[GNC] How to setup a Scheduled Transaction for full current Credit Card Balance?

[Tom Route36]

Hi David,

I just want to clarify how Quicken's Bill Reminders actually work. 
Quicken doesn't PREDICT anything.  What it does is it sets the amount of 
each Reminder to be the CURRENT balance of each Credit Card account.  
The current balance is exactly that -- it's the balance of the 
transactions that have actually been ENTERED into the Credit Card 
account -- nothing more.  It doesn't predict future transactions that 
haven't yet been entered.

When a user creates a Bill Reminder in Quicken, only three basic items 
are needed (although there are several other optional bells and whistles 
if a user wants them).  The three basic items are: [1] The PAYER account 
(e.g., Checking), [2] The PAYEE account (e.g., The Credit Card company), 
and [3] The payment DUE DATE.  That's it. Nothing more.

When the user opens the PAYER account register, there's a list there of 
all upcoming Bill Reminders, typically (depending on user preference) 
for the next 7-10 days.  Each Reminder lists three key pieces of 
information: [A] The payment DUE DATE (same as item 3 above), [B] The 
PAYEE account (same as item 2 above), and [C] the CURRENT AMOUNT of the 
Payee account.  That item C here is exactly as described in my first 
paragraph above.  It's simply the current account balance of the Payee 
account, updated in real-time.  Nothing more.  And it's the key piece of 
information that's not available for Scheduled Transactions in GnuCash.  
Yes it's available when looking at the balances on the Accounts tab.  I 
know that.  But what's missing is that the current real-time account 
balance isn't available as a variable for the Scheduled Transactions.

I understand that there are workarounds, and that the info is ultimately 
available.  But the Bill Reminders in Quicken are much more 
user-friendly and keep the amounts up-to-date in real time; whereas the 
amounts for Scheduled Transactions in GnuCash are static and don't show 
a true picture of what will be due to each payee as the due date approaches.

I hope this helps clarify the Quicken vs. GnuCash differences here, as 
well as what I'd hope to see available someday in GnuCash.

Tom


On 12/2/2025 1:19 AM, David T. via gnucash-user wrote:
> This was what I was proposing with the reconcile/pay process.
>
> Quicken apparently predicts how much money a user plans to spend and 
> tells you what it thinks you are going to owe based on the scheduled 
> (i.e., hypothetical) transaction. GnuCash, however, follows a more 
> traditional accounting path and only tells you about transactions 
> (past, present and future) that you have entered into the books.
>
> Personally, I don't need that Quicken-type of prediction; if I need to 
> project my accounts in the future, I will create the necessary 
> transactions (past, present and future) to allow me to adjudge the 
> financial status. It might be in the OP's best interest to look at 
> some of these other suggestions to achieve their goal, albeit in a 
> different manner than Quicken's.
>
> On 12/2/2025 7:35 AM, Stan Brown (using GC 4.14) wrote:
>> On 2025-12-01 18:00, Sherlock wrote:
>>> The running balances in the account don't include scheduled 
>>> transactions
>>> and the only known date of a balance on Accounts tab is today 
>>> (present).
>>>   So, No.  In my opinion, they don't suffice.
>> But do they need to be _scheduled_ transactions? When my credit card
>> statement comes in, I check it against my records, then enter a
>> transaction dated on the day the payment will be made, since I now know
>> the exact amounts. That keeps both my checking account and my credit
>> card account up to date for all past _and_ known future transactions. So
>> I can look at either account's register and see what the balance will be
>> on any desired date.
>>
>> Stan Brown
>> Tehachapi, CA, USA
>> https://BrownMath.com
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