> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.commander.finance/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Account Basics

Accounts in Commander represent your real-world financial accounts. Each account holds transactions,
maintains a running balance, and can participate in your budget. You can create accounts manually or
link them to a bank through Plaid for automatic transaction imports.

## Account types

Commander supports two account types for manual creation:

* **Depository**—checking accounts, savings accounts, and similar deposit-holding accounts. A positive
  balance represents funds on hand.
* **Credit**—credit cards and lines of credit. A negative balance represents an outstanding amount owed
  to the issuer. Credit accounts also track a credit limit, which Commander uses to calculate remaining
  credit.

An account's type affects how certain metrics and balances display throughout the app, but both types
function identically for transaction tracking and budgeting.

Synced accounts imported through Plaid may include additional types (such as loan or investment accounts)
based on what your bank reports, though Commander's budgeting features focus on depository and
credit accounts.

## Account properties

Each account has the following properties:

* **Name**—a unique identifier, up to 120 characters. Commander prevents duplicate account names.
* **Type**—depository or credit, selected at creation.
* **Color**—a hex color code used to identify the account visually. Defaults to gray if left unchanged.
* **Initial value**—the starting balance at account creation. Accepts positive, negative, or
  zero values.
* **Credit limit**—(credit accounts only) the total credit line available. Commander uses this to
  calculate remaining credit.

## Manual and synced accounts

**Manual accounts** require you to enter each transaction by hand. You have full control over what data
appears in the account.

**Synced accounts** connect to your bank through Plaid and automatically import transactions and balance
updates. You can still manually add or edit transactions in synced accounts. Synced accounts require a
Sync subscription. For setup details, see [Setting Up a New Synced Account](/how-to/create-synced-accounts).

Both account types appear together in your accounts list and function within the same budget structure.

## Account balances

Each account displays two balance figures:

* **Available Balance**—reflects all transactions, including pending activity.
* **Current Balance**—reflects only settled transactions.

For a detailed explanation of how balances work across account types, see
[Understanding Account Balances](/core-concepts/account-balances).

## Deleting accounts

Deleting an account removes it from your accounts list and disassociates its transactions. This action
is permanent and cannot be undone.