A ledger is the complete record of all your business transactions, gathered by account. This guide explains the general ledger and how it feeds your reports.
Published July 2026 · Updated July 2026
If a journal entry is a single note, the ledger is the whole book. It gathers every entry by account so you can see the running total for Sales, Bank, Rent and everything else.
The general ledger is the complete set of accounts for the business. Sub ledgers (for example a sales ledger of who owes you money) feed into it. Together they hold every figure your reports are built from.
Your profit and loss and balance sheet are simply summaries of the ledger at a point in time. Because software keeps the ledger current, those reports are always available on demand.
A journal records transactions as they happen; the ledger organises those transactions by account so you can see totals.
A detailed ledger for one area, such as accounts receivable, that rolls up into the general ledger.
Not with software. Posting invoices, bills and payments updates the ledger automatically.
Source: Investopedia ↗. This glossary is written for small business owners, so definitions are simplified. Tax rates and thresholds reflect 2026/27 UK rules and change over time. Berified does not provide accounting, tax or legal advice; always check the source or a qualified adviser.