After you see the big picture and know what an account and a register are, you can create an account. In the next sections, you find out how to set up a checking account, savings account, and credit card account.

Setting up a checking or savings account

Everybody, or just about everybody, has at least one checking and one savings account. Set up an account in Money for each checking and savings account you keep with a bank. Be sure to get out the paperwork before you set up the checking or savings account. You need to know the account number and a few other details. Follow these steps to set up the account:

1. Choose Accounts & Bills -> Account Setup. You land in the Set Up Your Accounts window. This window is the starting point for managing accounts you have set up in Money.

2. Click the Add a New Account hyperlink, the first one listed under “What do you want to do?” You see the first of several New Account dialog boxes. Each dialog box asks a nosy question about your account.

3. In the Held At text box, type the name of the bank or financial institution in which you keep the account; then click the Next button. If you have another account with the bank and have set up an account in Money for tracking it, you can enter the bank’s name by clicking the down arrow and selecting a bank name from the drop-down list.

4. In the next dialog box, choose the name of a financial institution. Money needs the name of a bank, credit card company, brokerage house, or other financial institution in case you want to bank online. Information about the institution you choose will be stored in Money in case you want to bank over the Internet.

5. In the next dialog box, select the type of account you want to create Checking or Savings and then click the Next button. You can also read their descriptions in the dialog box.

6. Type a descriptive name for the account and then click the Next button. The name you type appears in the Accounts window. Type a descriptive name so that you can distinguish this account from the others you set up in Money.

7. In the next dialog box, type the account number and click the Next button. The dialog box you see next asks for the balance (how much money is in the account).

8. Enter a figure for the account balance, choose a currency if need be, and click the Next button. Knowing the balance isn’t as important as you may think you can change the starting balance after you set up the account by changing the first entry in the account register. More power to you if you know the starting balance and you have diligently kept records so that you can enter past transactions and bring the account up-to-date. If you don’t know the opening balance, either enter the balance from your last bank statement or make an estimate.

9. Select either I Have No Other Accounts at This Institution or I Have Other Accounts at This Institution and click the Next button. This dialog box wants to know whether you keep other accounts at the same bank where you keep this account. Clicking I Have No Other Accounts at This Institution takes you to the Finish dialog box. Clicking I Have Other Accounts at This Institution takes you to the dialog box for selecting an account type. Follow Steps 5 through 9 again to give Money the lowdown on the next account.

10. Click the Finish button. At the end of the ordeal, you return to the Set Up Your Accounts window.

Listing contact names, phone numbers, and other account details

Before you put away the paperwork and say good-bye to an account you set up, take a moment to acquaint Money with the details. The Update Details window is a handy place to store bank telephone numbers and other information. If you lose your passbook, ATM card, or credit card and need to call the bank, for example, you can get the number from the Update Details window. The window also has a check box for making an account appear on the Favorites menu. Follow these steps to get to the Update Details window and enter the pertinent information or view information about an account you already set up:

1. Click the Account List button on the Navigation bar to go to the Accounts window. You can also get there by choosing Accounts & Bills -> Account List.

2. Click the name of the account whose details you want to enter or see. You go to the account register where activity in the account is recorded.

3. Click the Change Account Details hyperlink. You can find it on the left side of the window, under “Common Tasks.” The fastest way to get to the Update Details window is to right-click an account name in the Accounts window and choose See Account Details from the shortcut menu.

4. Enter or view information about your account in the window.

5. Click the Done button if you entered information in the Update Details window. Where is the Done button? It’s at the bottom of the window. You have to scroll to get there. After you click the Done button, you return to the account register.

Setting Up an Account to Track Credit Card and Line of Credit Transactions

Except for filling out an extra dialog box or two, setting up a credit card or line of credit account works the same way as setting up a checking or savings account. Set up a credit card or line of credit account for each credit card and each line of credit you have. When you set up the account, Money asks how much you owe and whether you want a reminder when the credit card bill or line of credit bill is due. Get out your last credit card or line of credit statement and follow these steps to set up a credit card or line of credit account:

1. Place a finger of your right hand on this page and, with your left hand, turn back several pages to “Setting up a checking or savings account.”

2. Follow Steps 1 through 7 (but not Step 5) of the instructions for setting up a checking or savings account. In other words, go to the Set Up Accounts window, click the Add a New Account hyperlink, enter the name of the bank or credit card issuer, select Credit Card or Line of Credit as the account type, enter a descriptive name for the account, and enter the account number. Those steps bring you to the dialog box, where Money asks how much you owe. If you resemble the average citizen, you owe the bank or credit card issuer some money. Enter the amount you owe now.

3. Type 0 if the credit card or line of credit is paid in full; otherwise, type how much your last statement says that you owe, and then click the Next button.

4. Select the Credit Card or Charge Card option and click the Next button. This dialog box asks whether your account will track a credit card or charge card. As the dialog box explains, charge cards have to be paid in full each month, but you can carry debt from month to month with a credit card. Select the Credit Card option if the account tracks credit card spending or a line of credit. Otherwise, select Charge Card. If yours is a credit card that you don’t need to pay in full but you intend to pay off each month, select the Always Pay Entire Balance Each Month check box. What happens next depends on whether the account tracks a credit card or charge card. If the account tracks a charge card, skip ahead to Step 6. If the account tracks a credit card or line of credit, the dialog box that appears asks you to list the interest rate you get charged for carrying debt.

5. Tell Money what rate of interest you are charged for using the credit card, and then click the Next button. List the interest rate in the first % text box. If the rate is a temporary, introductory rate, select the An Introductory Rate Is in Effect check box and enter the permanent rate and the date that the temporary rate expires. Money needs this information for the Debt Reduction Planner and other features designed to help you manage debt.

6. In the dialog box that follows, type the maximum amount that you can charge on your credit or charge card; then click the Next button. Your credit card statement lists the most you can borrow on your credit card. Get the figure from your statement.

7. Make sure that the first option button, No, Don’t AutoBalance This Account, is selected, and then click the Next button. This dialog box is kind of misleading. It seems to say that if you pay your credit card bill in full each month, you should select the second radio button, Yes, AutoBalance This Account. But you should do no such thing. Select the second radio button only if you don’t want to track the charges you run up on your credit card.

8. If you want the bill to appear on the Bills and Deposits window, make sure that you check the Yes, Remind Me When the Bill Is Due check box. Enter an estimate of how much you owe in an average month; also, enter a date in the Bill Is Due Next On box. Then click the Next button. The next dialog box asks whether you want to put the monthly credit card or line of credit payment on the Bill Calendar. If you click Yes, a reminder to pay the bill appears in the Manage Scheduled Bills and Deposits window and in Money Express. The Manage Scheduled Bills and Deposits window reminds you when bills are due. If you want, the notice can also appear on the Home Page, where you can see it each time you start Money.

9. Click Next in the following dialog box, which asks whether you can earn frequent flyer miles with your credit or charge card.

10. Select either the I Have No Other Accounts at This Institution button or I Have Other Accounts at This Institution; then click the Next button. Selecting I Have No Other Accounts at This Institution takes you to the last dialog box, where you can click the Finish button and be done with it. Selecting I Have Other Accounts at This Institution takes you back to the dialog box for choosing an account type. 1

1. Click the Finish button. You can ignore the Go to Online Setup button for now. You can set up the online services later if you so choose. After you set up your credit card or line of credit account, go to the Update Details window and enter the phone number of the credit card issuer or bank. You may need the number, for example, if you must report a lost credit card. In this article, “Listing contact names, phone numbers, and other account details” explains how the Update Details window works.