What Is a Zero Balance Account (ZBA)?

A zero balance account (ZBA) is exactly what it sounds like: a checking account in which a balance of $0 is maintained. When funds are needed in the ZBA, the exact amount of money required is automatically transferred from a central or master account. Similarly, deposits are swept into the master account daily. Corporations sometimes use zero balance accounts to ensure funds are readily available throughout different departments, to eliminate excess balances in separate accounts, and to maintain greater control over the disbursement of funds. These accounts often handle items such as payroll, petty cash and other similar needs.

How Zero Balance Accounts (ZBAs) Work

The master account provides a centralized place to manage an organization's funds. Whenever funds are required in the ZBA checking account to cover a charge or transaction, money is transferred from the master account in the exact amount required. There is no need for an employee to do this manually, as the process is fully automated.

Using a ZBA to fund debit cards issued by the organization helps ensure that all of the activity on the cards is pre-approved. Since idle funds are not present within the ZBA, it is not possible to run a debit card transaction until funds are supplied to the account.

The use of a ZBA as a spending control mechanism is especially helpful when managing incidental charges across a large organization. By limiting quick access to funds via debit cards, it is more likely that proper approval procedures will be followed prior to the completion of a purchase. This permits easy tracking of transfers and reconciliation across accounts.

Advantages and Disadvantages of ZBAs

Transactions from ZBAs are self-managed, often saving the account holder time for having to manually rebalance or fund transactions. ZBAs may also be easier to reconcile, audit, or receive department-level reporting on spending. Because so much of ZBAs is automated, many companies find there are less clerical errors or transaction failures due to human error. This saves on overdraft fees. ZBAs are also great control mechanisms to monitor spending. If a company has one main account instead of many accounts with bank balances, a company can mitigate the chance of their bank account being compromised by unapproved or fraudulent transactions.

By concentrating funds in the master account, more money is available for investments rather than having small dollar amounts idle within a variety of subaccounts. The master account often has additional benefits such as a higher interest rate on balances. Thus, ZBAs maximize funds available for investment and minimize the risk of overdraft fees.

There are some downsides to ZBAs. Though sweeping and transfers are automatic, the business must still reconcile bank statements and monitor for failed transactions. Should a transaction fail to process or be canceled, money moved into that account may automatically swept back resulting in multiple unnecessary transactions. Last, though intended to relieve administrative burdens, ZBAs proliferate the number of bank accounts a company owns and may result in higher admin demands.

Requirements to Open ZBAs

Not everyone can qualify for a ZBA. Banks will often not offer this product to general consumers and will only offer this solution to companies. In addition, banks may not provide ZBAs to small, unestablished businesses. By its nature, ZBAs must have a linked master account, and the bank offering the ZBA will likely require the master account be held at their institution. The bank may require transaction history evidence, historical average bank balances, estimated spend projections, and applicable credit history information prior to opening the account.

Special Considerations

An organization may have multiple zero balance accounts to improve budget management and make the process of allocating funds more efficient. This can include creating a separate ZBA for each department or function as a way to monitor daily, monthly, or yearly charges. Other reasons for creating separate ZBAs might involve the financial management of particular short-term projects or those at particular risk for unexpected overages. The use of zero balance accounts helps to prevent excess charges without proper notification and approval.