The General Ledger (G/L) is the central record-keeping system of a company’s financial data.

It contains all accounts used to record the company’s financial transactions, such as:
Assets (cash, accounts receivable, equipment, inventory)
Liabilities (loans, accounts payable, taxes payable)
Equity (capital, retained earnings)
Income (sales, service revenue, interest income)
Expenses (rent, salaries, utilities, supplies)

Key points about the General Ledger:
It acts as the master record of all financial activity.
Each transaction first enters a journal (e.g., sales journal, cash receipts journal) and is then posted to the General Ledger.
Every account in the ledger has a running balance (debits and credits).

At the end of an accounting period, the G/L is used to prepare a trial balance, which then leads to financial statements (income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement).

The General Ledger is like the master book of accounts that summarizes everything happening in the business financially.