The subledger, or subsidiary ledger, provides details behind entries in the
general ledger
In bookkeeping, a general ledger is a bookkeeping ledger in which accounting data are posted from General journal, journals and aggregated from subledgers, such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash management, fixed assets, purchasing ...
used in accounting. The subledger shows detail for part of the accounting records such as property and equipment,
prepaid expenses, etc. The detail would include such items as date the item was purchased or expense incurred, a description of the item, the original balance, and the net
book value
In accounting, book value (or carrying value) is the value of an asset according to its balance sheet account balance. For assets, the value is based on the original cost of the asset less any depreciation, amortization or impairment costs made ...
. The total of the subledger would match the line item amount on the general ledger. This corresponding line item in the general ledger is referred to as the
controlling account. The subsidiary ledger balance is compared with its controlling account balance as part of the process of preparing a
trial balance
A trial balance is an internal financial statement that lists the adjusted closing balances of all the general ledger accounts (both revenue and capital) contained in the ledger of a business as at a specific date. This list will contain the name ...
.
As part of an audit, a method of testing balances may include tracing individual acquisitions to the subsidiary ledger for amounts and descriptions. The objective of this test is to determine that the current-year acquisitions schedule agrees with related subledger amounts, and the total agrees with the general ledger.
References
Accounting journals and ledgers
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