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

[Sherlock]

Hi Kalpesh,

Quicken has the equivalent of GnuCash's 'Automatic Credit Card Payment' 
under 'Reconciling'.  The functionality is similar to 
reminders/scheduled transactions in that they help entering the payment 
transaction but otherwise they are very different.

Regards,

Sherlock


On 12/2/25 9:19 AM, Kalpesh Patel wrote:
> Wouldn't ticking 'Automatic Credit Card Payment' under 'Reconciling' option in 'Edit' --> 'Preference' --> 'Register' qualify as similar thing as Quicken's Bill Reminders which is triggered when reconciling the account? It fills in the amount, today's date, current credit card account and only thing needed is to select where the payment is coming from account.
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom Route36 <tom.route36 at gmail.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2025 4:59 AM
> To: David T. <sunfish62 at yahoo.com>
> Cc: gnucash-user at gnucash.org
> Subject: Re: [GNC] How to setup a Scheduled Transaction for full current Credit Card Balance?
> 
> 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