I n t e r a c t I v e t e X t foundations in Accountancy/ acca financial accounting (ffa/FA) bpp learning Media is an acca approved Content Provider

 

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1.1 Control accounts and personal accounts 

The personal accounts of individual customers of the business are kept in the receivables ledger, and the 

amount owed by each receivable will be a balance on the receivable's personal account. The amount 

owed by all the receivables together (ie all the trade receivables) will be a balance on the receivables 

control account. 

At any time the balance on the receivables control account should be equal to the sum of the individual 

balances on the personal accounts in the receivables ledger. 

For example, a business has three trade accounts receivable: A Arnold owes $80, B Bagshaw owes 

$310 and C Cloning owes $200. The debit balances on the various accounts would be: 

Receivables ledger (personal accounts) 

 

 

  $   

A Arnold 

 

80 

B Bagshaw 

 

310 

C Cloning 

 

200 

 

 

590 

Nominal ledger: receivables control account 

 

590 

What has happened here is that the three entries of $80, $310 and $200 were first entered into the 

sales day book. They were also recorded in the three personal accounts of Arnold, Bagshaw and Cloning 

in the receivables ledger – but remember that this is not part of the double entry system. 

Later, the total of $590 is posted from the sales day book by a debit into the receivables (control)  

account and a credit to sales. If you add up all the debit figures on the personal accounts, they also total 

$590, as shown above.