v1/companies/k3Jd9fPq2LmX/fiscal-years \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NOVAFISKO_TOKEN"

[
  {
    "id": 6,
    "code": "2025",
    "starts_on": "2025-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z",
    "ends_on": "2025-12-31T00:00:00.000000Z",
    "is_closed": true,
    "closed_at": "2026-03-14T10:22:05.000000Z",
    "periods": []
  },
  {
    "id": 7,
    "code": "2026",
    "starts_on": "2026-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z",
    "ends_on": "2026-12-31T00:00:00.000000Z",
    "is_closed": false,
    "closed_at": null,
    "periods": [
      {"id": 85, "number": 1, "label": "01/2026", "starts_on": "2026-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z", "ends_on": "2026-01-31T00:00:00.000000Z", "is_locked": true}
    ]
  }
]

Step 2: read the trial balance

The trial balance gives, for each account with movements, the debit and credit totals and the balance. It is the natural entry point: it shows which accounts are worth detailing.

curl "https://api.novafisko.com/v1/companies/k3Jd9fPq2LmX/fiscal-years/7/trial-balance?from=2026-01-01&to=2026-09-30" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NOVAFISKO_TOKEN"
Parameter Default Description
from start of the fiscal year Start date, inclusive
to end of the fiscal year End date, inclusive
include_empty false true to include accounts whose totals are zero 
{
  "fiscal_year": "2026",
  "from": "2026-01-01",
  "to": "2026-09-30",
  "lines": [
    {
      "account_id": 90,
      "number": "440000",
      "label": "Fournisseurs",
      "type": "liability",
      "debit": "48210.35",
      "credit": "55120.80",
      "debit_balance": "0.00",
      "credit_balance": "6910.45",
      "balance": "-6910.45"
    },
    {
      "account_id": 118,
      "number": "604000",
      "label": "Achats de marchandises",
      "type": "expense",
      "debit": "31874.20",
      "credit": "412.00",
      "debit_balance": "31462.20",
      "credit_balance": "0.00",
      "balance": "31462.20"
    }
  ],
  "totals": {
    "debit": "412587.14",
    "credit": "412587.14",
    "is_balanced": true,
    "result": "18240.66"
  }
}

The balance field is signed: positive for a debit balance, negative for a credit balance. totals.result is the result of the period, positive for a profit and negative for a loss. totals.is_balanced must always be true.

Step 3: read the general ledger of an account

The general ledger is read account by account, with the account_id obtained from the trial balance or from GET accounts.

curl "https://api.novafisko.com/v1/companies/k3Jd9fPq2LmX/fiscal-years/7/general-ledger/118?from=2026-07-01&to=2026-09-30" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NOVAFISKO_TOKEN"

{
  "account_id": 118,
  "from": "2026-07-01",
  "to": "2026-09-30",
  "opening_balance": "20918.75",
  "movements": [
    {
      "line_id": 5388,
      "entry_id": 1790,
      "entry_date": "2026-07-03",
      "journal": "ACH",
      "document": "2026/000171",
      "label": "Fûts 20 L blonde",
      "reference": "F-2026-0611",
      "third_party": "Brasserie des Collines SA",
      "debit": "980.00",
      "credit": "0.00",
      "balance": "21898.75",
      "reconciliation_code": null
    },
    {
      "line_id": 5521,
      "entry_id": 1842,
      "entry_date": "2026-09-30",
      "journal": "ACH",
      "document": "2026/000212",
      "label": "Fûts 20 L blonde",
      "reference": "F-2026-0918",
      "third_party": "Brasserie des Collines SA",
      "debit": "1250.00",
      "credit": "0.00",
      "balance": "31462.20",
      "reconciliation_code": null
    }
  ],
  "totals": {
    "debit": "10955.45",
    "credit": "412.00",
    "balance": "31462.20"
  }
}
Field Description
opening_balance Balance brought forward: movements of the fiscal year prior to from
movements[].balance Running balance after the movement
movements[].document Document number in the format fiscal year/number on six digits
movements[].reconciliation_code Lettering code, null if the line is not lettered
totals.balance Closing balance: opening_balance plus the debits minus the credits

Movements are sorted by date, then by entry, then by line position. This route is not paginated: limit the period with from and to for accounts with many movements.

Step 4: trace back to the entry

Each movement carries an entry_id. The complete entry, with all its lines, is read as follows:

curl https://api.novafisko.com/v1/companies/k3Jd9fPq2LmX/entries/1842 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NOVAFISKO_TOKEN"

Complete example: the whole general ledger in Python

import os
import requests

BASE = "https://api.novafisko.com/v1"
COMPANY = "k3Jd9fPq2LmX"
FISCAL_YEAR = 7

session = requests.Session()
session.headers.update({
    "Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['NOVAFISKO_TOKEN']}",
    "Accept": "application/json",
})

balance = session.get(
    f"{BASE}/companies/{COMPANY}/fiscal-years/{FISCAL_YEAR}/trial-balance", timeout=60
).json()
assert balance["totals"]["is_balanced"]

ledger = {}
for line in balance["lines"]:
    # One call per account that actually moved during the year
    ledger[line["number"]] = session.get(
        f"{BASE}/companies/{COMPANY}/fiscal-years/{FISCAL_YEAR}/general-ledger/{line['account_id']}",
        timeout=60,
    ).json()

for number, account in sorted(ledger.items()):
    print(number, account["totals"]["balance"], len(account["movements"]), "movements")
Tip

If you need the complete general ledger in a single file, use the export: GET exports/general-ledger?format=csv&fiscal_year_id=7. It accepts account_from and account_to to bound a range of accounts. See Export the full dossier.

Other statements available

Route Content
fiscal-years/{id}/balance-by-period Balance broken down by period
fiscal-years/{id}/financial-statements Balance sheet and income statement
journals/{id}/entries Book of a journal, with from and to
third-party-balance/{type} Balance of customers (customer) or suppliers (supplier)
aged-balance/{type} Aged balance
fiscal-years/{id}/consistency Consistency checks of the fiscal year
integrity Integrity check of the company
Note

A fiscal year that is unknown or belongs to another company responds 404. The same goes for an account of another company.

See also