How do I set up a Deferred Interest Loan in Quicken (Windows)

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Tman
Tman Member ✭✭✭
I used GreenSky to pay for some work done to my house. How do I set this up in Quicken. I can pay whenever I want as long as I pay the principal off within one year I will be charged no interest. I can pay as much or as little till then.

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  • UKR
    UKR SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    Answer ✓
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    Quicken doesn't have an account type specific to this kind of deferred payment plan. Sorry.
    I would start by setting up a Liability account, e.g., an "offline" (manual) credit card account, with an Opening Balance of $0.00, named generically "Accounts Payables" or "Home Improvement Project" or ...
    Next record the total bill in this account as if it was a credit card charge, categorize to your House expense category. Amount e.g. $-5000.00
    Now consider the payments you want to make:
    • Nothing at all for a year? Add a Scheduled Reminder for one year from now minus 2 weeks for total amount due
    • Make monthly small payments? Add a Scheduled Reminder for 11 monthly payments. Add another Scheduled Reminder for one year minus 2 weeks for remaining balance.
    • Each of these payment transactions are defined as, e.g., checks you write from your checking account and mailed to the biller. Categorize as transfers to the Liability account, to reduce the outstanding balance.

Answers

  • UKR
    UKR SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    Answer ✓
    Options
    Quicken doesn't have an account type specific to this kind of deferred payment plan. Sorry.
    I would start by setting up a Liability account, e.g., an "offline" (manual) credit card account, with an Opening Balance of $0.00, named generically "Accounts Payables" or "Home Improvement Project" or ...
    Next record the total bill in this account as if it was a credit card charge, categorize to your House expense category. Amount e.g. $-5000.00
    Now consider the payments you want to make:
    • Nothing at all for a year? Add a Scheduled Reminder for one year from now minus 2 weeks for total amount due
    • Make monthly small payments? Add a Scheduled Reminder for 11 monthly payments. Add another Scheduled Reminder for one year minus 2 weeks for remaining balance.
    • Each of these payment transactions are defined as, e.g., checks you write from your checking account and mailed to the biller. Categorize as transfers to the Liability account, to reduce the outstanding balance.

  • Boatnmaniac
    Boatnmaniac SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited September 2021
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    Another idea that I have used several times before and I thought it worked quite well:  Set up a 1-year 0% interest Loan account with monthly payments.
    When making payments that vary from the payment schedule Quicken will recalculate it accordingly by either increasing or decreasing the final payment depending on how the payment made varied from the schedule.
    An added benefit is that setting up the Loan will automatically set up a Bill Reminder for it and this can be set up with the category being a transfer from your checking account without having to do a separate Bill Reminder set up.    And the monthly payment date schedule can be manually adjusted so the loan is paid off a day or more before the final due date if desired or needed.
    Either method works well for this.  It just boils down to which method is preferred and I prefer this one.

    (Quicken Classic Premier Subscription: R55.15 on Windows 11)

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