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

[R Losey]

Even if there was a function to get the current balance of a credit card, I
would be opposed to using a Scheduled Transaction for this -- what if you
neglected to enter a charge? Assuming you reconcile credit card statements,
turning on the prompt to enter a payment after you reconcile may be an
excellent way to go.

On Wed, Sep 10, 2025 at 4:01 AM Tom Route-36 <tom.route36 at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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.
> >
>
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-- 
_________________________________
Richard Losey
rlosey at gmail.com
Micah 6:8