Categories vs Transfers

BLongJr

When I enter my mortgage payment in my checking account and set the categories of Mortgage principle and Mortgage Interest to the split amounts the amount will appear properly in my Budget. However if I also set the Mortgage company as the transfer account so that the amount will deduct from the balance in the mortgage holder account then the principle amount no long shows up in the Budget.

Is there another way to have the mortgage amount appear in the Budget as well as be deducted from the Mortgage account?

NotACPA

A Category either makes you wealthier (income) or poorer (expense).

A Transfer does neither. It merely moves money from one pocket to another.

The mortgage expense was when you first took out the mortgage … not when you made principal payment.

Take a look at the Cash Flow report to see what you're asking for.

BLongJr

But if you make a payment to a loan it is an expense. If you are tracking a loan and want to see the payment reduce the loan principle you must transfer. Quicken allows you to also enter a category on that transfer. Why wouldn't that same category be tracked in a budget?

Chris_QPW

But if you make a payment to a loan it is an expense.

Actually, it isn't, even though people like to think of it that way and show it an expense. The budget and the cash flow reports are that way for that reason.

Why isn't expense in the "accounting sense"?

Net worth = Assets - Liabilities

$1,000 = $1900 - $900

$1,000 = $1800 - $800 (transferred $100 from assets to reduce the liability by that amount)

Tom Young

If you want to see the principal portion of your payment as a form of "expense" (though it isn't) you certainly CAN do that. (They are your financial statements so you can do what you want.)

Here, the loan Account is NOT selected as an Account feeding the Spending Report, but it IS selected under the Categories tab of the Customization screen of the report. Under the Advanced tab of the Customization report Transfers is set at "Exclude internal."

This setup can get complicated fast if you have several Transfers that you want shown as "income" or "expense", but it can be done.

NotACPA

You loan payment reduces your checking account … but it also reduces the principal amount owed. NET ZERO. You're neither richer nor poorer (although any interest component IS an expense)

The expense was whatever you took out the loan for …. Mortgage (loan amount is the expense), Auto (again, loan amount is the expense).

You're trying to count expenses twice … which is an accounting No-NO.