Case File: Airtime Was Sold, Cash Increased, but the Vendor Balance Was Invisible
Airtime sales could be recorded as generic income, but the prepaid airtime/vendor value being consumed was not reconciled as its own balance.
Why generic “sale” is incomplete
Airtime is not just cash revenue appearing in the drawer. In a prepaid/vendor model, the business also consumes an electronic vendor balance when it delivers the airtime. If the system records only cash in, the vendor balance can decline without a transaction trail.
LRD 500 airtime sale
Customer side: Physical Cash increases LRD 500.
Vendor-value side: Airtime Vendor Balance decreases LRD 500 of principal under the configured model.
Fee/commission: if separately tracked, classify it in the Airtime/LEC fee accounts rather than blending it into principal.
The hidden-shortage risk
If airtime cash is counted but vendor float is not, the total business can look profitable while electronic inventory is disappearing. That creates the same authority problem as mobile-money float: the wrong bucket is invisible.
Control lesson
- Give Airtime Sale its own transaction type.
- Maintain an Airtime Vendor Balance/float account.
- Reconcile opening vendor value + purchases/top-ups − airtime sold against actual closing vendor balance.
- Keep fees separate from principal.
- Investigate vendor balance differences rather than burying them in Other.
The public lesson covers the asset trail. Provider-specific pricing and private app configuration are not published.