The complete record of every transaction, organized by account.
The general ledger is the book of record: every transaction the business has ever recorded, organized account by account. Where the chart of accounts lists the categories, the ledger holds their full contents and running balances.
Every invoice, bill, payment, and journal entry ultimately posts to the ledger. Reports are just views of it — the P&L summarizes its income and expense accounts over a period; the balance sheet snapshots its asset, liability, and equity balances. When accountants say 'the books,' the general ledger is the thing they mean.
Open the ledger to the checking account and you'll see every deposit and payment in order with a running balance — which is exactly what you check line-by-line against the bank statement during reconciliation.
Chart of Accounts · Journal Entry · Trial Balance — or browse the full plain-English glossary.
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