Net Pay vs Actual - SAVE MY MARRIAGE...

MD_CYCLIST

I completed the family budget. I prefer the PAYCHECK set-up that tracks all the deductions, etc.. My wife cannot stand that when we look at the budget. It is a non-starter. She doesn't want to see the taxes, 401k, health insurance anywhere on the budget. FOUND the PAYCHECKS feature along with the detailed loan payments in planning tab. Thought my problem was solved.

The fact that the ACTUAL in PAYCHECK reflects the GROSS and not the net is a total disaster. She wants to see how much we deposited and compare it against all non-paycheck expenses. The budget works perfectly EXCEPT how it handles the ACTUAL.

How do I get the ACTUAL and BUDGET to match? When you click on the ACTUAL, is show the transactions for the month as NET!!! Great, but it reports it as GROSS.

She is telling me to go to spreadsheet and that I am making this too complicated. Any advice on a customized report? Anything I can do to get the ACTUAL result to show NET!! I have spent hours on this and she is running out of patience to get this budget done.

HELP.

UKR

If you're recording your paycheck transaction with Split detail for Gross Income, Deductions and retirement transfers, you're pretty much stuck with budgeting this detail and all its categories.
The only way around that I can think of is to set up a new paycheck reminder as "Net amount" showing only what's deposited into your checking account. That might make your wife happy, but you won't have the tax planning and retirement contribution detail that comes with a detailed (Gross minus deductions) paycheck.
Now, after reading up on Net or Gross paychecks in Quicken Help, you decide what's more important to you ...

MD_CYCLIST

Thanks. It is so frustrating that quicken has the ability to determine NET based on my split gross pay and even plan it accordingly in the budget section but not being able to take it out against actual. In a SQL report, it would be easy to exclude.

Now, my frustration is probably more marital related because the GROSS tax planning is the most logical. FWIW, we had tax issues for years that the gross method solves but she is adamant about how confusing it is.

Rocket J Squirrel

To save your marriage, maintain 2 separate Quicken files and file your income taxes separately. 1/2