Change Account Behaviors

Roo labels accounts based on how they behave inside your Income Splitter River.

When accounts are labeled correctly, your Income Splitter River runs clean.

Account Behavior Name	Tracks Transactions	Contributes to Pouch Balances (Funds Your Budget)	Part of Net Worth
On Budget: hold money you actively spend	✅	✅	✅
Payback Mode: track debt	✅	❌	✅
Off Budget: represent long-term wealth	❌	❌	✅
Hidden: not part of your plan	❌	❌	❌

You can change the behavior anytime.

Account Type vs Account Behavior

When you connect a bank account, Roo receives an Account Type from the bank or data provider.

Examples include:

Checking
Savings
Venmo or PayPal
Credit Card
Loan
Investing
Unknown

These labels describe what the account is.

But Roo also assigns an Account Behavior, which determines how the account works inside your plan.

Account Behavior determines:

Whether transactions are tracked
Whether the balance funds your pouches
Whether the account affects your net worth

Account Behaviors

On Budget

On Budget accounts are your everyday money.

Examples include:

Checking accounts
Savings accounts you spend from
Cash management accounts

On Budget money is the money in your pouches.

When money sits in an On Budget account:

✅ Tracks the transactions

✅ Balance funds pouches

✅ Balance included in net worth

When income arrives, Roo automatically sends that money flowing through your Income Splitter River plan.

On Budget accounts power your automation.

Payback Mode

Credit Cards are labeled separately as Payback Mode.

When money is in a Payback Mode account:

✅ Tracks the transactions

❌ Balance does NOT fund pouches

✅ Balance included in net worth

A credit card represents spending that already happened. It is not available cash.

Off Budget Accounts

Off Budget accounts are part of your overall financial picture, but they do not flow through your Income Splitter River.

Examples include:

401(k) and retirement accounts
IRAs
Investment and brokerage accounts
Health Savings Accounts
College savings plans
Certificates of Deposit
Loans such as mortgages, auto loans, or student loans

When money sits in an Off Budget account:

❌ Does NOT track the transactions

❌ Balance does NOT fund pouches

✅ Balance included in net worth

Assets increase net worth.

Loans decrease net worth.

But neither one powers your daily budget.

Think of Off Budget accounts as part of your broader ecosystem, not part of your daily flow.

Hidden Accounts

Hidden accounts stay completely outside your plan.

Roo:

❌ Does NOT track the transactions

❌ Balance does NOT fund pouches

❌ Balance NOT included in net worth

They are simply not part of your setup right now.

How To Change Account Behavior

You can change account behavior from the account settings.

Go to Menu → Accounts.
Select the desired account.
Click the gear icon in the top right corner of the account information box.
Make your desired change to the Set Account Behavior drop-down.
- On Budget
- Off Budget
- Payback Mode
- Hidden
Save your changes.

Roo will immediately update how the account participates in your plan.

A Simple Way To Think About It

Choosing The Right Behavior

Behavior	Best Used For
On Budget	Checking or spending accounts used in your plan
Off Budget	Investments or loans you want included in net worth but not budgeting
Payback Mode	Credit cards used for purchases
Hidden	Accounts you do not want included in Roo at all

Choosing the correct behavior helps Roo keep your plan clean and accurate.

How Account Behavior Connects To Your Income Splitter River

On Budget accounts fund your Income Splitter River, filling your pouches.
Off Budget and Payback Mode accounts do not fund your pouches, but they do influence net worth.

Clear labeling keeps your plan accurate and your automation working properly.

FAQs

What if I want to change an account behavior?

You can change how Roo treats an account by changing its behavior in the account settings.

First, it helps to know what each account type means. See Account Types In Roo.

Here is what each change does:

Changing an On Budget account to Off Budget stops it from funding your pouches.
Changing an Off Budget account to On Budget starts tracking its transactions and adds its balance to your plan.
Changing an account to Hidden removes its money from your pouches and your net worth.

Before changing, ask yourself:

Changing An Account’s Behavior

Go to Menu → Accounts.
Select the desired account.
Click the gear icon in the top right corner of the account information box.
Make your desired change to the Set Account Behavior drop-down.

You can change this at any time.

Credit Cards

Credit cards are set to Payback Mode, and changing that behavior has some extra effects you should know about.

What if I want my credit card to act like a checking account?

In Roo, a credit card is set to Payback Mode by default. This means the balance does not lower the money in your pouches, but Roo still brings in the transactions for you to swipe. As you swipe, that money is set aside in your Payback Pouch, so you have the cash to pay the statement. This is on purpose: a card’s balance is money you owe, not cash you have. See Credit Card Strategy.

Some people like to count their credit card balance as part of their budget. In cases like this, because the balance is money you owe, it lowers your available cash. This lets you see, right now, how much you would really have if you paid off the card today.

This only works if you have a lot more cash than you owe. You need enough to pay off the card today and still fund your pouches. If you owe too much, the negative balance can make it look like you have no money left to spend.

To make a credit card act like a checking account, set the card’s behavior to On Budget (see What if I want to change an account behavior? for the steps). Roo will then count the card’s balance in your budget, lowering your available cash by what you owe.