On budget or tracking?

On budget accounts hold money you can spend this month: bank accounts, cash, credit cards and overdrafts. Money coming into them goes to Left to assign. Spending from them comes out of a category.

Tracking accounts hold things you want to count but not spend: investments, property, gold, and money you owe. They count in your net worth, but the budget never offers their money to assign.

When you add an account, the Type list shows the two kinds in separate groups, On budget and Tracking.

Say you have ₹40,000 in your bank and ₹5,00,000 in mutual funds. With the funds as a tracking account, Left to assign can only ever hold your ₹40,000: the money you can really use this month. If the funds were on budget, the budget would offer you ₹5,40,000 to spend.

Putting money into an investment is a transfer from an on budget account to a tracking account. Ahead asks for a category, because the money is leaving your budget. Many people keep a category called Investments and assign to it every month.

Money coming back the other way, such as when you sell some units, goes to Left to assign. You can choose a category instead, if the money should go back where it came from.

A transfer between two on budget accounts, such as from savings to cash, needs no category. The money is still in your budget, so nothing in the budget changes.