Compliance
Interest in suspense and NPL: stop accruing income you will not collect
A practical guide for Ghanaian MFIs on when to stop accruing, how to suspend interest, and how that joins NPL classification and provisions.
Kojo Ampah, Risk & Compliance Lead · 12 March 2026 · 14 min read
Accruing interest on a loan that has not been serviced for months makes the P&L look like a growth story and the cash account look like a problem. Supervisors know this trick. The control is a rule: after N days past due, interest goes to suspense, classification moves, and provisions follow. The core must do this on a schedule, not when finance remembers.
Join classification to the product
HP, group loans, and salary-backed products can have different days-past-due buckets, but they cannot have undocumented ones. Publish the matrix. OrbitMFI's risk engine is meant to propose, not to invent.
Cure paths
When a customer catches up, reverse suspense in a documented way. Do not leave income in limbo because nobody owns the journal. Collectors should see the arrears, not a GL mystery.
Board packs
Show NPL, coverage, and interest in suspense together. A falling NPL with rising suspense is not a win. It is a timing difference waiting to embarrass you.
