Subsidiary ledger that tracks amounts owed to each supplier and supports the accounts payable control account.
The accounts payable ledger is the subsidiary ledger that tracks the detailed balances owed to individual suppliers. It supports the summarized accounts payable control account in the general ledger.
Without supplier-level detail, a business cannot reconcile vendor statements properly, manage due dates well, or prove that the control-account balance is supported. The accounts payable ledger is therefore essential for both cash planning and close accuracy.
Each supplier invoice, credit note, payment, and adjustment is posted to the supplier’s detail account. The sum of all open supplier balances should equal the accounts payable control account in the general ledger.
This ledger also supports aging reports, payment review, and dispute resolution because it shows which invoices remain outstanding for each vendor.
If three vendors are owed 12,000, 9,500, and 4,000, the accounts payable ledger totals 25,500. The accounts payable control account should also be 25,500.
The accounts payable ledger is not the same thing as accounts payable itself. The ledger is the detailed support. Accounts payable is the summarized control-account balance shown in the general ledger and statements.