Debtors, Sundry, Other & Inter-Company: Codes 1100, 1101, 1102 & 1104

Not every amount owed to a business comes from the same kind of customer relationship, so Sage splits money owed into a few different debtor codes depending on who owes it and why.

The codes, and what each one holds

Code 1100 — Debtors Control Account is the main total for money owed by trade customers for goods or services already invoiced. It's usually the largest of the four, and in practice is the total that reconciles back to the individual customer ledger.

Code 1101 — Sundry Debtors covers occasional, one-off debtors that don't fit the regular trade customer ledger — a rare one-time buyer, for example.

Code 1102 — Other Debtors is a catch-all for anything that doesn't belong in trade or sundry debtors, such as a deposit paid to a supplier that will be refunded.

Code 1104 — Inter-company Debtors tracks money owed by a related or sister company within the same group — a distinct category since it isn't a normal trading customer at all. All four are Current Assets codes and normally carry a debit balance.

Real-world examples across industries

Wholesale and distribution

A wholesaler invoicing trade customers on 30-day account terms carries a substantial 1100 (Debtors Control Account) balance most of the time — £45,000, say, actively chased by a credit controller using an aged debtors report. Separately, a customer fails to return a returnable delivery pallet, and the wholesaler recovers its £180 cost — a one-off amount posted to 1101 (Sundry Debtors) rather than mixed into the regular trade account: a debit of £180 to 1101 and a credit of £180 to 5003 (Packaging), reversing part of the packaging cost originally expensed.

Small owner-managed company

A small consultancy invoices modest trade debtors of £8,000 this month — a debit of £8,000 to 1100. Separately, its director draws £15,000 from the business during the year that isn't salary, dividend or reimbursed expenses — a debit of £15,000 to 1102 (Other Debtors) and a credit of £15,000 to 1200 (Bank), recording it as money owed back to the company. If it isn't repaid within nine months of the year end, a tax charge (S455) falls on the company on the outstanding balance, which is why this particular code gets closely watched at year end in owner-managed businesses.

Group with inter-company recharges

A holding company recharges a trading subsidiary £6,000 for shared admin services. Where the two are registered in the same VAT group, the recharge is disregarded for VAT purposes — no VAT is charged, so it's a debit of £6,000 to 1104 (Inter-company Debtors) in the holding company's books and a credit of £6,000 to 4010 (the mirror management-charge income code). A similar £4,000 recharge to a sister company outside that VAT group is a normal taxable supply instead: a debit of £4,800 to 1104 (the gross amount owed), a credit of £4,000 to 4010, and a credit of £800 to 2200 (Sales Tax Control Account) for the output VAT.

Why this matters day to day

Lumping everything into the Debtors Control Account makes it harder to reconcile against the customer sales ledger, since one-off and inter-company amounts don't belong to any individual trade customer account. Keeping them separate also flags inter-company balances clearly, which auditors and accountants will want to see isolated at year end.