How to add loans and liabilities

Liabilities are what your business owes to others. These include things like loans, VAT, and supplier balances. Recording them correctly keeps your Balance Sheet accurate and shows how your business is financed through debt or credit.

What are liabilities

Liabilities are accounts that track what your business owes and to whom.

They can be:

• Current liabilities: due within a year, like VAT or supplier payments
• Long-term liabilities: due over a period longer than a year, like shareholder or bank loans

Every time you record a transaction that affects a liability, stub updates the right accounts in your General Ledger automatically.

How to add a loan

You can create loan accounts in your Finance settings.

1. Go to More → Settings → Finance.
2. Scroll to the Loans section.
3. Click + Loan.
4. Add the name of the loan, such as “Absa loan”.
5. Add a reference or account number if you want to.
6. Click Save.

Your new loan will now appear in your Liabilities list and will be available to use in the General Ledger.

How to record a liability manually

You can add or adjust liability entries directly in your General Ledger.

1. Go to More → General Ledger.
2. Click + Entry.
3. Add a short description, such as Loan opening balance or VAT adjustment.
4. Under Account, select your liability (for example, ABSA loan or VAT).
5. Enter the Debit and Credit amounts.
6. Click Save.

Your new entry will show up under Filter → Journal → Liabilities in your General Ledger.

Example: loan opening balance

Let’s say you start your year with an outstanding ABSA Loan of R70,000 that was used to buy a company vehicle.

• Debit: Motor Vehicles (Asset) R70,000
• Credit: ABSA Loan (Liability) R70,000

This increases your assets and liabilities equally, showing that the vehicle was financed through debt rather than owner funds.

stub records this automatically in your General Ledger and updates your Balance Sheet.

Common liability accounts in stub

• Accounts Payable: money owed to suppliers
• Shareholder Loans: money lent by an owner or to the company
• VAT (Standard, Exempt, or Zero-rated): VAT due to SARS
• Income Tax: tax owed to SARS
• Dividends: profits owed to shareholders

Why it matters

Tracking your loans and liabilities keeps your Balance Sheet accurate and helps you plan repayments and cash flow. It also makes it easier to see how debt and equity contribute to your business’s growth.

Good to know

• You can view all liabilities under Filter → Journal → Liabilities in your General Ledger.
• You can’t delete liability accounts that already have entries, but you can archive them.
• stub automatically creates key liability accounts like VAT and Income Tax for you.