A general ledger (GL) is a set of numbered accounts a business uses to keep track of its financial transactions and to prepare financial reports. The CFO’s office is in charge of maintaining, building, and validating the records in the general ledger, as well as consolidating the data to build the financial reports. Each account in the ledger is a unique record that summarizes each type of asset, liability, equity, revenue and expense. All of the records are in a numerical format to allow for easy tracking and reporting.

The GL is the financial backbone of any organization. The major purpose of a financial report is to communicate the financial condition of the organization, and it is a report prepared by the CFO’s office.