Family & Friend Loan Accounts

 

Tutorial – Written Guide

Here’s a detailed guide on how to use the Loan Account feature in your budgeting template. This feature helps you track money loaned or borrowed between friends, family, or roommates.

How to Use the Loan Feature:

Accessing the Loan Feature:
Navigate to the Notes tab of your template.
On the left, select the person whose loan details you want to track. On the right, you'll find sorting options to organize your entries.

Setting Up Loan Accounts:
Before you start tracking individual transactions, you can set up loan accounts in the Settings tab.
In the Loan Accounts section, you can enter the names of the people you’re tracking loans with. This will make them available for selection in the Notes tab.
If you’re starting with an existing balance, you can enter that directly when setting up the loan account.

Adding Opening Balances:
If someone already owes you money, or you owe them, you can input an opening balance when setting up their loan account.For example, if Bob already owes you $100 at the time you start using the template, you can set that as his starting balance.
You can also enter a negative balance if you owe money to them.

Tracking Balances:
The balance will reflect how much is owed.
A positive balance means they owe you money.
A negative balance means you owe them.
The balance will update automatically as you add new transactions.

Recording Transactions:
Whenever an expense occurs (e.g., you and a friend split a bill), enter the details on the transactions tab.
You can assign the transaction to the correct person and add a brief description.
For example, if you pay a $100 hydro bill for you and your roommate Bob, you would enter $50 as your expense and $50 as a loan for Bob. The system will now show that Bob owes you $50.

Example:
Let’s say Bob owes you $50 for utilities. After adding that transaction, the balance will reflect what Bob owes.
If Bob later pays for a shared expense (e.g., a meal), you can log that transaction, and the system will adjust the net balance accordingly.

Reconciling Payments:

At the end of the month, you can reconcile balances by marking any payments received or made.
For example, if Bob pays you back $50 in cash, you can log that payment, and his balance will reset to zero.

Slots Available:

The free version allows tracking for up to 5 people.
The premium version provides 10 slots, giving you more flexibility.

By using the Loan Account feature, you can easily manage and track shared expenses, whether it’s for bills, outings, or any other shared costs. This feature helps ensure clear communication and accurate record-keeping, so no one loses track of what’s owed.