What is a control account?

What is a control account?

• A. The total figures from the books of prime entry
• B. The numbers of customers in the ledger
• C. The balance of cash at the bank
• D. The value of fixed assets

Answer: (A)

A control account is a general ledger account that tallies the totals from a group of related individual accounts in a subsidiary ledger and is updated from the books of prime entry. It provides a single figure that represents the overall total of transactions before they’re split into or reconciled with the detailed customer or supplier records. The key idea is that the control account shows the sum of the activities recorded in the books of prime entry (like the sales or purchases day books) and should reconcile with the totals in the corresponding subsidiary ledgers. So the statement that it represents the total figures from the books of prime entry is the best description. The other options describe individual balances or counts (like an asset, cash, or customer numbers) rather than the consolidated total that a control account provides.

A control account is a general ledger account that tallies the totals from a group of related individual accounts in a subsidiary ledger and is updated from the books of prime entry. It provides a single figure that represents the overall total of transactions before they’re split into or reconciled with the detailed customer or supplier records. The key idea is that the control account shows the sum of the activities recorded in the books of prime entry (like the sales or purchases day books) and should reconcile with the totals in the corresponding subsidiary ledgers.

So the statement that it represents the total figures from the books of prime entry is the best description. The other options describe individual balances or counts (like an asset, cash, or customer numbers) rather than the consolidated total that a control account provides.