What is a subaccount?
A subaccount, sometimes written as sub-account, is a bucket that lives inside a real account. Think of one savings account divided into smaller buckets for emergencies, a holiday, and a future home. In ReadyCents, these buckets sit beneath the main account without opening another account at your bank.
If you have used Ally savings buckets, SoFi Vaults, or Wealthfront Cash Account categories, this way of organizing money will feel familiar. These are comparisons, not integrations: creating a ReadyCents subaccount does not create or update a bucket at your bank.
It is the account-side companion to zero-based budgeting. A subaccount shows where you are keeping money; an envelope says what job it has. Cash in on-budget accounts can still fund your envelopes. Creating a subaccount does not assign that money automatically or make the same dollars available twice.
Create one from Add Account → Add an Unlinked Account → Subaccount of, or on mobile open the parent account's menu and tap Add Subaccount.
Round-up sweeps
Round-up savings set aside spare change from purchases. Acorns Round-Ups are a familiar example of the idea, but send money to an investment account, not simply a cash bucket. Record the real destination and its account type; do not treat invested money as spendable savings just because it came from round-ups.
For savings transfers represented by a ReadyCents subaccount, enable a Roundup Sweep rule. It matches recorded transactions in the parent account by payee and direction, not amount, then converts eligible matches into transfers to or from the subaccount. Imported transactions waiting for approval are not swept until approved. This organizes your records; it does not round up purchases or move money at your bank.
Example: give your spare change a job
Your bank records a $5 savings transfer. If the destination is represented by your Round-Ups subaccount, an outflow rule for that transfer's payee records $5 leaving the parent and $5 arriving in the subaccount. Choose an envelope such as Emergency fund for any money that still needs a job. If it was already assigned, do not assign it again.
Keep the real transaction instead of deleting it to tidy the budget. Only match the savings transfer, not the original purchase. If the destination already has its own account record, use that account and avoid creating a duplicate subaccount balance. An off-budget destination needs its own budget treatment; it is not interchangeable with on-budget savings.
Money-market accounts and monthly interest
You can also use subaccounts to organize cash within a money-market deposit account, including a bucket for interest you want to keep separate. Track the interest actually credited each month, not just the advertised interest rate or APY. A rate describes potential earnings; the posted transaction tells you how many dollars you received.
- Record or approve the bank's interest payment once as income in the account where it arrived. Keep a clear payee or memo, such as Bank interest.
- If you want to set that cash aside in a subaccount, record a separate internal transfer after recording the income. Do not duplicate the interest deposit.
- For on-budget cash, assign the new money to an envelope, such as Emergency fund or a tax reserve. Review the posted interest transactions against your statements at year-end.
These records can help you prepare for tax time, but a subaccount balance is not a tax calculation. In the U.S., bank and money-market deposit interest is generally taxable. Compare your records with bank statements and tax forms, and use applicable tax guidance to work out any amount owed. ReadyCents does not calculate your final tax liability. See the IRS guidance on interest received.
Moving money and transactions
Transfers between on-budget cash accounts relocate money without creating income or spending. For an eligible transaction that really represents a transfer, select it in the register and use Move to subaccount. This converts the row into a paired transfer; it is not a general-purpose way to relocate income or purchases.
When subaccounts divide a single bank balance, reconcile the parent's remaining balance plus those subaccounts against the bank's total. Do not enter the full bank balance in the parent and then add the same money again in its subaccounts. Keep separate real accounts matched to their own statements.
