What advantages do control account offer?

Answer 1

The principal advantage of using control accounts is to reduce the need to deal with many sales, or purchase ledger balances to a single sales, or purchase ledger balance. This way interim and final accounts can be drawn up more quickly. A second advantage is that the control account balances can be used as a check on the accuracy of individual ledger account postings, especially if the control accounts are posted by a different book-keeper to the one who posts the individual sales and purchase ledger accounts. This is usually the case in large companies. It is unlikely that the same posting errors will be made by both clerks. Thirdly, subdividing a ledger means errors are easier to find because each division is self-contained in double entry terms. Fourthly, fraud is made more difficult. Illegal transfers of money are more likely to be noticed if a different clerk deals with each side of the dual postings.