The general ledger, sometimes known as the nominal ledger, is the main accounting record of a business which uses double-entry bookkeeping. It will usually include accounts for such items as fixed assets, current assets and liabilities, profit and loss or income and expenditure items, and funds or reserves.

The general ledger is a summary of all of the transactions that occur in the company. It is taken directly from the general journal, where each transaction is recorded.

The balance sheet and the profit/loss statement are both derived from the general ledger. Because it is organized by accounts, the general ledger allows you to observe the impact of all the transactions affecting each account at any given time. The general ledger is where posting occurs, which is the process of recording credits and debits in the general ledger. The actual balances are called the trial balance.

The general ledger should include the date, description and balance entries for each account. It is usually divided into at least five main categories. These categories generally include assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses and sometimes additionally equity (liabilities held by the owners of the company). The main categories of the general ledger may be subdivided into subledgers to include details such as cash, accounts payable, accounts receivable, etc.

Because each transaction debits one account and credits another to an equal extent an accounting system will ensure that the general ledger will always be in balance unless, for example, an account (sometimes called a T-account) is deleted or mis-specified in the general journal.