A suspense account is an account used temporarily to carry doubtful receipts and disbursements or discrepancies pending their analysis and permanent classification.

It can be a repository for monetary transactions (cash receipts, cash disbursements & journal entries) entered with invalid account numbers. The account specified may not exist, or it may be deleted/frozen. If one of these conditions exist, the transaction should be directed to a suspense account.

In branchless banking

Branchless banking

Branchless banking is a distribution channel strategy used for delivering financial services without relying on bank branches. While the strategy may complement an existing bank branch network for giving customers a broader range of channels through which they can access financial services,...

 (BB) - banking through mobile for unbanked - these accounts are used for 'money-in-transit'. For example, sender sends payment from US ACH account to a BB mobile number in Japan. The customer receives an alert on their mobile to withdraw this money from any BB agent. Until they withdraw, the remittance stays in the suspense account, earning the financial institute or the BB enabler float/interest on that money. When customer withdrawal completes, the money moves from suspense account to the agent's account who facilitated the cash withdrawal.

A suspense account is an account in the general ledger

General ledger

The main accounting record of a business which uses double-entry bookkeeping. It will usually include accounts for such items as current assets, fixed assets, liabilities, revenue and expense items, gains and losses. Each General Ledger is divided into debits and credits sections. The left hand...

in which amounts are temporarily recorded. The suspense account is used because the proper account could not be determined at the time that the transaction was recorded. When the proper account is determined, the amount will be moved from the suspense account to the proper account.