General Ledger
The master record of all financial transactions of a company, organized by account and used to prepare financial statements.
What is General Ledger?
The general ledger (GL) is the central repository of a company's accounting records, containing all accounts and their balances as recorded through journal entries. Every financial transaction eventually flows into the general ledger, where it is organized by account code according to the chart of accounts. The GL is the source of truth for preparing the trial balance, which is then used to construct the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. Modern accounting software automates the posting of journal entries to the general ledger in real time. Auditors extensively test the general ledger — particularly scrutinizing unusual entries, entries made after period-end, and entries made by senior management — as these are common vectors for financial misstatement.
Example
SAP S/4HANA, used by thousands of large corporations, maintains the general ledger in real time — every purchase order, invoice, payroll run, and bank deposit is automatically posted to the relevant GL account, giving CFOs instant visibility into financial position without waiting for month-end close.
Source: Investopedia — General Ledger