Indirect updating is the process whereby one direct transaction entered against a subsidiary ledger or general ledger account can automatically generate a number of additional entries. These indirect updates affect claim-on-cash, bank balance, fund balance, and revenue, expense and encumbrance summaries. 

Since each account in the general ledger is a unique balance sheet (see the Overview of Accounting for an illustration), FAS automatically maintains the claim that each individual fund has on the institution’s bank accounts. This information is maintained in account control 1100, which is called claim-on-cash, and it is automatically updated as transactions are processed against the general ledger account or against its associated subsidiary ledger accounts. Thus, if account control 1100 has a positive $1,000, the fund has that amount "on deposit" with the University. If the $1,000 is negative, the fund has "borrowed" that amount from the University’s current unrestricted funds. 

Since the system maintains the claim-on-cash for each fund as its primary recognition of cash, actual bank accounts are maintained in FAS as memo entries. 

Through the process of indirect updating, when expenses or revenues are recorded in the subsidiary ledger accounts, the corresponding general ledger accounts are updated. 

For example, if the Botany Department makes expenditures in its Ledger 4 account, account control 1100 (claim-on-cash) of the associated general ledger account is reduced as is fund balance control 3160. If the Botany Department records revenue in its Ledger1 account, account controls 1100 and 3160 are increased. 

In a similar manner, general ledger entries that directly debit or credit any asset account controls (1200–1999) or the liability account controls (2100–2999) cause an automatic updating of the cash account control. 

For example, the recording of a sale of an investment security against account control 1200 will increase account control 1100 (claim-on-cash), while the recording of a payment against the accounts payable liability 2100 will reduce account control 1100. 

Therefore, account controls 1100 and 3FXO (fund balance) are described as system-maintained, for they are updated by other transactions, and, except in special circumstances, transactions cannot be directly processed against 1100 or 3FXO. 

As noted, when a revenue or expenditure is recorded in a subsidiary ledger account, claim-on-cash and fund balance are automatically updated in the general ledger. Also updated are the account controls in the 9XX0 range, which carry a summary of the financial activity in the subsidiary ledger accounts that are mapped to the general ledger account. The summary account controls are: 
 

For example, to summarize the way activity in a subsidiary ledger account updates the general ledger account controls, the subsidiary ledger entries on the left would be translated into general ledger entries on the right: