[GNC] Scheduling Monthly Transactions for Full Credit Card Balances?

[Tom Route-36]

Hi Stan,

I think your solution here may hold the most promise if I can't find 
something that works better.  I especially like the fact that the 
checking account balance on any given date matches your actual (real) 
checking account balance -- unlike R Losey's method.  That's important 
to me.  And then you're entering future transactions in the register to 
keep track of what your checking account balance will be on any given 
future date as those payments become due.  So that makes good sense to 
me as well.  The one thing that I don't like though is that GnuCash 
already includes the concept of Scheduled Transactions. It seems like 
there should be an easy way to tap into that feature to keep track of 
how large a checking account balance will be needed -- in real time -- 
to pay off those upcoming credit card bills.  And I'd like to be able to 
do that without having to enter future transactions into the checking 
account register to keep track of that.  Still, I might end up going 
with your method if I can't get Scheduled Transactions to work the way 
I'd like them to work.

Tom



On 9/9/2025 9:14 PM, Stan Brown (using GC 4.14) wrote:
> On 2025-09-09 18:39, R Losey wrote:
>> Sometimes you can come to a solution by looking at it another way.  How
>> about this solution (which I use):
>>
>> Create a "Credit" sub-account under the checking account. Whenever you
>> enter transactions (I enter them weekly, but some people enter them as they
>> occur, and others enter them every day or two). Anyway, after entering my
>> credit transactions, I then look at the current "credit" sub-account
>> balance, and the credit card balance, and transfer money from the checking
>> account to the "credit" sub-account. The amount is "Current Credit Balance"
>> minus "Credit sub-account balance". For example, if my "credit" sub-account
>> has $85, and my credit card shows a balance of $114.68, I need to transfer
>> $29.68 from the checking account to the credit sub-account. It will then
>> show $114.68, and my checking account register will be lowered by $114.68.
>>
>> By doing this, you effectively move money out of the checking account
>> register (so it shows what you have left), and there should always be funds
>> in the credit account to pay the credit card.
>>
>> When you pay the credit card off, you then transfer funds out of the credit
>> sub-account and into the checking account.
> 
> I do it a bit differently -- as the saying goes, there are many ways to
> skin a cat. My practice doesn't need extra accounts or transactions that
> don't reflect an actual movement of money. It took me about seven years
> to come to the realization that the answer that works for me is future
> transactions, as opposed to scheduled transactions.
> 
> I'm not arguing against R Losey's approach, just offering mine as an
> alternative that works in a different way to accomplish the goal.
> 
> In Edit » Preferences, I have ticked Register » "Future transactions
> after blank transaction" and Numbers » "Display negative amounts in red".
> 
> I'll explain my process by example. Let's suppose that my checking
> balance on 10 May is $450.
> 
> On 12 May I get a credit-card statement showing a balance of $200, and
> payment is due on 7 June. In  my checking account register, I enter a
> payment of $200 to that credit card, with a date of 2025-06-07 not
> 2025-05-12. In the Description field I include the date I entered this
> transaction, just in case I need to go back and check anything. (Unless
> it's autopay, pulled from my checking account by the credit-card
> account, I also initiate a bill pay to that credit card on my bank's
> website, to take place on 2025-06-07.) The transaction appears below a
> blank line in both registers. I still see the current checking balance
> of $450, but I also see the future balance of $250.
> 
> On 18 May another credit-card bill comes in, for $300 due on 13 June. I
> enter the $300 payment with a date of 2025-06-13, the date the money
> will come from my checking account. Now I see these balances in my
> checking register:
> 
> 2025-05-10 (present) $450
> 2025-06-07 (future) $250
> 2025-06-13 (future, in red) ($50)
> 
> At a glance, I see that I need to transfer at least $50 from savings to
> checking by 06-13. So I schedule a $60 transfer with my bank for 06-12,
> to keep at least $10 in checking. Now my checking balances are
> 
> 2025-05-10 (present) $450
> 2025-06-07 (future) $250
> 2025-06-12 (future) $310
> 2025-06-13 (future, in black) ($10)
> 
> The only scheduled transactions are my Social Security benefit (changes
> only every 12 months) and my annuity (never changes). The SX are dated
> the dates payment will be received, but I have the transactions set to
> fire well in advance, so that those payments are also visible in the
> future section of my checking account. Thus I don't arrange for
> unnecessary transfers from savings, if incoming payments will cover the
> future outgoings. (If I were still working I'd do the same thing with
> salary payments.)
> 
> I've been doing things this way since late last year, and compared to my
> old method it gives me much greater confidence that I'm not going to
> overdraw my account or transfer money from savings when I don't actually
> need to.
>