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Idea: Add a "net balance" option to Projected Bills graph (9 Legacy Votes)

Hi,

QW2018R4 here...

I have all of my recurring bills as reminders now. Most are
paid from one or two credit cards and the rest are paid from my checking
account..

I haven't used the Projected Balances graph all that
much to help manage money and transfers. For me, its not really too
useful, but I think it could be.

At the end of every month, when most
of my bills come due, I total up balances on the credit cards, add-in
the upcoming (anticipated) CC charges and debits on the checking to see
where I stand on the first of the month. From there, I determine how
much I have in my money market account to cover those bills. Should I
be short, I sell securities and transfer to checking to cover the shortfall.

In Projected
Balances graph, I display my 2 CC's, my checking and my money market
account.   I wish to see the net of all of the balances at a given day
(first of the month in my case when bills are due). Given the net
balance option selection on the chart, I can quickly see how much to transfer from
brokerage accounts to cover the shortfall.   See image.

Perhaps
there are other ways to see this in Quicken, but since I work with bills
from the bills and income tab, I would like to see it graphically
there - all in one place and simple.

How else could this "net
balance" option be useful to you?   Please vote it up if you like it or
suggest improvements to make it better!

Regards,

Scott

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Comments

It is an interest fact that on the Mac side they only have the "net amount" plot. And on the Windows side it only has the individual account balances.

It is an interest fact that on the Mac side they only have the "net amount" plot. And on the Windows side it only has the individual account balances.

Ideally, would be nice to have option of both/either...

@QPW and @smayer97. Thanks for your insights.

That is interesting that the Mac side already incorporates this "net balance" feature. I agree that it would be nice to have a both/either option on the windows side. That is, let me see the big picture (net balance), then let me drill down into what makes up that big picture (account balance).

I've added a few more "features", in the image below.

Regards,

Scott
QW2018R4.6 HBR

@QPW and @smayer97. Thanks for your insights.

That is interesting that the Mac side already incorporates this "net balance" feature. I agree that it would be nice to have a both/either option on the windows side. That is, let me see the big picture (net balance), then let me drill down into what makes up that big picture (account balance).

I've added a few more "features", in the image below.

Regards,

Scott
QW2018R4.6 HBR

That is interesting that the Mac side already incorporates this "net balance" feature.

It doesn't "incorporate" it, it is the only thing it will display.

Personally, given the current choices I certainly prefer Windows and displaying individual accounts.

In fact for me the net balance might be "interesting", but the individual plot "mandatory". I use this graph for cash flow. A net balance would be useless for that.

Frankly I know I have enough money, that is never a question for me.
What I want to know is do I have enough money in a given account, at given point in time.

@QPW and @smayer97. Thanks for your insights.

That is interesting that the Mac side already incorporates this "net balance" feature. I agree that it would be nice to have a both/either option on the windows side. That is, let me see the big picture (net balance), then let me drill down into what makes up that big picture (account balance).

I've added a few more "features", in the image below.

Regards,

Scott
QW2018R4.6 HBR

P.S. The Mac side doesn't have the "inflection points" that are used to make the plot more like a "step graph". From what I understand the Mac is getting some good GUI features that Windows side doesn't have like the ability to more columns around in the registers. But this is an area they are way behind in, in my opinion.

@QPW and @smayer97. Thanks for your insights.

That is interesting that the Mac side already incorporates this "net balance" feature. I agree that it would be nice to have a both/either option on the windows side. That is, let me see the big picture (net balance), then let me drill down into what makes up that big picture (account balance).

I've added a few more "features", in the image below.

Regards,

Scott
QW2018R4.6 HBR

Agreed...behind...as for which to have,

...it would be nice to have a both/either option...

The key word being option, so that Quicken does not foist one solution only, but provides flexibility...is that a tall order?

@QPW and @smayer97. Thanks for your insights.

That is interesting that the Mac side already incorporates this "net balance" feature. I agree that it would be nice to have a both/either option on the windows side. That is, let me see the big picture (net balance), then let me drill down into what makes up that big picture (account balance).

I've added a few more "features", in the image below.

Regards,

Scott
QW2018R4.6 HBR

The key word being option, so that Quicken does not foist one solution only, but provides flexibility...is that a tall order?

On the Windows side this would almost be trivial to add a net balance plot.

On the Mac side it is more involved because of the missing "inflection points", but I do think the extra plot lines is almost trivial.

I believe the real "problem" here is priorities. What to change in Quicken "first".

@QPW and @smayer97. Thanks for your insights.

That is interesting that the Mac side already incorporates this "net balance" feature. I agree that it would be nice to have a both/either option on the windows side. That is, let me see the big picture (net balance), then let me drill down into what makes up that big picture (account balance).

I've added a few more "features", in the image below.

Regards,

Scott
QW2018R4.6 HBR

Sorry, my question was not so much the technical aspects but rather can Quicken offer flexibility?

They have been know to take away a perfectly good feature to replace it with another someone decides is better when it would be more sensible to give the user the option to choose.

@QPW and @smayer97. Thanks for your insights.

