control account
- noun
- /kənˈtroʊl əˈkaʊnt/
- Specialized
:
cuenta de control
- The accountant reviewed the control account to verify the accuracy of the subsidiary ledger entries.
Examples
-
During the audit, the control account was examined to confirm that all entries matched the individual account details.
-
To maintain accurate financial records, they ensured all transactions were properly reflected in the control account.
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The aggregation of data does not cease at the level where individual data items (such as individual receivables) are "rolled up" into a master or control account total (such as Accounts Receivable).
Academic text (2002)
Synonyms
∞
2.1
A record of money received and paid by a person or business
How Detailed
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
397
2.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound clearly combines 'control' (oversight/directing) with 'account' (financial record), so a B1 learner could guess it refers to an account used for oversight or control. However the precise, technical function—an account that summarizes subsidiary-ledger totals and ensures reconciliation—is specialized and not directly predictable from the constituents, making the meaning only partially inferable without domain knowledge.
Etymology
Control account comes from the idea of one main account that 'controls' many smaller records. Imagine a single book or guard that keeps the total of all the small accounts so you can check they add up, and that's why it means 'a summary account' used to verify the detailed records.