How do I transfer funds between accounts?

Simple transfers

When you want to move money from one account to another, use a transfer transaction:

1. Create a transaction in one of your accounts and set its type to "Transfer." Enter the date, payee, note, and amount of money to be transferred.
2. Begin typing the name of the account into which the funds should be transferred in the category field, then select the account name when it appears in the drop-down list. Alternatively, press the Down Arrow key on your keyboard to drop down the full category list and choose the account name. Click "Save" to record the transaction.
3. A new transaction will automatically appear in the account to which you are transferring the money, with the same transaction details as the original (except for the amount, which will be opposite to the original).
4. The two transactions are now linked: changing the details of one will update the other automatically and deleting one will delete the other. There are two exceptions to this rule, however: each side of the transaction can be cleared and reconciled separately, and the amounts can be changed independently when they use different currencies (see below).

Transfer transactions use the "Category" field to indicate the destination account for the transfer. If the category for a particular transaction begins with the '•' character, it is a transfer. Accounts are not displayed under the "Categories" item in the source list, but can be used in reports and budgets like other categories.

Split transfers

Split transactions can also be used to transfer funds between accounts. To transfer part of a split transaction to or from a different account, simply enter the account's name in the "Category" field for the appropriate split item. If you enter the amount for the split item in the "Income" column, the money will be drawn from the account indicated; if you enter the amount in the "Expense" column, the money will be deposited into the account indicated. Each account will show the transaction with all split items included, but the split amounts will be adjusted so that the transaction is properly balanced on both sides of the transfer.

Transfers with currency conversions

When you transfer money between accounts with different currencies, you may wish to apply a conversion so that the correct amount is recorded in each account. After you finish step 2 in the instructions above, click on the currency symbol in the transaction editor and choose the currency used by the account you entered in the Category field. The Exchange Rt, Foreign, and Currency fields will appear so that you can apply a currency conversion.

By default, the exchange rate is set to 1 (indicating no conversion), the Foreign field shows the amount of the transfer in the original currency, and the currency field shows that of the original transaction. To apply a conversion, adjust either the exchange rate or the amount shown in the Deposit or Withdrawal field (which uses the current account's currency). The Foreign field will automatically adjust itself based on the changes you make to the exchange rate and transaction amount.

Split transfers with currency conversions

If you transfer part of a split transaction into an account that uses a different currency from the account in which the transaction is being recorded, some additional fields will be displayed in the split editor:

In the Amount column, enter the value of the transfer in the currency of the receiving account. To indicate money being deposited into that account, enter the amount as a positive number; to indicate money being withdrawn from that account, enter the amount in parentheses to indicate a negative value, e.g. (€21,310).

In the Exchange Rate column, enter the rate of conversion between the currencies used by the two accounts. In the Value column, enter the value of the transfer in the transaction's currency (indicated by the pop-up currency button at the top right side of the transaction editor). You only need to enter details in two of the three fields mentioned here - iBank will automatically calculate the value of the third and fill it in for you.

When split items with categories appear in the same list, no currency conversion needs to be applied. Leave the Exchange Rate set to 1 and make sure the Amount and Value fields match. Amounts should be entered as positive to indicate expenses and negative to indicate income.

Investment transfers

When tracking investments, you may want to transfer cash from a banking account to an investment account to purchase shares, or transfer cash out of an investment account after a sale or cash distribution. To record this type of transfer, add a transaction in the investment account, set its type appropriately (Buy, Sell, Dividend, etc.), then set its funding/distribution type to "Transfer." The category field will then be enabled so that you can type in the name of the account from which the cash should be withdrawn or deposited (depending on the transaction type). Once you save the transaction, iBank will create a transaction that is linked to the one you just created in the account you specified. Only certain transaction properties can be edited on the linked transaction.

About transfers in budgets and reports

A transfer is only counted in a budget or report when one of the two accounts involved in the transfer is excluded from the budget or report. If both accounts are included, there is no net movement of money in or out of the scope of the budget or report as a result of the transfer.

To track a transfer in a budget, use the budget assistant to exclude the account from the budget's account list. You will then see the account name included with the income and expense categories so that you can track transfers to and from that account on the budget.

To track a transfer in a report, exclude the account by double-clicking the report, choosing the "Limit results to specific accounts" option, and checking off all accounts except the one you want to exclude. Transfers in and out of that account will then be counted in the report. Reports that are based on categories can be configured to include or exclude transfers to or from a specific account using the "Report on all categories and accounts except" setting. For more information about configuring report settings, see the articles about the different report types.