Track a credit card or loan you can't link

A credit card from a small credit union, a student loan, or a loan from a bank outside the US can still count toward what you owe. Add it as a manual account with the amount you owe today, and your AI can record its charges and payments from then on. For manual accounts in general, see add a manual account.

How to do it

1. Tell your AI the account's name, that it's a credit card or a loan, and how much you owe on it.
2. Give the amount you owe as a positive number, such as $1,200. Pennyweight stores it as a negative balance.
3. If you have more than one ledger, say which one.
4. Your AI adds the account and confirms it.

What you'll see

Your AI confirms the account's name, its type and its balance. A card you owe $1,200 on shows a balance of -$1,200. A negative balance on a card or loan is the amount you owe. Why a credit card shows a negative balance explains the rule.

After it's added

• Charges are negative. Each one adds to what you owe.
• Payments are positive. Each one brings the balance back toward zero.
• Statements. You can ask your AI to import a statement into the account. Because you gave a starting balance when you added it, the import doesn't stop to ask for one. See import a PDF or screenshot statement.

Good to know

• A negative amount is refused. If you or your AI enter what you owe as a negative number, Pennyweight refuses it. A negative figure could mean a debt or a credit on an overpaid card, so Pennyweight asks for the amount owed as a positive number instead of guessing.
• Correcting the amount. To change the starting amount later, ask your AI to set the account's opening balance. The same rule applies: give what you owe as a positive number. See set or correct an opening balance.
• A loan from a bank is not an IOU. Money you owe a person, such as a friend or family member, belongs in a person account. A person account ignores a starting amount and takes its balance from the loans and repayments you record. See track money you lent or borrowed. If your AI sets up a bank loan as a person account, ask it to use a loan (liability) account instead.
• Use your AI, not the Settings form. The Add manually form in Settings stores the balance exactly as you type it, with no change of sign. For a card or a loan, ask your AI to add it.
• Where it shows. In the web app, the account shows in Settings under Accounts, in the "Added manually" group.
• Cards from US banks. If your card or loan is with a US bank that Pennyweight can link, linking keeps the balance updated from the bank. A manual account changes only when you or your AI record something in it.