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Overview

Agatabo automatically creates journal entries for every financial transaction. Each entry type corresponds to a specific operation and follows predefined accounting rules.

What is a Journal Entry Type?

A journal entry type identifies what kind of transaction the entry represents (e.g., deposit, loan disbursement, expense). Purpose:
  • Categorize transactions for reporting
  • Apply correct accounting treatment
  • Enable filtering and searching
  • Maintain audit trail

All Journal Entry Types

Savings & Deposits

DEPOSIT
  • Description: Member contribution to savings
  • Accounting: Debit Cash, Credit Member Savings
  • Example: Member deposits 10,000 RWF
WITHDRAWAL
  • Description: Member withdraws from savings
  • Accounting: Debit Member Savings, Credit Cash
  • Example: Member withdraws 5,000 RWF (if policy allows)

Loans

LOAN_DISBURSEMENT
  • Description: Loan granted to member
  • Accounting: Debit Loan Receivable, Credit Cash or Member Savings
  • Example: 500,000 RWF loan disbursed
LOAN_PAYMENT
  • Description: Member repays loan installment
  • Accounting: Debit Cash, Credit Loan Receivable (principal) + Interest Income
  • Example: 50,000 RWF payment (45,000 principal + 5,000 interest)
LOAN_PENALTY
  • Description: Late payment penalty applied
  • Accounting: Debit Loan Receivable, Credit Penalty Income
  • Example: 2,000 RWF late fee added to loan balance
LOAN_INTEREST_ACCRUAL
  • Description: Interest earned but not yet collected (accrual accounting)
  • Accounting: Debit Interest Receivable, Credit Interest Income
  • Example: Month-end interest accrual on outstanding loans
LOAN_WRITE_OFF
  • Description: Uncollectible loan removed from books
  • Accounting: Debit Bad Debt Expense (or Reserve), Credit Loan Receivable
  • Example: 100,000 RWF loan written off as uncollectible

Expenses

EXPENSE
  • Description: Operating expense paid
  • Accounting: Debit Expense Account, Credit Cash
  • Example: 50,000 RWF rent paid
BANK_CHARGE
  • Description: Bank fees deducted from account
  • Accounting: Debit Bank Charge Expense, Credit Cash
  • Example: 1,500 RWF monthly account maintenance fee

Fixed Assets

ASSET_ACQUISITION_CASH
  • Description: Asset purchased with cash
  • Accounting: Debit Fixed Asset, Credit Cash
  • Example: 500,000 RWF equipment purchased
ASSET_ACQUISITION_COLLATERAL
  • Description: Asset received as loan collateral (foreclosure)
  • Accounting: Debit Fixed Asset, Credit Loan Receivable
  • Example: Repossessed property valued at loan balance
ASSET_ACQUISITION_GIFT
  • Description: Asset donated to organization
  • Accounting: Debit Fixed Asset, Credit Donation Revenue
  • Example: Computer equipment donated
ASSET_DISPOSAL
  • Description: Asset sold or discarded
  • Accounting: Debit Cash (if sold) or Loss on Disposal, Credit Fixed Asset
  • Example: Old furniture sold for 50,000 RWF

Reserves

RESERVE_ALLOCATION
  • Description: Money allocated to reserve fund
  • Accounting: Debit Reserve (equity), Credit Cash (if transferred) or book entry only
  • Example: 200,000 RWF allocated to loan loss reserve
RESERVE_RELEASE
  • Description: Money released from reserve back to general funds
  • Accounting: Debit Cash (if transferred), Credit Reserve
  • Example: 50,000 RWF released from emergency reserve

Dividends

DIVIDEND_DISTRIBUTION
  • Description: Profit distributed to members
  • Accounting: Debit Retained Earnings, Credit Member Savings (each member)
  • Example: 1,000,000 RWF dividend pool distributed proportionally

Manual Entries

MANUAL_JOURNAL_ENTRY
  • Description: Accountant-created entry for corrections or adjustments
  • Accounting: Custom (specified by accountant)
  • Example: Correction of prior period error
ADJUSTMENT
  • Description: End-of-period adjustment (accruals, prepayments, etc.)
  • Accounting: Varies
  • Example: Accruing unpaid salaries at month-end

Period Closing

CLOSING_ENTRY
  • Description: Automatic entry created when period closes
  • Accounting: Close revenue/expense accounts to zero, transfer net income to retained earnings
  • Example: Year-end closing entry transfers 950,000 RWF profit to equity
OPENING_ENTRY
  • Description: Opening balances for new period (rare, used in migrations)
  • Accounting: Establishes beginning balances
  • Example: Initial setup when migrating to Agatabo

Finding Journal Entries by Type

In Agatabo:
  1. Navigate to General Ledger > Journal Entries
  2. Filter by Entry Type dropdown
  3. Select type (e.g., LOAN_DISBURSEMENT)
  4. See all entries of that type
Use cases:
  • Review all deposits in a month (filter by DEPOSIT)
  • Audit all loan disbursements (filter by LOAN_DISBURSEMENT)
  • Track expense payments (filter by EXPENSE)

Entry Type Naming Conventions

Past tense: Entry types use past tense because they record completed transactions
  • DEPOSIT (not DEPOSITING)
  • LOAN_DISBURSEMENT (not DISBURSE_LOAN)
Uppercase with underscores: System naming convention
  • LOAN_PAYMENT
  • RESERVE_ALLOCATION
User-facing labels: UI may show friendly names
  • “DEPOSIT” displays as “Savings Deposit”
  • “LOAN_DISBURSEMENT” displays as “Loan Granted”

Automatic vs Manual Entries

Automatic (system-created):
  • DEPOSIT, WITHDRAWAL
  • LOAN_DISBURSEMENT, LOAN_PAYMENT
  • EXPENSE, BANK_CHARGE
  • DIVIDEND_DISTRIBUTION
  • CLOSING_ENTRY
Manual (accountant-created):
  • MANUAL_JOURNAL_ENTRY
  • ADJUSTMENT
Hybrid (triggered by user action, created by system):
  • ASSET_ACQUISITION_*
  • RESERVE_ALLOCATION, RESERVE_RELEASE
  • LOAN_WRITE_OFF

Entry Type Metadata

Each journal entry includes:
  • Type: Category (e.g., DEPOSIT)
  • Date: Transaction date
  • Amount: Total amount (sum of credits = sum of debits)
  • Description: Human-readable explanation
  • Reference: Link to source transaction (e.g., loan ID, deposit ID)
  • Created by: User who initiated transaction
  • Lines: Debit and credit lines with accounts and amounts

Reporting by Entry Type

Common reports filtered by entry type: Revenue report:
  • Include: LOAN_PAYMENT (interest portion), LOAN_PENALTY
  • Exclude: DEPOSIT (not revenue, just liability increase)
Expense report:
  • Include: EXPENSE, BANK_CHARGE
  • Exclude: LOAN_DISBURSEMENT (not expense, just asset transfer)
Cash flow report:
  • Cash inflows: DEPOSIT, LOAN_PAYMENT
  • Cash outflows: WITHDRAWAL, LOAN_DISBURSEMENT, EXPENSE

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Manual Journal Entries

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