[moneydance] Credit Card Accounting

[Anthony]

An easier way would be to create the Visa account and then get the  
last statement that was issued and take its closing balance and enter  
that as the opening balance of the account in the setup window. (You  
can get back to it by opening the relevant credit card account then  
going to Account -> Edit.)

One of the fields is Initial Debt (but I am not sure if it requires a  
positive  number or a negative one). Anyway, if the initial entry is  
wrong, you can always get back to it.

Now you have the balance that is due to the credit card company and  
you just keep entering new transactions

Anthony


On 2007 Jan 16, at 06:36, L Pfeffer wrote:

>> Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2007 13:43:11 -0800
>> From: "hiccupqueen at gmail.com" <hiccupqueen at gmail.com>
>>
>> But this leads me to another problem: I'm fine with not using the
>> budget, but I do need to find a report I can run to analyze my
>> spending that does include my debt payments.
>>
>> Here's a hypothetical: Say I had an income last month of $3,000. I
>> spent $2,500 to pay my regular bills, and I spent $700 to make my
>> credit card payments. So, I spent a total of $3,200 for the month
>> ($200 more than my income) and am sinking further into debt. However,
>> if I run a cash flow or an income and expense report in Moneydance,
>> I'll feel so good about myself: My income was $3,000 and my expenses
>> were $2,500, resulting in a net gain of $500!
>>
>> If I remember correctly from way back in my Microsoft Money days,
>> when you paid a credit card, you selected "Credit Card Payment: Visa
>> Account", which labeled that transaction differently so that the
>> payment showed up in various reports, and not just as a funds
>> transfer.
>>
>> Does anyone have a solution for this? Am I missing something obvious?
>> I'm using Beta2 right now. I really need to see a more accurate
>> picture of where my money goes each month!
>
> First, I didn't duck out of the previous discussion intentionally; I
> was at a science fiction con (Arisia) all weekend, and didn't touch
> my computer.
>
> Amy, I'm covering your situation from two angles.
>
> A. What should have happened.
>
> In an ideal wold, you would have started using MoneyDance before you
> had any cc debt. You would have entered every cc purchase, once in
> the expense category (Widgets) and once in the cc account (Visa).
> With each payment, you lower the balance in Visa with some of the
> payment, and treat the rest of the payment as an expense to Visa
> Interest. As long as the Visa account has a balance, you owe them  
> money.
>
> Your budget shows all expenses, including the Visa Interest payments
> you plan to make. Since you probably can't calculate these exactly,
> estimate.
>
> 2. What To Do For Real
>
> OK, you started using Moneydance after you ran up your Visa card. You
> don't remember what you bought, and don't want to track it now
> anyway. But you need a way to show those payments.
>
> Create an expense account: Old Visa Purchases. Enter your current
> Visa balance as an expense to Old Visa, and to increase your Visa
> balance. [This is probably your first entry in the Visa account.
> Don't use the Opening Balance line in the account Info section.] From
> now on, account for your new purchases as above. Also, handle
> payments as above.
>
> Don't forget to create the Visa Interest account! When you create
> your budget, estimate the interest expense as above, and the pay-down
> of your Visa balance as a negative (lower the balance) in the Visa
> account. Again, both the interest and the pay down will be rough
> estimates, unless you have heavy-duty math skills.
>
>
> Now, work off that debt, and don't let it go up again :-) In addition
> to all the other good things, accounting will be much easier.
>
> --Liz
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