Credit cards

Balances and spending

A card balance represents what you owe. Purchases increase that debt; payments and refunds reduce it. A credit limit is not income or Ready to Assign.

Card purchases can be categorized to expenses. Categorized refunds reduce net spending in the applicable spending window. A refund is different from transferring cash to pay the card.

Card spending windows

Card spending uses the due-date cycle where a due date is configured. The window runs after the previous due date through the relevant date; on the due date, the preceding cycle remains visible. Without a due date, summaries use a calendar-based window.

A payment envelope keeps the cycle associated with its own due period. Moving to a different paycheck view does not make older charges disappear from that cycle. The total amount owed and spending in a cycle are different numbers.

Reserve cash for payments

Alto creates a linked payment category for the card. Categorized card spending reduces the spending category’s available amount and adds the same amount to the card-payment reserve. It does not change Ready to Assign. If the spending category was underfunded, its shortfall still needs attention.

You can assign additional money to cover existing debt. Reserved card-payment money carries forward until used or reassigned. Loan payment categories are ordinary bills and do not use this card-spending reserve mechanism.

Use the assigned and available amounts in the payment category when reviewing what you have set aside. Card spending, cash reserved, and total debt each answer a different question.

Record a payment

After paying your card at the bank, record a transfer from the cash account to the credit-card account, or review the corresponding bank-synced entries. Alto records the two sides of the movement.

The cash side is associated with the card’s payment category. Recording a payment in Alto does not send money to your card issuer.