Add a manual account

A manual account holds money that Pennyweight can't sync from a bank: the cash in your wallet, a car, a house, or an account at a bank outside the US. Once it exists, your AI can record transactions in it and import its statements. If your AI isn't connected yet, start with connect your AI.

How to do it

1. Tell your AI what to add: a name, the kind of account, and what it holds today.
2. If you have more than one ledger, say which one. Each account belongs to one ledger.
3. Your AI adds the account and confirms it.

Kinds of accounts

• Checking and savings for a bank account you track by hand.
• Credit card for a card you can't link.
• Cash for a wallet or a cash box.
• Asset for something you own, such as a car or a house.
• Liability for something you owe, such as a loan or a mortgage.
• Brokerage for the balance of an investment account.
• Someone owes you and you owe someone for money lent or borrowed between people. Their balance comes from the loans and repayments you record, so they take no starting balance. See track money you lent or borrowed.

What you'll see

Your AI confirms the account's name, its type and its starting balance. The account then shows in your account list. In the web app, a person you lent to or borrowed from shows on the People page. Every other manual account shows in Settings under Accounts, in the "Added manually" group.

Good to know

• You set the value. Pennyweight doesn't look up market prices or bank balances for a manual account. Its balance is the starting figure plus the transactions recorded in it, so the car stays at $18,000 until you record a change or correct the starting figure. See set or correct an opening balance.
• Cards and loans take a positive amount. Tell your AI what you owe, such as $1,200. Pennyweight stores it as a negative balance, which is what you owe. A negative amount for a card or loan is refused. See track a card or loan you can't link.
• Currency. If you don't name one, the account uses its ledger's currency, or your workspace's if the ledger has none. A currency you name must be a valid three-letter code, such as EUR or CAD. For accounts in more than one currency, see accounts and totals in more than one currency.
• Importing needs an opening balance. If an account has no opening balance, your AI has to get one from you before it can import history into it, so the import doesn't assume the account started at $0. Give a starting balance when you add the account and this step is done. See import a PDF or screenshot statement.
• You can add one in Settings. Go to Settings, then Accounts, then Add manually. The form takes a name, an institution, a type, a starting balance, a currency and a ledger. It stores the balance exactly as you type it, and an account added there still needs an opening balance before its first import. For a card or loan, ask your AI instead.
• Banks outside the US. Bank linking covers US institutions only. Use a manual account for an account anywhere else.