What are Subsidiary Accounts?

Apart from these fundamental accounts, some other special-purpose accounts are used to ensure the integrity of financial transactions. Some examples of such accounts are clearing accounts, suspense accounts, contra accounts, and intercompany accounts. Balance in the “Fixed Assets” control account in the general ledger will represent the total the subsidiary ledger that includes customer account activity is called the cost of all assets owned by the organization on a given date. When all of the depreciation taken is added together, the total should equal the general ledger balance in accumulated depreciation. The main benefit of having an accounts receivable ledger is that gives us access to more detailed information about a business’s accounts receivable.

The general ledger is a record of all transactions that occur within a company, including income, expenses, assets, and liabilities. In order to create this record, businesses must first create an organized chart of accounts that lists all the various types of transactions categorized by type and account number. This allows companies to easily track their finances and make strategic decisions based on their accounting data. Thanks to the use of accounting software, the process of posting to the control account in the general ledger while also posting to the customer subsidiary accounts is much easier than in times past.

When to use a subsidiary or control Ledger?

The sum of all invoices in the accounts receivable subsidiary ledger should equal that of the accounts receivables on the general ledger, also known as the control account. An accounts payable subsidiary ledger is an accounting ledger that shows the transaction history and amounts owed to each supplier and vendor. An accounts payable is essentially an extension of credit from a supplier that gives a business time to pay for the supplies. The subsidiary ledger records all of the accounts payables that a company owes. But the accounts receivable subsidiary ledger provides quick access to each customer’s balance and account activity. The typical level of activity in a control account is on a daily basis. For example, all payables entered during one day will be aggregated from the subsidiary ledger and posted as a single summary-level number into the accounts payable control account.

With it, the business now has a record of each customer’s outstanding balance as opposed to just knowing the total balance that it expects to collect/receive. With just the general ledger and journals, it’d be hard to keep track of them individually. It is especially useful if the business has many customers that avail themselves of credit. “Accounts payable” refers to an account within the general ledger representing a company’s obligation to pay off a short-term obligations to its creditors or suppliers. A cash book is a financial journal that contains all cash receipts and disbursements, including bank deposits and withdrawals. Therefore, everyone within the company network can access the ledger at any point and make a personal copy of the ledger, making it a self-regulated system.

General Ledger vs. Sub Ledger Infographics

Costs incurred by the business in providing the goods and/or services purchased by the customers. Payments made to the business by customers for the goods and/or services provided by the business. The theoretical value of the business that would be distributed to the owners after the assets were sold and the liabilities paid.

The relationship between the special journals, the general journal, and the general ledger can be seen in Figure 7.8. There is no need to set up subsidiary ledgers from a control or data access perspective, since you can usually restrict access to individual accounts in better accounting software packages. The subsidiary ledger is essentially a worksheet for all of the payables owed to suppliers. The balance in the customer accounts is periodically reconciled with the accounts payable balance in the general ledger to ensure accuracy. The accounts payable subsidiary ledger is also commonly referred to as the AP sub-ledger or subaccount. The accounts receivable subsidiary ledger shows the transactions and payment history of each customer that has been extended credit.

Commonly Used Subsidiary Ledgers:

TermDefinition Accounting information systems People, records, and methods that collect and process data from transactions and events, organize them in useful forms, and communicate results to decision makers. Accounts payable ledger Subsidiary ledger listing individual creditor accounts. Accounts receivable ledger Subsidiary ledger listing individual customer accounts. Batch processing Accumulating source documents for a period of time and then processing them all at once such as once a day, week, or month.

• A screen in the general ledger module of SAP’s S/4HANA ERP suite lets you view a directory of the journal entries that feed data into a GL account.
• The list of transactions in a particular account is called a ledger.
• The chart of accounts is a list of all the accounts that exist in an organization, while the general ledger is a record of all transactions involving those accounts.
• This makes it easier to track who has already paid and who still owes your business money.
• Without a numbering system, it would be hard to know where each transaction belongs.
• The use of special journal and subsidiary ledgers can make the accounting information system more effective and allow for certain types of information to be obtained more easily.

The Business TransactionA business transaction is the exchange of goods or services for cash with third parties (such as customers, vendors, etc.). The goods involved have monetary and tangible economic value, which may be recorded and presented in the company’s financial statements. Ledger helps understand the financing https://business-accounting.net/ of business and helps analyze transactions. A subsidiary ledger is the subset of the general ledger in accounting. It is impossible to record all transactions in the general ledger; hence transactions are recorded in the sun ledger in a different account, and their total sum is reflected in the general ledger.

What is a Subsidiary Ledger?

These accounts form the basis for tracking financial data such as income, expenses, assets, and liabilities over time. The use of accounting software can simplify the process of maintaining multiple subledger accounts, eliminating the need to record multiple transactions manually. It can also reduce the amount of time you need to spend on researching and reconciling out-of-balance accounts. Subsidiary ledgers have to balance and agree with the general ledger.

For example, inventory is purchased, sales are made, customers are billed, cash is collected, employees work and need to be paid, and other expenses are incurred. Sales will require a sales journal, cash receipts journal, and accounts receivable subsidiary ledger journal. Payroll and other disbursements will require their own journals to accurately track transactions. Holds the details about all of the amounts a company owes to people and/or companies.

The posting of this sales journal will be similar to the posting explained in the above example. When posting entries to the ledger, move each journal entry into an individual account.

• With an accounts receivable ledger, you’d have access to detailed information about an individual customer’s account.
• If they are in a 28 percent tax bracket, this deduction would reduce their taxable income by .
• Some say that it’s the blueprint of the business since the chart of accounts contains all the accounts that will appear on the balance sheet and income statement.
• Here is the information from the accounts receivable subsidiary ledger.
• Examples of the Subsidiary ledger are customer accounts, vendor accounts, bank accounts, and fixed assets.