Accounts Receivable and its Subsidiary Ledger

Accounts receivable 

 Money which is owed to a business by a customer for products and services provided on credit. This is often treated as a current asset on a balance sheet.

Subsidiary Ledgers Defined                                         

 A subsidiary ledger contains the details about the balance of a specific general ledger account (often referred to as the control account or master account).  The subsidiary ledger is maintained separately from the general ledger, but its total should always equal the balance in the general ledger account it supports.

 The subsidiary ledger can take many forms, as described in more detail below.

 It might consist of a listing of customers and amounts owed (accounts receivable), a listing of amounts owed to vendors (accounts payable), or a listing of inventory items on hand with quantities and costs.

 Subsidiary Ledger Examples

 Accounts receivable - Companies maintain a list of invoices due from their customers, normally in the form of an accounts receivable aging register. 

This provides them with a listing of all the outstanding and unpaid invoices due from their customers.  It also lets them know how old the invoices are, so they are aware of any past due items.  If all of the individual invoices due from customers on the aging register are added together, the total should equal the general ledger balance in accounts receivable.