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Borrowed from a friend: loan or liability?
Add it as a loan, even if there is no schedule and no interest. Then you can record each repayment, and Ahead shows what you still owe.
The short answer
Add a loan and choose I borrowed it. A loan does not need a schedule, an end date or interest. It keeps a record of what you owe, and of every repayment.
A Liability account is for money you owe that you only want counted in your net worth. A loan does more: it shows what is still to pay, keeps each repayment, and can hold interest if there is any.
What happens in Ahead
| What happens | Your bank | Left to assign | Still to pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before: every rupee is already in a category | ₹50,000 | ₹0 | ₹0 |
| You borrow ₹20,000 from a friend | ₹70,000 | ₹20,000 | ₹20,000 |
| You assign it to Car repair | ₹70,000 | ₹0 | ₹20,000 |
| You pay back ₹5,000 | ₹65,000 | ₹0 | ₹15,000 |
Before: every rupee is already in a category
- Your bank
- ₹50,000
- Left to assign
- ₹0
- Still to pay
- ₹0
You borrow ₹20,000 from a friend
- Your bank
- ₹70,000
- Left to assign
- ₹20,000
- Still to pay
- ₹20,000
You assign it to Car repair
- Your bank
- ₹70,000
- Left to assign
- ₹0
- Still to pay
- ₹20,000
You pay back ₹5,000
- Your bank
- ₹65,000
- Left to assign
- ₹0
- Still to pay
- ₹15,000
Borrowed money is real money in your bank, so you assign it like any other. What you owe is shown on the loan, not in your budget.
When you pay some back, the money comes out of a category, like any spend. Many people keep a category for it, such as Loan repayments, and assign to it each month.
Recording a repayment
Each time you pay some back
- Open Loans and press the loan.
- Press Add an event.
- Under What happened, choose Repayment.
- Enter the amount and the date, the account it was Paid from, and the Category it comes out of. Press Repayment to save it.
The loan's statement then shows the repayment, and what is still to pay after it.
When a Liability is right
Use Liability for money you owe that you only want counted in your net worth, when there are no payments you want to record one by one.
If your friend uses Ahead too
You can share the loan with their Ahead account. You then both keep the same record, and each repayment waits for the other person to agree before it is entered. Open the loan, press Share, and choose Share with their Ahead account. How sharing works.
Read next
- Sharing a loan with the other personIf the other person uses Ahead too, you can both keep the same record of the loan. Anything either of you records waits for the other to agree before it goes on their books.
- Lent money to someoneAdd a loan and choose I lent it out. The money leaves a category now, and goes back to that category as it is repaid.
- Which account do I add?Find what you have in the list below. Most things are a bank account, cash or a card. Money between you and another person is a loan.
Still stuck?
Write to us and a person answers. If you use Ahead, Support in the app is quickest.