A type of ledger that records detailed accounting information (such as transaction information) that is not usually reported or shown, at first instance, in a general ledger (GL) control account. As a list of individual accounts that feed the general ledger, a subledger ledger (subsidiary ledger) provides a summary of recorded information that is periodically carried to a control account in the general ledger. In this sense, a subsidiary ledger is used to keep track of the details for a certain control account within an entity’s general ledger.

For example, an accounts receivable (A/Rs) subsidiary ledger is an accounting ledger that presents the transaction and payment history of each customer, while the general ledger would present the combined total accounts receivable for multiple customers.