What are Subledgers or Subsidiary Ledgers In Accounting

Subsidiary or Subledgers are the individual accounts of each Class of Accounts or Types / Kinds of Accounts in which Business Transactions are transferred from their respective Subsidiary Journals or Sub-Journals. The closing balances of each individual accounts are finally transferred to Main / Principal / Control or General Ledger at the end of accounting period.

For Example, we know in a larger business enterprises, there are larger number of customers who buy goods or products from company on daily basis. Every sales made is recorded in each customer or Accounts Receivable Subledger and in Subsidiary Sales Day Book. These customers are named as Mr. A’s Ledger, Mr. B’s Ledger and so on. Similarly, a big company supplies raw materials or finished goods / products from their supplier on daily or weekly basis, so the company maintains Accounts Payable Subsidiary Ledgers for each supplier separately and then totaled and transferred to Main Accounts Payable General Ledger at the end of accounting Period.