Credit card balances count as credit
January 29, 2019 at 6:24pmCredit card balances count as credit
January 29, 2019 at 6:24pmHey! Thanks for building this tool—it looks really cool so far. I just downloaded it and added a credit card account, then added my credit card balance. I expected that to count as a debit (and subtract from the amount in my checking to give me a net worth), but instead it just added the balance to the checking account balance. Is that expected behavior?
January 29, 2019 at 6:44pm
Did you add your credit card account balance as a positive or negative number? Remember, your credit card “balance” is actually money you’ve spent and needs to accounted for in your budget somewhere.
Yeah, what he said. Credit cards will have a clearer workflow in the future, but right now accounts are simple and the number you enter becomes positive cash that you have. So when you enter a credit card, you need to add it negative (think of it this way: expenses will substract from the balance, so for credit card you wouldn't want the number to be going down)
everything should "work" if you enter it as negative, but Actual should guide you more in this
As a matter of fact you can have a positive balance. We had a big refund from an airline last month after we had paid off our balance. So I entered that as a an amount in the "Deposit" column. I've actually had an easier time thinking about the UI when I mentally rename the Payment column to "Debit" and Deposit to "Credit"
January 30, 2019 at 8:24pm
We'll figure out a better credit card workflow soon
August 23, 2021 at 7:30pm
A handy application. I always want to know what is going with my finances, what I spend, and how much I earn. I wish there were more apps like this. Money likes to be counted, especially when there is a lot of it. I advise all my friends to manage their finances so they know exactly how much they can and cannot spend. There should always be a reserve of funds for emergencies. For example, your mother has fallen ill, and you urgently need to have an expensive operation. If you don't have liquid money, you may have to sell your car or other things. You can avoid this. All you have to do is manage your finances wisely.
More information about liquid money here https://thecentsofmoney.com/why-liquid-net-worth-matters/