How Debt Accounts Work
Debt accounts (also called liability accounts) track money you owe to others. This includes credit cards, loans, and any other obligations.Why Debt Math Seems “Backwards”
If you’re used to thinking about asset accounts, debt accounts can feel counterintuitive at first. Here’s the key difference:
And transactions work in the opposite direction from assets:
[!TIP] Think of a debt balance as “Amount Owed” rather than “money I have.” A higher number means you owe more, not that you have more.
Credit Card Example
Let’s walk through a typical credit card scenario:
Notice how spending increases the balance (you owe more) and payments decrease it (you owe less).
Overpayment Scenario
What happens if you pay more than you owe?
A negative balance on a credit card means you’ve overpaid—the credit card company owes you money. This might happen from:
- Overpayment
- Refunds for returned purchases
- Statement credits or rewards
Types of Debt Accounts
Sure supports three types of liability accounts:Credit Card
Track your credit card balances and spending. Credit card accounts can include:Loan
Track mortgages, auto loans, student loans, and other installment debt.
Loan accounts support additional fields:
[!NOTE] Sure calculates a monthly payment automatically for fixed-rate loans. For variable-rate and adjustable-rate loans, use the Schedule tab to see the current payment amount.
Other Liability
For debts that don’t fit the above categories:- Personal loans from friends/family
- Medical bills
- IOUs
- Tax obligations
How Debt Affects Net Worth
Liabilities reduce your net worth:Example: Paying Off a Credit Card
Your net worth stays the same because you traded 500 of debt reduction. But now you have no credit card debt!
Adding Debt Accounts
To add a debt account:- Click + Add Account on your dashboard
- Select the liability type (Credit Card, Loan, or Other Liability)
- Enter your account details:
- Account name
- Current balance (the amount you currently owe)
- For loans: original balance (the principal when the loan started), interest rate, term, and rate type
- Click Create Account
[!IMPORTANT] Make sure to select a liability account type (Credit Card, Loan, or Other Liability) when adding debt. If you accidentally create a Cash account for your credit card, the balance calculations will be incorrect.
Loans with a different opening and current balance
When you add a loan, you can enter both the original principal (opening balance) and your current remaining balance. These two figures are often different — for example, a mortgage you took out years ago has a much lower remaining balance today than when it started. Sure preserves both values: the original principal is recorded as the opening balance on the loan’s start date, and your current remaining balance is anchored to today. The first sync uses your current balance as the baseline and calculates forward from there, so the balance you entered is never overwritten.Understanding Loan Payments
When you make a loan payment, the payment typically covers:- Interest - Cost of borrowing
- Principal - Reducing the amount you owe
[!TIP] To track loan payments accurately, create a transfer from your checking account to your loan account. This properly reflects the payment in both accounts.
Loan overview
The Overview tab on a loan account shows a grid of summary cards and a repayment progress section.Summary cards
Repayment progress
Below the summary cards, the overview shows how far into repayment you are:- Repaid ring — A donut chart showing the percentage of the original loan amount already repaid, based on your current balance.
- Payment breakdown — The current scheduled installment split into principal, interest, and insurance (if applicable), each shown as an amount and a share of the total payment.
Amortization schedule
Sure generates a full amortization schedule for any loan that has an interest rate, a term, and an original balance — including variable-rate and adjustable-rate loans. The schedule uses a constant-payment (French) method: interest is charged on the outstanding principal each month, and the remainder of each payment reduces principal. This matches the table your lender uses. To view the schedule, open a loan account and select the Schedule tab. The tab shows summary figures at the top:
For fixed-rate loans, the opening payment is also the contracted monthly payment for the life of the loan. For variable-rate and adjustable-rate loans, Sure re-amortises the schedule at each recorded rate change, so the payment amount can change after a rate change takes effect. The summary labels this as the opening payment rather than “the” monthly payment when the schedule re-amortises.
Below the summary is a full payment table with one row per period:
Rows for payments whose scheduled date has already passed are shaded to distinguish elapsed periods from upcoming ones.
The monthly payment shown on the loan overview is read directly from the schedule, so it is cent-accurate. For example, a 2,245.22 rather than a rounded figure.
Variable-rate loans
For variable-rate and adjustable-rate loans, you can record rate changes directly on the loan. Each change requires an effective date and the new annual rate. Sure re-amortises the schedule from the point of each change: the payment for periods after the effective date is resized to pay off the remaining balance over the remaining term at the new rate. The interest charged in a period always uses the rate that was in force when the period opened, so a change effective on a payment date takes effect from that payment forward — it does not retroactively change the interest already accrued in the current month. A variable-rate loan with no recorded rate changes runs at its base rate, just as a fixed-rate loan does.[!NOTE] The monthly payment field on the loan overview is only shown for fixed-rate loans. For variable-rate loans, use the Schedule tab to see the current payment in force.
Loan balance chart
Loan accounts include a balance chart that shows three series together:
The gap between the actual and scheduled lines shows whether you are ahead of or behind the original contract. The projected line starts at today’s balance and ends when the loan is paid off at the contracted repayment.
The chart offers a period picker with the same windows available on other account charts (month, 90 days, year, 5 years, 10 years, and all time). Each window is clamped so it never opens before the loan’s origination date. Under All, the domain extends far enough to show every series, including the full projected payoff.
The forward-looking series (scheduled and projected) are only drawn under the All window, since they extend past today. The summary cards beside the chart show the projection figures regardless of which period is selected.
Payoff projection
The Schedule tab shows a payoff projection alongside the amortization table. The projection starts from your current recorded balance and applies the contracted repayment each period to show where the loan is actually heading — not where the original contract said it would be. The Schedule tab summary shows:
The forecasted payoff date reflects any extra payments you have already made: if your current balance is lower than the contract expected, the projection finishes sooner and saves interest. If your balance has grown past what the contract expected, the projection may not converge — in that case the tab shows a notice instead of a date.
The projection runs only to the original contracted maturity date. It does not extend the term or invent a new repayment size. This means:
- A borrower who is ahead of schedule finishes earlier and saves interest.
- A borrower whose balance has grown may reach the end of the contracted term still owing a balance. The tab shows that remaining balance rather than a payoff date.
[!NOTE] The projection is not shown when the loan has no amortization schedule (for example, if the interest rate, term, or original balance is missing), or when the current balance is zero.