Account 627 — bank charges and similar services
627 takes what the bank charges for its service: account-keeping fees, transaction commissions, the cost of an international transfer, card-terminal rental. Not interest — and that is exactly where the mistake creeps in.
What account 627 is for
Account 627 is an external-charges account in class 6 of the French Plan Comptable Général. It is debited with services billed by a bank or financial institution: account-keeping fees, transaction and bill commissions, transfer charges, card-acquiring commissions, payment-terminal rental, arrangement fees.
These charges rarely arrive as an invoice. They land straight on the bank statement, usually at month end and often as a single aggregate. That is what makes them easy to miss, or to post at random.
627 or 6616: services versus interest
This is the most common confusion on this account. 627 records payment for a service the bank performed. 6616, "bank and financing interest", records the cost of money: overdraft interest, loan interest, discount charges.
The distinction matters because 627 is an operating expense and 6616 a financial one. Mixing them distorts operating profit and every ratio built on it. On a statement, a "transaction commission" line goes to 627; a "debit interest" line goes to 6616.
VAT on bank charges
Most banking operations are VAT-exempt in France: interest, credit commissions, current-account keeping. Some services are taxable — safe-deposit rental, terminal rental, certain management fees — and the bank's invoice says so.
Where VAT exists and is recoverable, it goes to 44566 like any other purchased service. Where the operation is exempt, 627 is debited with the full amount and there is no tax line at all.
Entry 1 — exempt bank charges
The common case: account-keeping fees taken straight off the statement, no VAT. Two lines.
| Account | Label | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 627 | Bank charges and similar services | 18.00 | — |
| 512 | Bank | — | 18.00 |
Entry 2 — bank charges subject to VAT
Payment-terminal rental billed at EUR 50.00 net, 20% VAT. The tax is recoverable and follows the usual 44566 route.
| Account | Label | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 627 | Bank charges and similar services | 50.00 | — |
| 44566 | Deductible VAT on other goods and services | 10.00 | — |
| 512 | Bank | — | 60.00 |
Entry 3 — overdraft interest: not 627
A useful counter-example. Debit interest taken off the account is not a banking service but the price of financing. It goes to 6616, as a financial expense.
| Account | Label | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6616 | Bank and financing interest | 142.30 | — |
| 512 | Bank | — | 142.30 |
How Comptyx posts 627
Comptyx treats a bank statement as a document in its own right for France, Morocco, Spain and Germany. Each movement is read, classified and posted on the file's chart: a service fee goes to 627, interest to 6616, and the file's own cash account — never one the model invented — carries the other side.
One statement costs a single extraction credit, however many lines it contains.
What is the difference between account 627 and account 6616?
627 records services billed by the bank — account keeping, commissions, transfers — and is an operating expense. 6616 records interest and overdraft charges, the cost of money, and is a financial expense.
Is there VAT on bank charges in France?
Usually not: ordinary banking operations and interest are exempt. Some services, such as renting a payment terminal or a safe-deposit box, are taxable; the VAT then appears on the bank's invoice and is reclaimed through 44566.
Do card-acquiring commissions go to 627?
Yes. The commission a bank or payment provider takes on each card collection is payment for a service and belongs in 627.
How do you post bank charges with no invoice?
The bank statement is the supporting document. Post the entry in the bank journal at the value date of the debit, debiting 627 against a credit to account 512.
Try it with your own invoices
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