Guard money-account selections; derive account type from sub-type

Item 1 — server-side guard (defense in depth) on payment-source / deposit
/ reconcilable account selections. New AccountGuard.IsValidMoneyAccountAsync
checks the submitted account is active, company-owned, and an Asset or
Liability before any GL posting, at: bill RecordPayment, bill Create
(payNow), bill EditPayment, BankReconciliation.Create, and deposit Record.
The dropdowns already constrain normal users; this rejects tampered/stale
POSTs. Per the "trust the operator" decision it still allows A/R etc.
(any Asset/Liability) — it only blocks non-money types.

Item 2 — account AccountType is now derived from the chosen AccountSubType
on create/edit via the new AccountClassification.TypeForSubType (single
source of truth, also used by the Create pre-select). The two can no longer
disagree, so the sub-type-based debit/credit sign convention is always
consistent with the account's type. A read-only sweep of the dev DB found
0 existing mismatches, so no repair tool was built.

Audit doc updated: both backlog items marked resolved.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

docs/ACCOUNTING_AUDIT.md

@@ -230,16 +230,21 @@ deposit account. **No ledger-drift bugs found.** Notes:
 - **Deposit account picker ↔ recompute:** consistent. Live posting debits the chosen `DepositAccountId`, and
   `LedgerService` reproduces the debit by `DepositAccountId == accountId` (lines ~78/724). Picking a non-default
   deposit account recomputes correctly.
-- **Bank / "pay-from" / bank-rec pickers** now list all Asset + Liability accounts with **no server-side type
+- **Bank / "pay-from" / bank-rec pickers — server-side guard added (2026-06-20):** the submitted account is
-  guard** — a user could pick a nonsensical source (e.g. A/R). Postings stay sign-correct
+  now validated via `AccountGuard.IsValidMoneyAccountAsync` (active, company-owned, AccountType Asset or
-  (`AccountBalanceService` keys sign off `AccountSubType`), and this is the intended "trust the operator"
+  Liability) before any posting, at bill `RecordPayment` / `Create(payNow)` / `EditPayment`,
-  tradeoff, but there is no longer a guardrail. Accepted; noted here for visibility.
+  `BankReconciliation.Create`, and deposit `Record`. Defense in depth against tampered/stale POSTs. Per the
+  "trust the operator" decision this still allows e.g. A/R (an Asset) as a source — it only rejects
+  non-money types (Revenue/Expense/Equity/COGS).
 - **Latent deposit imbalance — RESOLVED (2026-06-20):** a deposit saved with a null `DepositAccountId` posted
   `CR 2300` with no offsetting debit → unbalanced. `DepositsController.Record` now blocks recording when the
   `2300` Customer Deposits account exists but no deposit/bank account resolves (user must pick one). When `2300`
   doesn't exist (company not using accounting), no GL posts at all, so the deposit is still allowed through.
-- **Pre-existing type/sub-type mismatch risk:** account create does not enforce a valid type↔sub-type pairing,
+- **Type/sub-type mismatch risk — RESOLVED (2026-06-20):** account `AccountType` is now **derived** from the
-  and sign convention keys off sub-type — a mis-paired account would post with the wrong sign. Backlog item.
+  chosen `AccountSubType` on create/edit via `AccountClassification.TypeForSubType` (single source of truth,
+  also used by the Create pre-select), so the two can never disagree and the sub-type-based sign convention is
+  always consistent with the displayed type. A read-only sweep of the dev DB (109 accounts) found **0** existing
+  mismatches, so no repair tool was needed.
 
 ## Status
 **All findings O1–O9 + the read-path sweep are resolved** on `dev` (O9 by policy decision — expense at

src/PowderCoating.Core/Enums/AccountClassification.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+namespace PowderCoating.Core.Enums;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Single source of truth mapping an <see cref="AccountSubType"/> to its parent
+/// <see cref="AccountType"/>. Each sub-type belongs to exactly one type, so the type can always
+/// be derived from the sub-type. Used on account create/edit to keep the two fields consistent
+/// (a mismatched pair would post with the wrong debit/credit sign, since the sign convention keys
+/// off the sub-type) and anywhere else that needs the canonical pairing.
+/// </summary>
+public static class AccountClassification
+{
+    /// <summary>Returns the parent <see cref="AccountType"/> for a given <see cref="AccountSubType"/>.</summary>
+    public static AccountType TypeForSubType(AccountSubType subType) => subType switch
+    {
+        AccountSubType.Cash or AccountSubType.Checking or AccountSubType.Savings
+            or AccountSubType.AccountsReceivable or AccountSubType.Inventory or AccountSubType.FixedAsset
+            or AccountSubType.OtherCurrentAsset or AccountSubType.OtherAsset => AccountType.Asset,
+
+        AccountSubType.AccountsPayable or AccountSubType.CreditCard
+            or AccountSubType.OtherCurrentLiability or AccountSubType.LongTermLiability => AccountType.Liability,
+
+        AccountSubType.OwnersEquity or AccountSubType.RetainedEarnings => AccountType.Equity,
+
+        AccountSubType.Sales or AccountSubType.ServiceRevenue or AccountSubType.OtherIncome => AccountType.Revenue,
+
+        AccountSubType.CostOfGoodsSold => AccountType.CostOfGoods,
+
+        // All expense sub-types (enum values >= 50) and any future additions default to Expense.
+        _ => AccountType.Expense
+    };
+}

