Creating an Account

Creating an Account

Creating an account takes less than a minute, but a few of the details you enter, especially the account type and opening balance, are worth getting right the first time. This guide walks through the full “Add Account” form field by field.

When to Create a New Account

Create a new account any time you start tracking a new place your money lives: a new bank account, a credit card you want to monitor, a cash wallet, or a loan you want to track alongside your budget. If you’re setting up Moniqo for the first time, see the Getting Started guide for the quick version of this same flow.

Steps

1. Go to the Accounts page and select Add Account.
2. Enter an account name, such as “HDFC Salary Account” or “Cash Wallet.” Names must be unique within a budget, so you can’t create two accounts with the same name (this check ignores capitalization).
3. Optionally enter an account number and institution: these are for your own reference and aren’t required.
4. Choose an account type: Checking, Savings, Credit Card, Cash, or Loan. See Account Types if you’re unsure which one fits.
5. Enter the account’s initial balance and the date it’s as of. This becomes your account’s starting point in Moniqo; see Opening Balance for exactly how this works.
6. Review the account settings toggles (include in budget, enable reconciliation, lock transactions). Moniqo sets sensible defaults based on the account type, but you can adjust them.
7. Optionally add a note (up to 200 characters).
8. Select Create Account.

A live preview panel on the right shows exactly how your account will look as you fill out the form, so you can double-check everything before saving.

Tips

• Double-check your opening balance against your actual bank or cash balance before saving, since this is the number your account starts from.
• Account names must be unique within a budget, so if you get a “name already in use” message, either pick a more specific name (e.g. “Chase Checking – Joint” vs. “Chase Checking”) or check whether the account already exists.
• For Credit Card and Loan accounts, “Include in budget” is automatically switched off and can’t be turned on. This is expected, not an error. See Account Types for why.

Common Mistakes

• Entering today’s balance as the opening balance for an old account. If the account has existed for a while, use the balance as of the date you’re starting to track it in Moniqo, not today’s balance, unless those are the same.
• Skipping the account type. The type affects which settings are available (like whether the account counts toward your budget) and how it’s grouped and displayed, so it’s worth choosing carefully rather than picking one at random.

Next Steps

Once your account is created, learn how Opening Balance works under the hood, or head to Managing Accounts to see how to edit, reconcile, and monitor your account going forward.