Before you record any banking transactions, make sure you have set up at least one bank account in the Chart of Accounts under Administration > Accounts. Each bank account is a ledger account with an account type of Bank. The deposit and payment forms pull the bank selection list directly from these accounts. If no bank accounts exist, the Bank drop-down on the transaction forms will be empty.
Deposits
A deposit records money received into a bank account — for example, a customer payment, a receipt from a debtor, or any other inflow. In OMBA, deposits use a transaction builder pattern: you add individual line items to a list, review the totals, then process the entire batch as a single transaction.Deposit transaction fields
Recording a deposit
1
Open Deposits
Navigate to Banking > Deposits. The screen shows the list of existing deposit transactions.
2
Click New
Click the New button in the toolbar to open the Deposit Transaction Builder.
3
Set the date and bank account
Select the Date of the deposit using the date picker. Then choose the Bank (Received Into) — the bank account where the funds will land. This account appears as the debit side of the journal entry.
4
Choose the payment type and reference
Select the Payment Type (for example, EFT, cheque, or cash). Enter the Payment Reference # — for a cheque this is the cheque number; for an EFT this is the bank reference number.
5
Select the source account and invoice
Choose the Account – Paid From from the chart of accounts. This is the credit side of the journal entry (typically a debtor or income account). If the deposit settles an outstanding invoice, select it from the Overdue Invoices drop-down — OMBA will link the payment to the invoice for debtor reconciliation.
6
Enter the amount and add to the list
Type the Total Amount. If a withholding tax applies, enter it in Withheld Amount — OMBA calculates the Net Amount automatically. Click Add to List to stage the line item. Repeat this step for additional lines in the same deposit run.
7
Attach supporting documents
Use the upload area in the footer to attach a PDF copy of the deposit slip or remittance advice. Only PDF files are accepted.
8
Process the deposit
Review the totals row at the bottom of the list. When everything is correct, click Process. OMBA posts the journal entries to the general ledger and records the transaction in the cashbook.
Payments (withdrawals)
Payments record money leaving a bank account — supplier payments, expense reimbursements, or any other outflow. The payment form mirrors the deposit form exactly, with the bank account field labelled Bank (Paid From) and the account field labelled Account – Received By. Go to Banking > Payments, click New, and follow the same builder pattern: fill in the header fields, enter each payment line and click Add to List, optionally attach a PDF, then click Process to post the transaction. The journal entry OMBA creates credits the bank account (reducing the balance) and debits the expense or creditor account you selected.Cheques and bank reconciliation
The Banking > Bank Reconciliation screen (also referred to as cheques in the system) serves two related purposes: tracking cheque numbers on individual transactions, and reconciling your OMBA cashbook against your bank statement.How cheque numbers work
When recording a deposit or payment, the Payment Reference # field accepts a cheque number. This reference is stored with the transaction and appears in the reconciliation cashbook view under the Cheque # column. You can filter the cashbook by cheque number to locate specific transactions quickly.Reconciling your cashbook
The reconciliation workspace lets you load all cashbook entries for a selected bank account and date range, then tick them off against your actual bank statement.1
Open Bank Reconciliation
Go to Banking > Bank Reconciliation. The header section contains all the controls you need.
2
Select the bank account and period
Choose the Bank account from the drop-down. Set the From and To dates to match the period on your bank statement.
3
Enter the statement closing balance
Type the closing balance from your bank statement into the Statement Balance field. OMBA uses this to calculate the difference between the statement and your cashbook.
4
Load the cashbook
Click Load. OMBA populates the cashbook grid with all deposits and payments for the selected account and period, showing the date, reference, description, cheque number, deposit amount, and withdrawal amount for each entry.
5
Match transactions
Work through the cashbook entries and click the tick (process) button on each row that appears on your bank statement. OMBA marks the item as confirmed. The Reconciled total in the footer updates as you work.
6
Review the summary totals
The footer shows five summary figures: Cashbook Balance, Previous Cashbook Balance, Reconciled (matched total), Outstanding (unmatched total), and Difference (cashbook balance minus statement balance). When the difference reaches zero, your books agree with the bank.
7
Handle outstanding statement items
Switch to the Outstanding from Statement tab to view transactions that appear on the bank statement but not yet in OMBA. For each row, assign an Account, add a Ref, choose the Payment Type, and set the Withheld amount if applicable. Click Process Data to post these items to the cashbook and general ledger.
Importing a bank statement
The reconciliation screen also supports importing statement data from an Excel file. Before uploading, map the column positions of your spreadsheet to OMBA’s fields using the column-number inputs in the import bar:
Upload the Excel file using the Statement File uploader, then click Process Excel. OMBA reads the file, maps the columns, and loads the statement lines into the Outstanding view for you to assign accounts and process.
How banking transactions post to the general ledger
Every deposit and payment you process in the banking module creates a double-entry journal:
The accounts involved are drawn directly from your chart of accounts. OMBA links the sub-account (classification) to the transaction line, so you can drill from any journal entry back to the originating banking transaction and from there to the supporting document you attached.
Bank account balances shown in the reconciliation cashbook balance field reflect all processed transactions. Transactions that have been entered but not yet processed (still in the builder list) are not posted and do not affect the cashbook balance until you click Process.