What is Control Accounts? What is C/A for A/R and A/P?

Question

I have US COA set up automatically by SBO. So all accounts are already set up there.
When I go to: Administration > Setup > Financial > G/L Account Determination:
In Sales (general) tab, I noticed Account Receivable with (...) next to it.
When I clicked it, it will bring window of Control Accounts for A/R.
In Purchasing (general) tab, I noticed Account Payable with (...) next to it.
When I clicked it, it will bring window of Control Accounts for A/P.
1. What is this Control Accounts?
Can I leave it blank as it is? If I left it blank, will it affect financial result? If the answer is it is OK to leave it blank then no need to answer my questions below. If I need to fill it out, then I need help with questions # 2  and # 3 below.
2. Inside this Control Accounts for A/R: (note: we do business Domestic only)
What will be the correct Account Code for Down Payment Receivable? (My guess it is A/R Domestic)?
What will be the correct Account Code for Open Debts? (My guess it is A/R Domestic)?
3. Inside this Control Accounts for A/P: (note: we do business Domestic only)
What will be the correct Account Code for Down Payment Payable? (My guess it is A/P Domestic)?
What will be the correct Account Code for Open Debts? (My guess it is A/P Domestic)?
What will be the correct Account Code for Assets Account? (My guess it is A/P Domestic)?
Thank you.

Answer 1

Hi Tom
You can define a G/L account as a control account.
A control account links the business partner accounts to the general ledger. You must enter a control account in every business partner master record. Whenever you post a document to a business partner account, the system automatically adds a journal entry to the general ledger, which posts the receivables or payables to this control account.
Some transactions, such as transactions with bills of exchange, must be posted to special control accounts. Therefore, you can assign these special accounts to predefined transaction types, such as
Open Debts, Assets Account, Down Payments Receivable/Payable or other (country-dependent).
You can also enter default control accounts under Administration  Setup  Financials  G/L Account Determination. These accounts appear by default whenever you create a new business partner.
The system displays the total account balance in the business partner master record. From there you can navigate to the line item display of the account. In the line item display, the system displays the debit values in black and the credit values in green and in parentheses.
If you are working with several control accounts, the system can display the business partner balances separately for every control account. To activate this, choose Administration  System Initialization  General Settings and select the Display Accounts Balance by Control Accounts indicator on the BP tab.
You must have the proper authorization to view the accounts and balances.
Hope this helps.
Nagesh