# General Ledger

*Accounting & Reporting — Finicade finance glossary*

The general ledger is the master record holding every account a business uses and every transaction posted to them. Financial statements are just summaries of it. In audit and forensic work the ledger is where the trail lives: every reported number should be traceable back to individual entries, and a figure that can't be traced is the classic first sign of manipulation.

**Also known as:** GL, nominal ledger, books of account

**Related terms:** [Journal Entry](https://finicade.com/glossary/journal-entry), [Trial Balance](https://finicade.com/glossary/trial-balance), [Double-Entry Bookkeeping](https://finicade.com/glossary/double-entry-bookkeeping), [Financial Statements](https://finicade.com/glossary/financial-statements), [Bank Reconciliation](https://finicade.com/glossary/bank-reconciliation)

Source: https://finicade.com/glossary/general-ledger