src/PowderCoating.Web/Controllers/AccountsController.cs

@@ -91,18 +91,7 @@ public class AccountsController : Controller
         if (preSubType.HasValue)
         {
             dto.AccountSubType = preSubType.Value;
-            dto.AccountType = preSubType.Value switch
+            dto.AccountType = AccountClassification.TypeForSubType(preSubType.Value);
-            {
-                AccountSubType.Cash or AccountSubType.Checking or AccountSubType.Savings
-                    or AccountSubType.AccountsReceivable or AccountSubType.Inventory or AccountSubType.FixedAsset
-                    or AccountSubType.OtherCurrentAsset or AccountSubType.OtherAsset => AccountType.Asset,
-                AccountSubType.AccountsPayable or AccountSubType.CreditCard
-                    or AccountSubType.OtherCurrentLiability or AccountSubType.LongTermLiability => AccountType.Liability,
-                AccountSubType.OwnersEquity or AccountSubType.RetainedEarnings => AccountType.Equity,
-                AccountSubType.Sales or AccountSubType.ServiceRevenue or AccountSubType.OtherIncome => AccountType.Revenue,
-                AccountSubType.CostOfGoodsSold => AccountType.CostOfGoods,
-                _ => AccountType.Expense
-            };
         }
         ViewBag.Inline = inline;
         if (inline)
@@ -151,6 +140,9 @@ public class AccountsController : Controller
             var account = _mapper.Map<Account>(dto);
             account.CompanyId = currentUser!.CompanyId;
             account.CreatedBy = currentUser.Email;
+            // Derive the parent type from the chosen sub-type so the two can never disagree —
+            // a mismatch would post with the wrong debit/credit sign (sign keys off sub-type).
+            account.AccountType = AccountClassification.TypeForSubType(account.AccountSubType);
 
             await _unitOfWork.Accounts.AddAsync(account);
             await _unitOfWork.CompleteAsync();
@@ -226,6 +218,9 @@ public class AccountsController : Controller
             }
 
             _mapper.Map(dto, account);
+            // Keep type consistent with the chosen sub-type (see Create) so the sign convention,
+            // which keys off sub-type, can never be at odds with the displayed account type.
+            account.AccountType = AccountClassification.TypeForSubType(account.AccountSubType);
             account.UpdatedAt = DateTime.UtcNow;
             account.UpdatedBy = (await _userManager.GetUserAsync(User))?.Email;
 

src/PowderCoating.Web/Controllers/BankReconciliationsController.cs

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ using PowderCoating.Core.Entities;
 using PowderCoating.Core.Enums;
 using PowderCoating.Core.Interfaces;
 using PowderCoating.Shared.Constants;
+using PowderCoating.Web.Helpers;
 
 namespace PowderCoating.Web.Controllers;
 
@@ -73,6 +74,13 @@ public class BankReconciliationsController : Controller
 
         var companyId = _tenantContext.GetCurrentCompanyId() ?? 0;
 
+        // The account being reconciled must be a real money account (Asset/Liability).
+        if (!await AccountGuard.IsValidMoneyAccountAsync(_unitOfWork, model.AccountId, companyId))
+        {
+            TempData["Error"] = "Select a valid bank, cash, or credit account to reconcile.";
+            return RedirectToAction(nameof(Create));
+        }
+
         // Set beginning balance from last completed reconciliation for this account, or 0
         var lastCompleted = (await _unitOfWork.BankReconciliations.FindAsync(
             br => br.CompanyId == companyId

src/PowderCoating.Web/Controllers/BillsController.cs

@@ -340,6 +340,16 @@ public class BillsController : Controller
                 }
             }
 
