Creating an Account

Note

You must have a file open before you can create a new account. If you do not have an existing file, you will need to create one.

To create a new account, you can either select the AccountNew account... menu item or choose the new account icon from the toolbar. You can also create an account from the Accounts view; click on the Accounts icon in the view selector and then right click on the Asset or Liability tree icon and select New account... from the popup menu.

The Institution (Bank) name

Account Wizard

The first step involves selecting an institution for the account. If this is an account for an institution you have already created, you can select the institution from the dropdown list. If you want to create a new institution, click on the New Institution button. This will bring up the New Institution Dialog, as described in the previous section. If this is not a bank account, or if you do not want to use online banking, you do not need to specify an institution.

The Account Number and the IBAN (International Bank Account Number) are not currently used by KMyMoney. These fields may be left blank and filled in at a later time; they are only required for online banking.

To proceed to the next step click on Next.

Account

Account Wizard

First, enter a name for the account. This name will be used to identify it.

Next, select the type of account from one of the types available from the dropdown list. Different account types are handled differently within KMyMoney, so it is important to choose the correct type when creating the account. Also, different types of accounts require different setup information, and may display different pages in the new account setup wizard to collect that information.

Checking

A normal checking account, the type you get with any bank or credit union.

Savings

A normal savings account, the type you get with any bank or credit union.

Credit Card

An account to represent your credit card.

Cash

A general purpose account, typically used for accounts not held at a bank, such as the cash in your wallet.

Loan

An account to manage a loan for money either borrowed or lent. With a Loan account KMyMoney automatically calculates interest payments to help you track the remaining principal on the loan. Loans with no interest might use the plain Asset or Liability type below, depending on whether the money is lent or borrowed.

Investment

An account to manage an investment such as stocks, bonds, or mutual funds.

Asset

An account to manage an asset that does not fit in one of the above types.

Liability

An account to manage a money you owe or a future expense that does not fit in one of the above types. This is most commonly used for loans with no interest. If interest needs to be calculated, you might be better using the Loan type above.

Select the currency to be used for the account from the dropdown list.

Enter the date the account was opened or select it from the calendar using the icon to the right. You will not be able to enter any transaction with a date earlier than the account opening date, but you can change this date later, if necessary.

Enter the opening balance for the account. If this is an existing bank account, this information can be found on your statement. If it is a new account, the opening balance can be left at zero.

Selecting the Preferred Account check box will allow preferred access in some dialogs and views of KMyMoney.

To proceed to the next step click on Next.

Credit Card Accounts

When creating a Credit Card account, after entering the basic information and clicking Next, you can optionally have KMyMoney create a scheduled transaction for you.

Account Wizard

If you want such a transaction generated, make sure the check box is selected and enter the required information.

Click on Next to continue.

Investment Accounts

In KMyMoney, Investment accounts contain only equities (stocks, bonds, etc.) but do not contain cash. (This is why you cannot specify a Opening balance for an Investment account.) If a transaction in an Investment account requires or generates cash (such as to buy or sell stock,) a Brokerage account is used for the cash. Brokerage accounts are described further in the chapter on Investments. When you create a new Investment account, after entering the basic information, and clicking Next, you have the option to create an associated Brokerage account.

Account Wizard

It is generally best to create the Brokerage account here, which will be given the same name as the Investment account, with "(Brokerage)" appended. Currently it is not possible to specify the opening date or balance for the Brokerage account at this point; you may do by editing the account details after the account has been created.

Loan Accounts

Loan accounts are special accounts used to help you manage Loans with interest and scheduled repayments. By providing KMyMoney with information about the loan, KMyMoney can help you track interest payments and the remaining principal of the loan.

Account Wizard

On the Details page you enter the general information about the loan.

First, select whether you are borrowing or lending money. If you are borrowing money the loan will be listed in Accounts under Liabilities. If you are lending money the loan will be listed under Assets.

Next, select the payee or payer of the loan. As always, if the name doesn't yet exist in the Payees list, enter it here and KMyMoney will create it for you.

