What is the General Ledger?

The General Ledger (GL) is used to record each transaction a business makes and prepare financial statements. The GL is a summarized version of the Journal, making it easier to understand the transactions and journal entries contributing to the total of each account in the Chart of Accounts and financial statements.

The GL will list your transactions in ascending order and show you a few things:

Date - The date of the transaction or manual journal entry
Type - The type of transaction it is (Expense, Income, Tax Payment, Bank Transfer, etc.)
Debit or Credit - The net debit or credit attributed to the selected GL account
Balance - The running balance for the GL account
Account - The other account the transaction is associated with

When should I use the General Ledger?

The GL should be used to maintain a complete, detailed record of all business financial transactions in one place. The GL is useful for reviewing activity across all GL accounts, reconciling balances, and ensuring books are accurate.