That is interesting that the Mac side already incorporates this "net balance" feature. I agree that it would be nice to have a both/either option on the windows side. That is, let me see the big picture (net balance), then let me drill down into what makes up that big picture (account balance).

I've added a few more "features", in the image below.

Regards,

Scott
QW2018R4.6 HBR

Well from this programmer's point of view, I tend to prefer "not flexible".
But it really depends on where that flexibility is.

In this case it would certainly be something that I would consider trivial to put in and maintain, and as such I would go for it.

And the main reason is because it is so "local".

What the average person doesn't get is sometimes an option can change a whole program. It is an "option" that selects: Starter, Deluxe, Premier, ...

That one "option" can have far reaching consequences. Those are that is the kind of "flexibility" that I tend to be very careful about implementing.

And there are features that maybe "local", but introduce a lot of complexity.
For instance the choice to have "empty" transaction in the register for entering new transactions. Or the choice between automatic transaction entry or not.

@QPW and @smayer97. Thanks for your insights.

That is interesting that the Mac side already incorporates this "net balance" feature. I agree that it would be nice to have a both/either option on the windows side. That is, let me see the big picture (net balance), then let me drill down into what makes up that big picture (account balance).

I've added a few more "features", in the image below.

Regards,

Scott
QW2018R4.6 HBR

I was a database developer for many years, so I fully appreciate all that. I has partly assuming the simplicity in the context of this feature...But yes, there are cost/benefits to always weigh.

@QPW and @smayer97. Thanks for your insights.

That is interesting that the Mac side already incorporates this "net balance" feature. I agree that it would be nice to have a both/either option on the windows side. That is, let me see the big picture (net balance), then let me drill down into what makes up that big picture (account balance).

I've added a few more "features", in the image below.

Regards,

Scott
QW2018R4.6 HBR

BTW sometime Quicken Inc seem to completely "miss the mark". Or has "hidden an agenda". And so it isn't even that they weighing the same factors.

The Projected Balance features have a very significant flaw, they only allow you to view each account as a separate line in the charts. There is no ability to create composites where multiple accounts are combined into a single line. For people who carry balances month over month, this probably has little or no meaning to them. However, for people who pay off all of their balances EVERY month, this has great meaning, and is a sorely needed feature that needs to be added to the Projected Balances ecosystem.

Are you trying to monitor if you have enough in checking to pay credit card balances?

Interesting how historically QWin has only separate lines and QMac only has a combined line...

I agree that it would be nice to have both options available, in both versions.

Hi Will,

Here is an idea I put together a while back. I think we have the same want from Quicken. Have a look at this thread. There are a few annotated images that illustrate this idea.

https://getsatisfaction.com/quickencommunity/topics/idea-add-a-net-balance-option-to-projected-bills...

Regards,

Scott
2018QW HBRR4.15

Hi Will,

Here is an idea I put together a while back. I think we have the same want from Quicken. Have a look at this thread. There are a few annotated images that illustrate this idea.

https://getsatisfaction.com/quickencommunity/topics/idea-add-a-net-balance-option-to-projected-bills...

Regards,

Scott
2018QW HBRR4.15

I'd call these the same.

@Scott your idea is very similar. My idea is extremely simple and allows anyone to create any number of combined/composite sums for the same purposes that you describe. We both use multiple accounts to pay bills, basically treating all of them like cash accounts, but none of my major scheduled payments that are paid by non-spending accounts, shows in my Project Balance until it is “current”. This makes the Project Balances off by thousands of dollars, compounding every month.

The “current” term is where Quicken is broken, and why they don’t show up on spending accounts, but they do show up on the specific account that is being used to pay the bill. Unfortunately, Quicken for Windows doesn’t give us a way to see these accounts in a single way. And due to other issues within Quicken, that they have no idea how to address, mostly this “current” idea of theirs, the scheduled payments to other accounts don’t bubble up to the spending accounts.

Are you trying to monitor if you have enough in checking to pay credit card balances?

No, I want to see my continuous financial health line, as defined by myself, at a glance w/o having to add like 4 or 5 lines together.

Interesting how historically QWin has only separate lines and QMac only has a combined line...

I agree that it would be nice to have both options available, in both versions.

And better yet, like I suggest, allow everyone to define their own lines as the summation of whatever accounts that they select.

So with QWin I pay off all balances every month and pay every single bill from the one account. Using the previous six months to calculate the average for each scheduled bill then leads to a fairly useful overall projection for the one account...

That only works if you are only using 1 account. If you are using 2 or more, in my case up to 6, then the entire system breaks miserably.

For those who don’t understand the issue, think of it this way:

If you own a home and pay all your bills with scheduled payments from you checking account, including annual payments like insurance and property taxes, then you will always see this in you Project Balances and there would be no surprises.

However, if you paid your insurance with a scheduled payment from Credit Card A, and your property taxes with a scheduled payment from Credit Card B, and have scheduled payments for both of those Credit Card accounts for your checking account, none of those scheduled payments that are more than 1 payment in the future, will bubble up to your checking account. For me, this leaves a discrepancy of thousands of dollars every month, and it compounds month by month.

However, for each individual account, the scheduled payments to it directly always show up in the Projected Balances, so a simple adding of accounts together should eliminate this issue. I wouldn’t ever want all accounts added together, just the ones that I use as cash accounts. By allowing us to create our own, and as many as we want, that should work for everyone.

For those who don’t understand the issue, think of it this way:

If you own a home and pay all your bills with scheduled payments from you checking account, including annual payments like insurance and property taxes, then you will always see this in you Project Balances and there would be no surprises.

However, if you paid your insurance with a scheduled payment from Credit Card A, and your property taxes with a scheduled payment from Credit Card B, and have scheduled payments for both of those Credit Card accounts for your checking account, none of those scheduled payments that are more than 1 payment in the future, will bubble up to your checking account. For me, this leaves a discrepancy of thousands of dollars every month, and it compounds month by month.

However, for each individual account, the scheduled payments to it directly always show up in the Projected Balances, so a simple adding of accounts together should eliminate this issue. I wouldn’t ever want all accounts added together, just the ones that I use as cash accounts. By allowing us to create our own, and as many as we want, that should work for everyone.

Agreed...

BTW, a work-around is to use graph the Projected balance of the chequing account only and use the feature to automatically update the balance of the scheduled transaction to pay off your credit cards from your chequing account. Then you should never be off.

For those who don’t understand the issue, think of it this way:

If you own a home and pay all your bills with scheduled payments from you checking account, including annual payments like insurance and property taxes, then you will always see this in you Project Balances and there would be no surprises.

However, if you paid your insurance with a scheduled payment from Credit Card A, and your property taxes with a scheduled payment from Credit Card B, and have scheduled payments for both of those Credit Card accounts for your checking account, none of those scheduled payments that are more than 1 payment in the future, will bubble up to your checking account. For me, this leaves a discrepancy of thousands of dollars every month, and it compounds month by month.

However, for each individual account, the scheduled payments to it directly always show up in the Projected Balances, so a simple adding of accounts together should eliminate this issue. I wouldn’t ever want all accounts added together, just the ones that I use as cash accounts. By allowing us to create our own, and as many as we want, that should work for everyone.

That isn’t a work-around, as the “current” period is always correct. It is the future periods that are never correct, until they become the “current” period. That’s the best way that I can dscribe it. The inability to see where I should be in 3, 4, 5, etc. months, is the problem, and there is no work-around for that.

Are you trying to monitor if you have enough in checking to pay credit card balances?

Agreed!! A sum line of the selected bank accounts (checking, savings, cash etc.) and the spending accounts (credit card, etc.). is needed This sum line would assist in determining if you're overspending if the line goes below the zero line on the scale. Without a sum line, I find the Projected Balance graph worthless. I've been a Quicken user since 1990. It used to be called Cash Flow Forecast in Quicken 2010.

Are you trying to monitor if you have enough in checking to pay credit card balances?

I would love that too - I do it now basically but have to manually enter things and take the data and track it in Excel.

The other thing I'd like to see is what is really in your checking. Quicken doesn't let me budget like I want to so I have created Savings Goals, but when looking at projected values, those are always taken out. I'd like to have them included since they are just earmarks not actual removal of funds. Or if that breaks it, have the option to include those in the total.

I have just made a remarkable discovery today. If you go to the Bills tab > Bill Reminders > View As > Calendar Then at the bottom left of the window, Select: Account Balance Graph then Select: Multiple Accounts. A window will appear to select the accounts you want included. Are you ready for this... A TOTAL line is included. Wow! this is what I've been asking Quicken to include this in the Projected Balance for years. It needs to be tweeked but I'm almost certain this is what you're message is about. Will, hopefully you will read this. Please forward this to the Ideas section. Maybe they will see it. They don't seem to respond to me with this idea. Been a Quicken Windows user since 1990. Upgraded to 2017 from 2010. Terry

@T8246
I don't know what version of Quicken that you are using, but there is no "Bills tab > Bill Reminders > View As > Calendar" in any form of the Windows version for Quicken.

@T8246. I think this (Image 1) is the feature that you described, albeit not found from the same path you indicated, above. I noted that when selecting "multiple accounts", Quicken limits you to bank & cash accounts only. While it does show totals based upon account selection, in this view, it doesn't allow you to select credit card accounts or other account types, for example.

There is also a similar presentation portal you can post to the Home tab (Image 2). But again, this view is limited to banking account selections. (checking, savings, cash).

Will has produced an "idea" (this thread) around the concept you described and I have also shared an earlier idea post as well - see that link near the top of this thread. Quicken development reportedly monitors ideas posted.

Interesting to see a "totals" feature. However, needs more work...Perhaps they could streamline the number of portals they maintain that show, more or less, similar information and center on improving the "projected balances" view. Then, call that "master portal" in the various parts of the application that require it. Perhaps that would help free up / speed up development cycles for other things, like bug fixes.

Scott
2018 QW HBR r7.5

Image 1

Image 2

@T8246
I don't know what version of Quicken that you are using, but there is no "Bills tab > Bill Reminders > View As > Calendar" in any form of the Windows version for Quicken.

Will, I see Scott has posted the window below that I was talking about. Sorry about the confusion. I'm using Quicken Home and Business 2017 for Windows.

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