Understanding Accounts

What Are Accounts?

Accounts in Purpose Budget are mirrors of your real-world financial accounts. Every bank account, credit card, loan, and investment you want to track gets its own account in the app. By keeping these in sync, you always know exactly where your money is and how much you owe.

Account Types

Budget vs. Tracking Mode

When you add an account, you choose whether it operates in budget mode or tracking mode. This is one of the most important decisions you'll make when setting up your accounts.

Budget Mode

• Transactions require categories and affect Available balances in your budget table
• Money is "enveloped" - every dollar has a job
• Best for accounts you spend from or pay bills with daily

Tracking Mode

• Transactions don't need categories and don't participate in the budget
• Balances affect your net worth only
• Best for accounts whose value changes but you don't budget from directly

Adding Your First Account

1. Navigate to Accounts in the sidebar
2. Click "Add Account" to open the new account form
3. Enter account name - use a name that matches your bank (e.g. "Chase Checking")
4. Select account type - checking, savings, credit card, loan, investment, or other asset
5. Choose budget or tracking mode - budget for accounts you spend from, tracking for everything else
6. Enter starting balance - use the current balance from your bank right now
7. Save - your account is ready to use

Account Groups

Accounts are organized into collapsible groups in the sidebar. By default, they are grouped by type - checking accounts together, savings together, credit cards together, and so on.

• Collapse groups you check less frequently to keep the sidebar tidy
• Each group shows a subtotal so you can see balances at a glance
• Budget and tracking accounts are grouped separately

Understanding Account Balance

Your account balance in Purpose Budget is calculated as your starting balance plus all transaction amounts. Purpose Budget tracks three balance figures:

• Working balance: All transactions, including uncleared ones. This is what your bank balance will be once everything clears.
• Cleared balance: Only transactions marked as cleared. This should match what your bank currently shows.
• Starting balance: The initial balance you entered when you created the account.

To learn more about verifying your balances, see the reconciliation guide.

Closing an Account

When you close a real-world account or stop using one, you can mark it as closed in Purpose Budget:

• Closed accounts are hidden from the main sidebar view to reduce clutter
• All historical data is preserved - nothing is deleted
• Toggle the "Show closed accounts" option to view them again anytime
• You can reopen a closed account if you start using it again

Accounts and Net Worth

Your accounts directly determine your net worth in Purpose Budget:

• Asset accounts (checking, savings, investments) with positive balances increase your net worth
• Liability accounts (credit cards, loans) decrease your net worth
• Net worth = total assets - total liabilities

The Net Worth Trend widget on your dashboard tracks this over time, so you can see your overall financial progress month by month.