> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.lead.bank/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Balances & Transactions: Reporting Your Customers' Ledger to Lead

> Overview of balance and transaction files.

<Warning>
  **Upcoming Changes**

  We're introducing additional validation to ensure every Balance references a valid parent Account. Partners submitting Balance files should review their account creation and file generation workflows before validation is enforced on October 6, 2026.

  👉 [View Details](/upcoming-changes#account-validation-during-new-balance-creation)
</Warning>

## What They Represent

A **Balance** is your customer's position in a product on an [Account](/products/accounts/overview): for deposit products, the money they hold; for credit products, the terms of the loan or line and the outstanding position against it. A **Transaction** is an individual item of activity against a balance. Because you are the ledger of record for your customers, these are reporting objects — you maintain them in your systems and report them to Lead, and Lead's compliance oversight of your program depends on their accuracy and timeliness.

## Deposit and Credit Balances

Deposit balances are reported through the daily files. Credit balances are additionally *created* through the Subledger Balance API — type: credit, structure: revolving or non\_revolving, carrying the loan's terms — and then serviced through the same daily files as everything else. The distinction matters operationally: for credit products the reported position gates what happens next (available credit limits the next [Funding](/api-reference/endpoint/funding/create-a-funding) draw), so reporting accuracy is load-bearing, not just compliance-relevant.

## Reconciliations

Lead performs daily reconciliations on the reported transactions and balances. The expectation is that balance on T equals balance on T-1 plus transactions affecting the balance from T.

* For `deposit` programs, reconciliation may include `rewards_amount`, `dispute_balance`, `charge_off_balance`, and `interest_accrued_balance` in addition to `balance`.
* For `credit` programs, reconciliation may include `rewards_amount`, `dispute_balance`, `charge_off_balance`, and `past_due_balance`, in addition to balance and its components `principal`, `fees`, and `interest`).

## Cadence

Balance and Transaction files are due by 6:00 a.m. CT the business day after the activity; submit an empty file on days with nothing to report.

## In this section

[Transaction Types](/products/balances-and-transactions/transaction-types) — the classification every reported transaction carries · [Balance Statuses](/products/balances-and-transactions/balance-statuses) — the balance lifecycle and who changes it (you do; there are no lifecycle webhooks — [Executing vs. Reporting](/core-concepts/platform/executing-vs-reporting)) · [Balance Reconciliation](/products/balances-and-transactions/balance-reconciliation) — how your reported positions are reconciled against Lead's records.

## Reference

API Reference: [Subledger Balance endpoints](/api-reference/endpoint/subledger-balance/create-a-subledger-balance) · File Reference: [Balance & Transaction File Schemas](/file-reference/balances-and-transactions/balances-schema).