What's the difference between Volumes & Balances?

Understanding the Basics: Volumes and Balances

In Formance's Ledger, the distinction is made between balances and volumes.

Here’s the difference:

• Balances: This represents the available amount in an account. It can be both positive, negative, or zero.

• Volumes: Volumes represent the total input and output amounts that the system processes. These values are stored as unsigned integers, meaning they cannot be negative.

The Ledger does not store balances directly. Instead, it records transaction volumes as unsigned integers. Balances are derived by looking at the difference between inputs (amount added to account) and outputs (amount removed from account).