Can I add a linked transaction to a manual mortgage liability account?

BlazeBeard

My mortgage account (PenFed) does not seem to be able to connect to Simplifi. So I added a manual account with the starting balance in January 2024. I'd like to be able to adjust the balance of the account with a transaction (as recommended elsewhere here) AND have that transaction linked to my mortgage Bill in Simplifi. I added a +incoming transaction to the mortgage for the full amount of my bill and successfully linked it, however, the bill includes principal + interest + escrow, which are treated differently against the balance of the mortgage. Principal reduces the balance, while interest and escrow are essentially expenses which do not affect the balance.

Has anyone figured out how to make this work? Or am I just better off not linking and adding a +incoming transaction to the manual mortgage in the amount of the principal payment? In that case, can I split the mortgage bill (outgoing) transaction and link the principal amounts only?

DannyB

@BlazeBeard

I would try this:

• Set up a mortgage interest category.
• Set up an escrow category or perhaps a manual escrow account.
• You already have the manual mortgage loan account set up.
• Set up a recurring bill for the mortgage payment based on the payment to your mortgage company out of whatever account you pay out of.

When the payment transaction downloads into Simplifi it should match up with the recurring bill and then…

• Open the Transaction Detail.
• Click on the SPLIT link.
• Enter the principal part of the transaction and categorize it as a transfer to your manual mortgage loan account.
• Enter the interest part of the payment and categorize it as mortgage interest.
• Enter the escrow part of the payment and categorize it as either the escrow category or manual escrow account. If you set up a manual account for the escrow you will need to manually make adjustments when your insurance premium and property taxes are paid out.

I think something along these lines will work. The transfer to the manual loan account should cause the balance to decrease month by month.

Someone with a mortgage already set up should come along to let you know what they do and what works.

BlazeBeard

Makes sense, thanks! I will give it a try tomorrow and see what anyone else might recommend.