The next three items are for handling Loans on which you've already made payments. If you select Yes in the Did you make/receive any payments yet? dropdown, you can then select whether you want to record all payments or just those from the beginning of the current year. If you want to record from the beginning of the current year, you are than asked to input the balance at the beginning of this year.

Next, select how often payments will be made and how often interest is compounded. Compounding is where the interest is added to the amount owed on the loan so that when the interest is next calculated there will be more interest paid on the interest. It's common for interest to be compounded at the same frequency that payments are made.

Next, enter the date the first payment to be recorded.

Finally, enter information about how the interest rate varies. If the loan is fixed-rate there is nothing to do. If the rate varies, select Variable in Type of interest rate and then enter the interval between interest rate changes and the date the first change of interest rate is due: KMyMoney will ask you to update the interest rate when that date arrives. Click Next to continue.

Account Wizard

The Payments page is where you enter the payment and interest values for the loan.

First, select whether the interest rate is calculated when the payment is received or when it becomes due. If you don't know, leave it on the default value.

Next, enter the following values:

Loan amount

The amount of the loan.

Interest rate

The annual percentage interest rate of the loan.

Term

The length of the loan. Enter a number and select either Months or Years.

Payment (principal and interest)

The amount of each loan payment. This is the total of the principal and interest paid with each payment.

Balloon payment

Additional final payment made at the end of the term to pay off the remaining principal of the loan. For a repayment loan this is often zero. For an interest-only loan this will be the same as the loan amount.

Finally, use the Calculate button to check the values you have entered. You must have entered either all or all but one of the values listed above. If you omit two or more values the button is disabled because it is not possible to check that the entered values are consistent: in that case you will not be able to use the Loan account facility in KMyMoney and will instead have to use a Liability or Asset account to track the loan manually.

If you omit one value, KMyMoney will try to calculate it for you. If you have entered all values KMyMoney will check the values are consistent. KMyMoney will not adjust entered values other than the "Balloon payment", which it may adjust slightly to deal with rounding. If the values are inconsistent or KMyMoney cannot calculate the omitted value, KMyMoney will let you know so that you can correct any errors and repeat the calculation.

Once the values are consistent, the Next button is enabled and you can advance to the next page.

Account Wizard

The Fees page is where you can enter any fees added to the loan payments.

If there are any fees press the Additional Fees button. The Transaction Split editor will be displayed for entry of the fees. Any lines added here will be included in the payment schedule for the loan. When you save the splits the Fees page will display the principal and interest payment, the total additional fees, and the total periodic payment.

Account Wizard

KMyMoney will create a scheduled transaction for your loan. The Schedule page is where you enter the remaining details needed to create the schedule.

First enter the Category to which loan interest will be assigned. Then enter the account from which the loan payment will be made.

The page also displays the first payment date for which the Schedule will be created.

Account Wizard

Optionally, KMyMoney can create a transaction representing what was received or paid when the loan was created.

If you borrowed or lent cash select the account from which or to which the loan amount was paid.

If you borrowed money to purchase a car you can select or create an Asset account to help you track the value of the new car.

If you re-financed an existing Loan, check the Refinance existing loan check box, select the Loan account and KMyMoney will create a transfer transaction paying off the existing loan.

If you don't want to create the payout transaction, check the Do not create payout transaction check box.

Parent Account

Account Wizard

This is the penultimate step in creating any new account except a loan. Depending on the type of account that is being created, a tree of your Asset or Liability accounts will be displayed.

The Parent Account page is not currently shown for Loans because they cannot be created as subaccounts. Also, Investment accounts cannot contain other accounts so they are not shown in the tree.

Select the account you wish contain the new account. If you do not select a parent account, the new account will be created at the top level.

Review and save the account details

Account Wizard

This is the final step in creating a new account. A summary of the information entered is displayed. Review it, and if everything is OK press Finish. Otherwise, either press Back to make corrections or Cancel to abandon creating the new account.

Note

The Type and Currency cannot at present be changed after the account is created.