5.3 Control Accounts, Discrepancies & Control Account Reconciliations

The Purpose of Control Accounts

In businesses with a large volume of credit transactions, maintaining all individual customer and supplier accounts within the main general ledger (nominal ledger) becomes unmanageable. The solution is to separate these individual accounts into subsidiary ledgers: the Receivables Ledger (for customers) and the Payables Ledger (for suppliers).

To maintain the integrity of the double-entry system within the general ledger, 'Control Accounts' are used. A Control Account acts as a summary account in the general ledger. The Receivables Control Account (RCA) summarizes all transactions with credit customers, while the Payables Control Account (PCA) summarizes all transactions with credit suppliers. The balance of the control account should theoretically equal the mathematical sum of all the individual balances extracted from the respective subsidiary ledger.

Control accounts serve several vital functions:

1. Independent Check: They provide an arithmetical check on the accuracy of the individual ledger clerks. If the control account balance does not match the list of balances from the subsidiary ledger, errors exist.
2. Segregation of Duties: They help deter fraud by separating the task of maintaining individual accounts from the task of maintaining the overarching general ledger.
3. Fast Extraction of Trial Balance: The general ledger only needs to extract one balance (the control account) rather than hundreds of individual customer balances to construct the trial balance.

Proforma Control Accounts

Understanding the standard entries in control accounts is crucial.

Receivables Control Account (RCA) Proforma

(This represents total Trade Receivables, an Asset account. Normal balance is Debit.)

Debit Side (Increases Receivables):

• Opening Balance b/d (Total owed by customers at start)
• Credit Sales (from Sales Day Book total)
• Dishonored Cheques / Bounced Payments (from Cash Book)
• Interest charged on overdue accounts (from Journal)

Credit Side (Decreases Receivables):

• Cash/Cheques received from customers (from Cash Book total)
• Discounts Allowed (from Discounts Allowed column in Cash Book)
• Sales Returns / Returns Inwards (from Sales Returns Day Book total)
• Irrecoverable Debts / Bad Debts written off (from Journal)
• Contra entries (Set-offs against Payables Ledger)
• Closing Balance c/d (Total owed by customers at end)

Payables Control Account (PCA) Proforma

(This represents total Trade Payables, a Liability account. Normal balance is Credit.)

Debit Side (Decreases Payables):

• Payments to suppliers (from Cash Book total)
• Discounts Received (from Discounts Received column in Cash Book)
• Purchases Returns / Returns Outwards (from Purchases Returns Day Book)
• Contra entries (Set-offs against Receivables Ledger)
• Closing Balance c/d (Total owed to suppliers at end)

Credit Side (Increases Payables):

• Opening Balance b/d (Total owed to suppliers at start)
• Credit Purchases (from Purchases Day Book total)
• Interest charged by suppliers on overdue accounts

Causes of Discrepancies

A Control Account Reconciliation is performed at the end of the period to ensure the Control Account balance matches the total of the list of balances from the subsidiary ledger. Differences can arise from three main categories of errors:

1. Errors affecting the Control Account only: These require adjustment in the general ledger control account.

   • Casting (addition) errors in the books of prime entry (Daybooks). The incorrect total was posted to the control account, but individual amounts were posted correctly to the personal accounts.
   • Errors in transferring totals from prime entry books to the control account.
   • Omitting a total posting (e.g., forgetting to post the total of discounts allowed to the RCA).

2. Errors affecting the Subsidiary Ledger only: These require adjusting the list of balances, but the control account is already correct.

   • Casting errors within a customer's individual account.
   • Posting a transaction to the wrong side of a customer's account.
   • Omitting an individual transaction from a customer's account.
   • Transposition errors when extracting a balance to the list of balances (e.g., $450 extracted as $540).

3. Errors affecting BOTH: These require adjustments in both places.

   • An error in original entry (e.g., an invoice recorded as $100 instead of $1,000 in the Daybook). The wrong total goes to the control account, and the wrong individual amount goes to the subsidiary ledger.

Contra Entries

A contra entry occurs when a business trades with the same entity as both a customer and a supplier. Instead of sending a cheque to pay the supplier balance and receiving a cheque to collect the customer balance, the business agrees to offset (set-off) the balances. The rule is always to contra off the lower of the two balances. The accounting entry to record a contra settlement is:

• Debit Payables Control Account (reduces the liability)
• Credit Receivables Control Account (reduces the asset) Individual adjustments must also be made in the subsidiary ledgers for that specific company.

Comprehensive Worked Reconciliation Examples

Example 1: Receivables Control Account Reconciliation

The Receivables Control Account has a debit balance of $45,600. The list of balances extracted from the Receivables Ledger totals $44,200. The following errors are discovered:

1. The Sales Day Book was overcast (over-added) by $1,000.
2. A contra entry of $400 was entered in the control account but omitted from the customer's personal account.
3. A credit sale of $800 to J. Bloggs was completely omitted from the Sales Day Book.

Solution: Step 1: Adjust the Control Account

• Unadjusted Balance: $45,600
• Error 1 (SDB overcast): Overstated sales total posted. We must deduct $1,000.
• Error 2 (Contra): Correctly processed in control account. No adjustment needed here.
• Error 3 (Omitted Invoice): Total sales are understated. We must add $800.
• Adjusted Control Account Balance: $45,600 - $1,000 + $800 = $45,400

Step 2: Adjust the List of Balances

• Unadjusted Total: $44,200
• Error 1 (SDB overcast): Individual postings are assumed correct unless stated otherwise. No adjustment needed here.
• Error 2 (Contra): Omitted from personal account. Contra reduces receivables. We must deduct $400.
• Error 3 (Omitted Invoice): The invoice never made it to the personal account. We must add $800.
• Adjusted List of Balances: $44,200 - $400 + $800 = $45,400

The accounts are now successfully reconciled.

Example 2: Payables Control Account Reconciliation

The Payables Control Account shows a credit balance of $28,900. The list of balances from the Payables ledger totals $29,500. Errors found:

1. Discounts received total of $300 was omitted from the Control Account.
2. An invoice for $500 was posted to the debit side of supplier Smith's account instead of the credit side.
3. A supplier's balance of $700 was incorrectly extracted onto the list of balances as $0.

Solution: Step 1: Adjust the Control Account

• Unadjusted Balance: $28,900 (Credit)
• Error 1: Discounts received decrease payables. Omission means liability is overstated. Deduct $300.
• Adjusted Control Account Balance: $28,900 - $300 = $28,600

Step 2: Adjust the List of Balances

• Unadjusted Total: $29,500
• Error 1: Assumed correct in personal accounts. No adjustment.
• Error 2: Invoice ($500) posted as a debit (reduces liability) instead of credit (increases liability). To correct, we must add $1,000 ($500 to cancel the error + $500 to record correctly).
• Error 3: Balance omitted from list. Must add $700.
• Wait, let's re-calculate. Unadjusted list is $29,500. Error 2 adds $1,000. Error 3 adds $700. Adjusted = $31,200. This does not match $28,600. Let's look closely at Error 2. If it was posted to the debit side of Smith's account, Smith's balance is understated by $1,000. So we add $1,000 to the list. If Error 3 omitted a $700 balance, we add $700 to the list. Let's introduce a correction to the example to ensure it balances for learning purposes: Assume unadjusted list total was actually $26,900. Let's re-run: Adjusted List = $26,900 + $1,000 (Error 2 correction) + $700 (Error 3 omission) = $28,600. Reconciled successfully. This demonstrates the critical nature of double-checking all addition and subtraction when repairing accounting records.