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Every financial operation your tontine performs—collecting member savings, disbursing loans, paying expenses, distributing dividends—ultimately flows through a bank account. Agatabo mirrors each of your real-world bank accounts as a ledger-backed record, so your in-app cash balances always reflect the true state of your finances in real time. When you record a transaction in Agatabo, the system automatically creates the double-entry journal entries that update the relevant bank account balance. You never manually edit a balance; instead, you record business events and the books take care of themselves.

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Account Types

Agatabo supports two bank account types that map to the kinds of accounts most savings groups maintain:
TypeTypical UseMinimum Requirement
CURRENTDaily operations — deposits, loan disbursements, expense paymentsAt least one active CURRENT account is required at all times
SAVINGSLong-term or restricted funds — reserve allocations, dividend accumulationOptional; no minimum
You cannot deactivate your last active CURRENT account. If you want to retire an account, first create a replacement CURRENT account and transfer any balance.

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Core Account Fields

Each bank account record carries the following information: Name — A descriptive label you choose (e.g., “BK Operations Account” or “Equity Savings ***5678”). Names must be unique within your organisation and are used throughout dropdowns and reports. Type — SAVINGS or CURRENT. This cannot be changed after creation. Balance — The current cash balance, calculated automatically from posted journal entries. This figure is always up to date. Available Balance — Balance − Total Reserved Amounts. Use this figure for operational decisions to avoid accidentally spending funds earmarked for reserves. isActive — Active accounts appear in transaction forms and can receive new entries. Inactive accounts are hidden from dropdowns but their history remains fully visible. isDefault — The primary account used when no specific account is selected during a transaction. Only one account can be default at a time. The first account you create becomes the default automatically.

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How Bank Account Balances Update

Every bank account is backed by a CASH ledger account with the scope key cash:{bankAccountId}. When you perform any business operation, Agatabo:
  1. Creates a journal entry of the appropriate kind (e.g., SAVINGS_DEPOSIT)
  2. Includes a journal line against the CASH ledger account for the selected bank account
  3. Applies the entry atomically — the balance is never in an inconsistent state
Member Alice deposits 50,000 RWF into the Operations Account:

Dr  CASH (Operations Account)    50,000
    Cr  SAVINGS (Alice)          50,000

Operations Account Balance: 1,000,000 → 1,050,000 RWF

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Transaction Types That Affect Bank Accounts

TransactionEntry KindEffect on Balance
Member savings depositSAVINGS_DEPOSIT✅ Increases
Loan repaymentLOAN_PAYMENT✅ Increases
Entry fee receivedENTRY_FEE✅ Increases
Reserve releaseRESERVE_RELEASE✅ Increases
Loan disbursementLOAN_DISBURSEMENT❌ Decreases
Expense paymentEXPENSE_PAYMENT❌ Decreases
Reserve-funded expenseRESERVE_EXPENSE❌ Decreases
Bank chargeBANK_CHARGE❌ Decreases
Dividend distribution (cash)DIVIDEND_DISTRIBUTION❌ Decreases
Reserve top-upRESERVE_TOP_UP❌ Decreases
Member savings withdrawalSAVINGS_WITHDRAWAL❌ Decreases
Opening balance adjustmentCASH_OPENINGSets balance to target
Bank transfer (manual journal)MANUAL_JOURNAL❌ Source / ✅ Destination
When a member repays a loan, Agatabo debits Cash (increasing your bank balance) and credits the Loan Receivable account (reducing the outstanding loan). This is why loan repayments appear as cash inflows — the money physically arrives in your bank account and is recorded immediately.

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Setting Opening Balances

When you first onboard an existing organisation into Agatabo, your bank accounts already have real balances. Adjust them before recording any live transactions:
1

Add the bank account

Create the account record. It starts at 0.00.
2

Click Adjust Balance

Locate the account in your list and open the balance adjustment form.
3

Enter the balance from your bank statement

This creates a CASH_OPENING journal entry:
Dr  CASH (Your Account)    5,000,000
    Cr  OPENING_EQUITY     5,000,000
4

Save and verify

The account balance now reflects your real-world starting point.
Adjust opening balances before recording any live transactions. You can only adjust a balance once per account, and it cannot be done after the relevant accounting period is closed.

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Bank Transfers Between Your Accounts

Agatabo does not have a dedicated “Transfer” button. Instead, move money between your own accounts using a manual journal entry that debits the destination account and credits the source account: 
Transfer 1,000,000 RWF from Operations to Reserve Fund:

Dr  CASH (Reserve Fund)             1,000,000
    Cr  CASH (Operations Account)   1,000,000
Both accounts update immediately, and the total cash held by the organisation is unchanged. Navigate to General Ledger → Manual Journal Entries to create the entry.
Creating manual journal entries requires accounting knowledge. Unbalanced or incorrect entries can corrupt your books. Only trained accountants or administrators should create them.

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Reconciliation

Monthly reconciliation compares your Agatabo balances to your actual bank statements and catches discrepancies before they compound.
1

Obtain your bank statement

Download or print the statement for the period you are reconciling.
2

Compare the closing balance

Check whether the Agatabo balance for that account matches the bank statement closing balance.
3

Identify differences

Common causes: missing deposits, unrecorded bank charges, transactions posted to the wrong account, or timing differences.
4

Record missing transactions

Add any bank charges, interest credits, or other items not yet in Agatabo.
5

Verify the match

After corrections, both balances should agree.
Run reconciliation before closing each accounting period. A clean reconciliation makes period close faster and your financial reports more reliable.

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Account Deletion Constraints

You can delete a bank account only when all four conditions are met:
  • The balance is exactly 0.00
  • It is not the only account in the organisation
  • It is not currently set as the default (reassign first)
  • No journal entries reference it
If any condition fails, deactivate the account instead of deleting it. Historical transactions remain visible on inactive accounts.

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Best Practices

Recommended account setup:
  • Create at least two accounts — one CURRENT for daily operations, one SAVINGS for reserves or dividends.
  • Use descriptive names that include the bank name or the last four digits of the account number.
  • Always select the correct account when recording a transaction; do not rely solely on the default.
  • Adjust opening balances before you record your first live transaction.
  • Reconcile monthly — set a fixed date and stick to it.
  • Never manually adjust a ledger balance outside the opening balance workflow.

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Key Actions

Savings & Deposits

Record member savings contributions and track deposit history.

Expenses

Record operating expenses and bank charges against your accounts.

General Ledger

View all journal entries and the underlying accounting records.

Period Closing

Lock completed accounting periods and reconcile before closing.