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A manual account works exactly like a linked one — it holds transactions, shows a balance, and feeds your budget. The only difference is you enter the transactions yourself instead of a bank feed doing it. Use a manual account for cash, a bank Plaid does not cover, or any account you prefer to track by hand.

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Add the account

1

Open Accounts

Go to Accounts and choose Add Account.
2

Name it and pick a type

Give it a clear name, such as “Chase Checking,” and choose the account type. The type sets a sensible default for whether the account is included in your budget.
3

Enter a starting balance

Type the balance the account holds right now. Leave it blank or 0 to start from nothing.
4

Create

Choose Create account. The account appears in your sidebar with the balance you entered.

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How the starting balance is recorded

The starting balance becomes a single transaction dated today, so the account’s running balance matches what you entered. From there, every transaction you add moves the balance.
For a credit card or loan, enter what you owe. Budget Bandit records that as a negative balance automatically — you do not need to type the minus sign. A positive entry is flipped for you when you pick a debt type.
A starting balance on a credit card is debt, not money to spend. It shows up as underfunded on that card’s payment category until you assign dollars to it from the budget page. See Set up a card.

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On-budget vs tracking

The Include in budget checkbox decides whether the account’s spending draws on your budget. Everyday accounts (checking, savings, cash, credit cards) are on budget by default. Loans and investments default to tracking-only — they count toward your net worth but do not pull from category balances. You can change this anytime from Edit account.

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Want it to sync later?

If your bank is on Plaid, you can attach a live feed to this manual account later. When you connect the bank, choose attach to existing for this account during mapping. Your hand-entered history stays and the feed takes over going forward.

Account types

Which type to pick and what each one does.

Add a transaction

Enter spending and income by hand.

Connect a bank

Link a feed instead of typing transactions.

Reconcile an account

Match the account to a statement and lock in a trusted balance.