Zero-balance accounts (ZBAs) centralize cash control at the main corporate office. The zero-balance account is a specialized disbursement account on which the firm writes checks against a zero balance. Authorized employees write checks on their departmental accounts, but the firm maintains no funds in these accounts. Instead, these accounts accumulate negative bank balances daily. The cash-control system corrects these daily negative balances by releasing funds from a corporate master account, restoring them to zero balances each day. A zero-balance account offers a firm with many operating divisions several benefits: - Greater centralized control over disbursements. - Elimination of redundant idle bank balances in different banks. - Reduction of cash transfer expenses. - More effective cash investments. - Greater autonomy for local managers. A ZBA system does require the firm to maintain all accounts at the same concentration bank, however.