Your first account

Enter the accounts that hold real money. The numbers underneath the budget start here.

The envelope budget needs a balance to work with. That balance comes from accounts. Most people start with a checking account and add the rest in any order.

What to add first

Open Accounts and add accounts in this order — it makes the first budget cleanest:

Primary checking — the account your paycheck lands in.
Savings — even if it's just an emergency fund.
Every credit card you actively use — the Credit Card Payment category is created for each one.
Cash on hand — optional; only worth tracking if you handle cash regularly.
Tracking accounts — investments, your home, vehicle loans, the mortgage. These don't affect Ready to Assign but they show up in net worth.

The opening balance

Project Budget asks for one number when you add an account: today's balance. Whatever's in there right now.

For on-budget accounts (checking / savings / cash), that opening balance becomes an inflow tagged Starting balance and lands in Ready to Assign. You decide what categories it funds.
For credit cards, the opening balance is typically negative (you owe money). It does not add to Ready to Assign — instead, the same amount appears as a pre-assigned debt in the card's payment category.
For tracking accounts, the balance is recorded but no Ready-to-Assign inflow is created.

Account groups

The left rail of the Accounts page groups accounts under headers. Default groups are Cash, Credit, Tracking. Drag accounts between groups, or create a new group from the menu. Groups are cosmetic — they don't change behavior, only how the list looks.

Naming tips

Use names you'll skim correctly months from now:

Chase 1234 is more useful than Checking if you'll ever have two.
Visa — Personal and Visa — Work are clearer than Visa and Visa 2.
For tracking accounts, include the institution: Fidelity 401k, Vanguard Brokerage.

What you can change later

Account name, group, type, and notes — anytime, from Accounts. The opening balance transaction is just a regular row in the register; edit it like any other entry. See Account types for what changing the type does.