An accounting ledger that reveals the transaction history and amounts owed independently for each supplier from whom the business gets credit for purchases. The balance in the customer accounts is from time to time reconciled with the accounts payable (AP) balance in the general ledger to assure accuracy. The AP subsidiary ledger is also generally known as the AP sub ledger or subaccount.
The usefulness of the accounts payable subsidiary ledger lies in the fact that it can present at a glance the amounts owed to a particular supplier. For instance, the general balance may exhibit a total accounts payable balance of $50,000, but it will not give the data that which supplier is owed how much. This information can be taken from the accounts payable subsidiary ledger.