The general ledger is the trial balance of the University. It contains the assets, liabilities, and fund balances (also called net assets) for each fund. In addition, the general ledger also records fund additions, fund deductions, and summaries of activity in the associated subsidiary ledger accounts. 

As money is spent or as income is recorded in each subsidiary ledger account, that information is sent to an account in the general ledger so the University can keep track of its assets, liabilities and fund balances. 

There are about 10,000 accounts in the general ledger. They are blocked, or organized, by fund groups. 

Each general ledger account number begins with the number zero, since zero is the number of the general ledger. Because of this, people at the University also refer to the general ledger as the "zero ledger."