Savings product accounting

This is step 6 of the create wizard. After save, accounts appear on the product only when accounting is not None. Payment-channel and charge mappings are a separate mappings step.

The walkthrough on this page creates Normal Savings With Accounting: ordinary savings on Cash, with a payment-channel mapping, and saves it. The first create video stops on None and does not save.

This page explains the accounting rule, every general ledger (GL) account the rule needs, the usual debits and credits for savings movements, and a glossary of the terms on this step. Create or adjust the accounts themselves under Accounting → Chart of accounts.

On the seeded chart, example codes are in parentheses. Your institution may use different codes; the type (asset, liability, income, expense) must still match the picker.

Accounting rule

Savings products have three posting styles. There is no Accrual (upfront) option — that exists only on loan products.

• None — no GL accounts, and mappings do not apply. Use this while you are still designing the product, or when another system is the ledger. Accounts still hold balances and interest; they just do not write journal lines in Bankayo.
• Cash — a journal posts when money moves (deposit, withdrawal, posted interest, a collected fee). Interest expense hits the books when interest is posted to the account, not as it is earned day by day. Requires the nine cash accounts below. Overdraft accounts are required even if this product does not allow overdraft.
• Accrual (periodic) — the cash set, plus fees receivable, penalties receivable, and interest payable. Interest receivable is optional (used when you accrue overdraft interest the client owes you). Earned amounts can sit on receivable or payable accounts before cash moves, then clear when the fee is paid or interest is posted.

Every required account is a searchable list of detail GL accounts of the matching type. Header accounts only group other accounts and never appear here.

If you turned on dormancy tracking, cash and accrual also need an escheat liability account.

How savings books work

A savings account is a liability of the institution: you owe the client their balance. Cash in the vault or bank is an asset.

Two accounts make that split:

• Savings control (liability) — the sum of client balances. A deposit increases this liability (credit). A withdrawal decreases it (debit).
• Savings reference (asset) — the cash or bank account that actually holds the money. A deposit increases cash (debit). A withdrawal decreases it (credit).

Do not confuse those names with the seeded liability called Savings Reference (2120). That account is a liability, so it does not appear in the Savings reference picker. For Savings reference, pick a cash or bank asset (1110 Cash at Main Vault, 1120 Cash at Teller, or 1130 Bank Settlement Account). For Savings control, pick 2110.

Fund source on a loan product is the same idea as savings reference: a cash or bank asset. It is not an Organization fund.

Cash accounts

Required whenever the rule is Cash or Accrual (periodic).

Assets

• Savings reference — cash or bank that deposits increase and withdrawals decrease. Seeded examples: 1110, 1120, 1130. A payment-channel mapping can send one payment type to a different cash account (teller cash versus bank).
• Overdraft portfolio — asset for principal the client owes you when the account is below zero. Required even if overdraft is off. The seeded chart has no dedicated overdraft portfolio; create a detail asset if you need one, or reuse an asset your accountant designates.

Liabilities

• Savings control (2110) — client deposit balances.
• Transfers in suspense (2410 Liability Transfer Suspense) — money in flight between accounts (for example a transfer that has left one savings account and not yet landed on the other). This picker lists liability accounts. Loan products use an asset suspense account (1410) for the same idea — do not mix them.

Income

• Income from fees (4210) — default for every fee on the product. A mapping can send one fee somewhere else.
• Income from penalties (4310) — the same default for penalties.
• Income from interest — interest you charge on overdraft (not interest you pay savers). Required even if overdraft is off. Create or pick a detail income account your accountant designates.

Expenses

• Interest on savings (5210 Interest on Savings Expense) — interest you pay savers when it is posted (cash) or accrued (periodic). This is a cost, not income.
• Write-off (5110 on the seeded chart) — expense when an overdraft (money the client owes) is written off.

Accrual extras

Periodic accrual adds:

• Fees receivable (1320, asset) — fees earned but not yet collected from the account.
• Penalties receivable (1330, asset) — the same for penalties.
• Interest payable (2220, liability) — interest owed to the client that has been accrued but not yet posted to the savings account.
• Interest receivable (1310, asset, optional) — overdraft interest the client owes you that has been accrued but not yet collected.

Accounting → Accruals runs loan periodic accruals through a date. It does not accrue savings. Savings interest accrual and posting are Calculate interest and Post interest on the savings account.

Escheat liability

Shown only when Track dormancy is on and accounting is not None.

Escheat liability (2150) receives unclaimed balances after days to escheat. The client’s savings control is reduced; the institution now holds the money as unclaimed property instead of as a live deposit.

What typical movements post

These are the usual pairs once accounting is Cash or Accrual. The core banking system writes the journals; you pick which GL accounts they use.

Withhold tax (if enabled on settings) takes part of posted interest to the tax group liability, not to interest on savings.

Manual journals and teller allocate/settle also appear under Journal entries. A closure blocks posting on or before that date.

Glossary

General ledger (GL) — the institution’s books. Each line is an account with a type and a unique code.

Detail account — a posting account. Product pickers only list these. Header account — a folder in the chart; it never receives a product mapping.

Debit / credit — every journal is balanced (debits equal credits). Increasing an asset or expense is a debit; increasing a liability or income is a credit. Savings control is a liability, so taking a deposit credits it.

Accounting rule — None (no journals), Cash (journals when money moves), or Accrual periodic (journals when amounts are earned or owed, then again when they settle).

Savings control — liability for what you owe savers.

Savings reference — asset for the cash or bank that backs those deposits. Not the seeded liability of a similar name.

Transfers in suspense — clearing account for money between two products or accounts.

Interest on savings — expense: cost of paying savers.

Income from interest — income: what you charge on overdraft.

Overdraft portfolio — asset: overdrawn principal outstanding.

Write-off — expense when you give up collecting an overdraft.

Receivable — asset: someone will pay you (fees, penalties, or overdraft interest).

Payable — liability: you will pay or credit someone (interest payable to savers).

Escheat — moving a long-dormant balance from savings control to unclaimed-property liability.

Payment channel — an institution payment type (cash, bank, mobile). Mapping it sends that channel to a chosen savings reference account.

Mapping — an optional override so one payment type or one charge posts to a different GL than the product default.

Troubleshooting