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

[Sherlock]

Hi Tom,

We were never a fan of Quicken showing the reminders in account 
registers.  As I recall, there were numerous issues when the 
functionality was introduced.  Instead, we relied on the Quicken's 
"projected balances" views, which is why I favored using the Balance 
Forecast report in GnuCash when we migrated.

Regards,

Sherlock



On 12/2/25 1:58 AM, Tom Route36 wrote:
> 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