6.1. Setting Up Accounts

To begin managing your credit cards in GnuCash, you should set up a credit card type account for each credit card you use. If you are tracking only the payments you make to the credit card company, then all you need is a bank account and a credit card account to enter your transactions.

If you decide to enter more detailed records of your purchases, you will also need to create expense accounts for those purchases. Since you will also be reconciling the balance to your credit card statements, you should also enter an opening balance in each credit card account. The easiest way to do this is to use your last statement balance as the opening balance.