Accounts

Account types

InfinitelyZero supports checking, savings, cash, emergency fund, investment, credit card, and other accounts. Eligible Normal cash accounts can contribute starting money to Ready to Budget; On demand accounts stay outside that pool until you choose them as a funding source.

Checking

A standard checking or current account used for everyday spending. The most common starting account for a new budget.

Savings

A savings account. The balance counts toward your budget just like checking — money in a savings account can be assigned to any category, including savings goals or upcoming expenses.

Cash

Physical cash you keep on hand. Treat it like any other account: add transactions when you spend it and reconcile it when you count your wallet.

Emergency fund

A dedicated account type for an emergency savings account. Works the same as savings in the budget.

Credit card

Credit card purchases use a linked payment category to reserve covered spending. Existing debt and unfunded purchases do not create cash automatically. See Credit Cards for purchases, funding and payments.

Off-budget accounts

Investment accounts track a balance outside Ready to Budget. Credit-card debt is also separate from spendable cash. The Other account type is on-budget cash; it is not an off-budget asset or mortgage type.

Adding an account

To add an account, open the Accounts section and tap or click Add Account. You will be asked for:

Account name

Choose a name that helps you recognize it — "Chase Checking," "Primary Savings," or "Wallet Cash" all work well.

Account type

Select the type that best matches the real account.

Starting balance

Enter the current positive balance for a cash account. For a credit card, the Add Account form asks how much you currently owe: enter that amount without a minus sign. The app records it as card debt.

How starting balances affect Ready to Budget

For an eligible Normal cash account, leave Add starting balance to Ready to Budget on when the starting money has not already been budgeted. On demand accounts do not add their cash to normal Ready to Budget.

A credit card opening amount establishes existing debt. It does not fund its payment category; assign real cash before recording a payment.

Account balances

Working balance

The ordinary current balance includes cleared and pending activity effective through today. Future-dated transactions remain in the ledger and forecasts rather than reducing today’s displayed balance. Manage Accounts currently uses the full recorded ledger, so its balance can include future rows.

Cleared balance

The current cleared balance includes cleared transactions effective through the reconciliation date. Compare it with the matching cleared or statement balance at your bank.

Pending transactions

Pending transactions are expenses or income you have recorded in InfinitelyZero but not yet confirmed with your bank. They count in the working balance but not the cleared balance.

Why your app balance and bank balance may differ

A difference between InfinitelyZero and your bank is normal and expected between reconciliation sessions. Pending transactions, timing of cleared items, or a transaction you forgot to record can all cause a temporary difference. Regular reconciliation helps you spot and resolve discrepancies quickly.

Multiple accounts

InfinitelyZero supports as many on-budget accounts as you need. There are a few key things to understand when you have multiple accounts:

• Categories are account-backed. A category can have backing in more than one account. Its account chips identify the cash supporting that category, while Ready to Budget chips show each account’s unassigned money.
• One plan still needs account context. Check both category Available and the backing in the account making the payment. Money held elsewhere does not automatically cover that account’s shortage.
• Savings-account money can fund spending categories. Assigning savings-account money to a rent or groceries category is perfectly valid in InfinitelyZero.
• Assigning money and transferring cash are different actions. Assign money changes category funding. An ordinary transfer between Normal on-budget cash accounts also asks which category backing and/or unassigned money moved; recording it does not instruct your bank to send money.

Managing accounts

Renaming

Open the account settings and change the name at any time. This does not affect any transactions or budget history.

Reconciling

Reconciliation confirms that InfinitelyZero's cleared balance matches your bank statement. Open the account, tap Reconcile, and work through any discrepancies.

Archiving

Archive a closed account to remove it from active entry while retaining its history. Archiving does not erase its transactions or remove its historical contribution to Ready to Budget; archive and restore are financially neutral.

Restoring

You can restore an archived account at any time if you reopen the real account or realize you archived it by mistake.

Manage Accounts and forecast switches

Open Menu → Accounts or Manage accounts from the Dashboard Accounts card. Web and Windows use a right-side Manage Accounts panel with Add and account menus. Active accounts are grouped by type; Archived is last.

Use each eligible account’s In forecast switch for Whole Plan and Account Cash. Before customization, Whole Plan defaults to checking and cash while Account Cash also projects ordinary savings; the switches show Whole Plan’s selection. After a change, both use the selected eligible accounts. Cards, investments and archived accounts are not eligible. Reset to defaults clears your custom selection. These switches affect forecasts, not balances or category assignments.