The General Ledger (GL) is a company's master record of accounts, where every financial transaction is ultimately posted and from which the financial statements are built.
Transactions are first recorded in journals and in subsidiary ledgers such as accounts payable and accounts receivable, then posted to the general ledger, which aggregates them by account. Those accounts are organized by the company's 📝Chart of Accounts into assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, and expenses. Each entry follows double-entry bookkeeping, recording offsetting debits and credits so the accounting equation stays in balance.
A trial balance lists the ending balance of every general ledger account to confirm that total debits equal total credits. Once verified, those balances feed the balance sheet and the 📝Income Statement. Today the General Ledger is maintained in an accounting system such as QuickBooks Online rather than in paper books.