Chart of accounts and journal entries
Transfer money between accounts
Move an amount from one account to another, such as from a cash box to the bank or between two bank accounts, in one balanced entry that checks the source balance first.
3 min readLast updated
In this article
Use a transfer when money moves between two of your own accounts: the day's cash is deposited at the bank, a cash box is topped up from the main safe, or funds move from one bank account to another. The transfer posts both sides for you and refuses to take the source account below zero.
Before you start
Both accounts must be level-5 accounts in your branch's chart.
Today's date must fall in an open fiscal year for your branch, because the transfer is posted today.
You need the transfer permission. Without it, the menu item and the Transfer between accounts button on the transactions list are hidden.
Steps
Open Accounting › Transactions › Transfer Between Accounts. You can also select Transfer between accounts on the transactions list.
In From account, choose the account the money leaves, for example the cash box.
In To account, choose the account the money goes to, for example the bank. The two accounts must differ.
Enter the Amount.
Enter a Note. It is required: write what the transfer is for, such as the deposit slip number.
Select Transfer.
A message confirms Transfer posted with the batch number.
What happens next
One entry, two lines. The source account is credited and the destination account is debited by the amount, under one batch number. Both lines carry your note.
The balance check. If the source account's balance is lower than the amount, the transfer is refused with
no_enough_balanceand nothing is posted.Approval. A transfer is saved as a manual entry with the status Pending. It changes the balances at once, and an approver then approves or rejects it in Transfer restrictions. Rejecting a transfer posts a reversing entry that returns the money to the source account.
Common questions
Can I transfer between branches? No. Both accounts come from your branch's chart. Record a movement between branches with a journal entry in each branch, using the accounts your accountant set up for that purpose.
Can I transfer to a customer or a supplier? Use the dedicated screens instead: Receive a payment from a customer or Pay a supplier. They also update the customer's or supplier's statement.
The transfer was refused although the cash box has money. Check the balance of the exact account you chose in From account, for example in the chart of accounts. Each cash box and bank is a separate account.