---
title: "General ledger"
description: "What is a general ledger? The complete record of every posted debit, credit and account balance. Learn how it relates to sub-ledgers and the trial balance."
url: https://1flux.ai/glossary/general-ledger
last_updated: 2026-10-10
---

[Accounting](https://1flux.ai/glossary#accounting)

# General ledger

What is a general ledger, and how does it relate to sub-ledgers and the trial balance?

Glossary Updated 10 October 2026

Definition

The general ledger (GL) is the complete record of a business's accounts, holding every posted debit and credit and the running balance of each account.

## What is a general ledger used for?

Journal entries are posted to the GL, and the GL is the source of the [trial balance](https://1flux.ai/glossary/trial-balance) and financial statements. Sub-ledgers, such as receivables or inventory, hold the detail by customer or item and should agree with their control accounts in the GL. When they don’t, something was posted to one and not the other.

Example: the Accounts receivable control account shows USD 412,000, matching the total of open customer invoices in the receivables sub-ledger.

A good GL lets you drill from any balance to the documents behind it.

In 1flux

The general ledger shows every account grouped by nature with a “Debits equal credits” check, and each account ledger shows a running balance with drill-down to source documents. Profit and loss and balance sheet for each legal entity come straight from the ledger. [See the general ledger and journals](https://1flux.ai/products/accounting/general-ledger)

Related

## Keep exploring

### [Chart of accounts](https://1flux.ai/glossary/chart-of-accounts)

The structured list of every account a business records transactions in.

### [Trial balance](https://1flux.ai/glossary/trial-balance)

Every account's balance, checked so debits equal credits.

### [Posting](https://1flux.ai/glossary/posting)

Recording a transaction permanently in the general ledger.

### [General ledger and journals](https://1flux.ai/products/accounting/general-ledger)

A chart of accounts in minutes, journals that can't be rewritten and periods that stay closed.

Last updated 10 October 2026