How do transfers and card payments work?
Move money between your own accounts without recording the same movement as unrelated spending and income.
A transfer is one movement with two linked register entries: money leaves one account and arrives in another. Pocketwatch creates, edits, and deletes those entries together so both balances stay in sync.
Record a transfer
- Open either participating account and select Add transaction.
- Enter the amount and choose Transfer.
- Choose whether the money moves Out of or Into the open account.
- Choose the other account and the date, then select Save.
On the all-accounts register, choose the From and To accounts instead. You can edit either linked row later to change the amount, direction, date, cleared status, or other account.
How common movements appear
| Movement | Pocketwatch behavior |
|---|---|
| Checking to savings | A normal transfer. The cash changed location, so Ready to Assign and category activity do not change. |
| Cash to a credit card or line of credit | Shown as a Payment. The debt balance moves toward zero, while Ready to Assign and category activity stay unchanged because the original card purchase already affected the budget. |
| Cash to a loan or mortgage | Shown as a Payment. Cash and the debt balance both fall. The cash leaving the budget reduces Ready to Assign, but the transfer does not appear as category activity. |
| Credit card or line of credit to cash | Shown as a Cash advance. It is borrowed money, not income, so it does not increase Ready to Assign. |
| Cash to an investment account | The cash leaves the budget and enters the investment account, so Ready to Assign falls by the posted amount. |
Cash advances
When money moves from revolving credit into cash, Pocketwatch offers a category and defaults the cash side to Income / Cash Advance. You can choose another category, but the movement remains a cash advance and does not become earned income.
If an imported transfer has only one side
The review inbox may show Needs a destination when an import identifies a transfer but cannot safely choose the other account. Choose the destination to create the linked side, or choose It was spending to keep it as ordinary activity.
For the complete revolving-credit workflow, see Credit cards.
Last updated August 18, 2026