+            // Validate the pay-from account before entering the transaction so an invalid
+            // selection rejects the whole request rather than saving a bill with no payment.
+            if (payNow && paymentMethod.HasValue && bankAccountId.HasValue && currentUser != null
+                && !await AccountGuard.IsValidMoneyAccountAsync(_unitOfWork, bankAccountId, currentUser.CompanyId))
+            {
+                ModelState.AddModelError(string.Empty, "Choose a valid bank or credit account to record the payment.");
+                await PopulateDropdownsAsync();
+                return View(dto);
+            }
+
             Bill? bill = null;
 
             // Bill entity, PO back-reference, and optional immediate payment all commit
@@ -718,6 +728,14 @@ public class BillsController : Controller
                 return RedirectToAction(nameof(Details), new { id = dto.BillId });
             }
 
+            // The pay-from account must be a real money account (Asset/Liability) — defense in depth
+            // against a tampered or stale selection before we post to it.
+            if (!await AccountGuard.IsValidMoneyAccountAsync(_unitOfWork, dto.BankAccountId, bill.CompanyId))
+            {
+                TempData["Error"] = "Select a valid bank or credit account to pay from.";
+                return RedirectToAction(nameof(Details), new { id = dto.BillId });
+            }
+
             var currentUser = await _userManager.GetUserAsync(User);
 
             var payment = _mapper.Map<BillPayment>(dto);
@@ -843,6 +861,13 @@ public class BillsController : Controller
             var payment = await _unitOfWork.BillPayments.GetByIdAsync(dto.PaymentId);
             if (payment == null) return NotFound();
 
+            // Reject an invalid new pay-from account before we move the balance to it.
+            if (!await AccountGuard.IsValidMoneyAccountAsync(_unitOfWork, dto.BankAccountId, payment.CompanyId))
+            {
+                TempData["Error"] = "Select a valid bank or credit account.";
+                return RedirectToAction(nameof(Details), new { id = dto.BillId });
+            }
+
             var currentUser = await _userManager.GetUserAsync(User);
 
             // If the bank account changed, reverse the old balance entry and apply the new one

src/PowderCoating.Web/Controllers/DepositsController.cs

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ using PowderCoating.Core.Entities;
 using PowderCoating.Core.Enums;
 using PowderCoating.Core.Interfaces;
 using PowderCoating.Shared.Constants;
+using PowderCoating.Web.Helpers;
 using QuestPDF.Fluent;
 using QuestPDF.Helpers;
 using QuestPDF.Infrastructure;
@@ -87,13 +88,10 @@ public class DepositsController : Controller
             // auto-pick of the first Checking/Cash account. Validate any user-supplied id
             // belongs to this company (defense in depth — the global filter alone isn't enough).
             int? depositAcctId = null;
-            if (depositAccountId.HasValue)
+            if (depositAccountId.HasValue &&
+                await AccountGuard.IsValidMoneyAccountAsync(_unitOfWork, depositAccountId, currentUser.CompanyId))
             {
-                var chosen = await _unitOfWork.Accounts.FirstOrDefaultAsync(
+                depositAcctId = depositAccountId;
-                    a => a.Id == depositAccountId.Value
-                      && a.CompanyId == currentUser.CompanyId
-                      && a.IsActive);
-                depositAcctId = chosen?.Id;
             }
             depositAcctId ??= await GetCheckingAccountIdAsync(currentUser.CompanyId);
 

src/PowderCoating.Web/Helpers/AccountGuard.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+using PowderCoating.Core.Enums;
+using PowderCoating.Core.Interfaces;
+
+namespace PowderCoating.Web.Helpers;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Server-side validation for account selections that must be a "money" account — a payment
+/// source (bill payment), deposit target, or reconcilable account. The dropdowns already limit
+/// the choices, so this is defense in depth against tampered or stale POSTs (e.g. an account
+/// deleted/retyped between page load and submit): it rejects anything that isn't an active,
+/// company-owned Asset or Liability account before a GL posting is made against it.
+/// </summary>
+internal static class AccountGuard
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Returns true when <paramref name="accountId"/> identifies an active account belonging to
+    /// <paramref name="companyId"/> whose top-level type is Asset or Liability. Filters CompanyId
+    /// explicitly (defense in depth alongside the global tenant filter).
+    /// </summary>
+    internal static async Task<bool> IsValidMoneyAccountAsync(IUnitOfWork unitOfWork, int? accountId, int companyId)
+    {
+        if (accountId == null) return false;
+        var account = await unitOfWork.Accounts.FirstOrDefaultAsync(
+            a => a.Id == accountId.Value && a.CompanyId == companyId && a.IsActive);
+        return account != null
+            && (account.AccountType == AccountType.Asset || account.AccountType == AccountType.Liability);
+    }
+}