Question of the Month - How do you review your finances at the end of the year?
When the end of the year comes, it is a good time to assess your finances. The best way to do this is to take advantage of Quicken’s extensive number of reports and graphs.
Below are five reports you should review at the end of the year. You can access any report from the Quicken Reports menu. Remember to set your date range to capture the year.
Banking Summary Report
The Banking Summary report is a great starting point for reviewing your finances. It provides an overview of your financial situation. From there you can see both your income for the year and your expenses listed by category. