General ledger
The general ledger is the collection of all accounts with the amounts posted to them; it shows the same data as the journal, ordered by account instead of by date.
Definition
Alongside it sit the subsidiary ledgers: receivables, payables, payroll, fixed assets. They hold the detail and hand totals to the general ledger. Whether software knows this separation decides how large a business can grow without booking into confusion.
For an audit the general ledger is the central report: from every balance the path leads through the account to the entry and from there to the document. That chain must work without detours.
Where to read it
What the software must be able to do
The check is the report: a statement per account and period, with opening and closing balance, exportable as a file. It sounds obvious, but it is regularly missing in simple programs.
Checked Aug 2026
More terms under Bookkeeping and retention: Accrual principle Accrued liabilities Annual accounts Association accounting Balance sheet Balance sheet total Book value Break-even point Business assets Business expenses Cash book Cash flow statement Cash receipts Contribution margin Cost centre Current assets Debit and credit Depreciation Double-entry bookkeeping Duty to keep accounts EBIT EBITDA Equity Equity ratio Financial year Fixed assets Fixed costs Foreign currency Gross profit Hidden reserves Income statement Inventory count Journal Journal entry Liabilities Liquidity Loss carry-forward Membership dues Net profit Opening balance sheet Overheads Pass-through item Prepaid expenses Provision Record-keeping ordinance Reserves Retained profit Simple accounts Swiss SME chart of accounts Tamper resistance Turnover Value adjustment Variable costs Volunteer-run structure Voucher Year-end closing modules