Chapter 2. Set Up Your Finances

2. Set Up Your Finances

As you saw in the last chapter, Quicken stores all of your financial information in a single data file. Inside that data file, you'll create a number of accounts . An account represents an asset (something that you own, such as the money in your checking account or some property) or a liability (a debt that you owe, such as the balance on your credit cards or the mortgage on your home).

Quicken allows you to have as many or as few accounts as you wish. Some people prefer to use Quicken to track only their main checking account, and other people create many accounts to track every aspect of their financial life.

In this chapter, you'll set up the different accounts that you will initially use; learn about the different account types in Quicken; and learn about categories , the most important tool you'll use in Quicken to manage your finances.