Subsidiary ledger that tracks amounts owed by each customer and supports the accounts receivable control account.
The accounts receivable ledger is the subsidiary ledger that tracks the detailed balances owed by individual customers. It supports the accounts receivable control account in the general ledger.
Customer-level detail is necessary for collections, aging analysis, dispute handling, and period-end reconciliation. Without it, the receivables balance becomes harder to verify and manage.
Each invoice, credit memo, receipt, write-off, and adjustment is posted to the customer’s detailed account. The total of those customer balances should match the summarized accounts receivable control account in the general ledger.
That reconciliation helps accountants identify missing receipts, duplicate postings, and timing differences between invoicing and cash application.
If Customer A owes 18,000, Customer B owes 6,500, and Customer C has a credit balance of 500, the accounts receivable ledger totals 24,000. The control account should also total 24,000.
The accounts receivable ledger is detail, not the financial-statement amount itself. The statement amount comes from the summarized control account after reconciliation and adjustments.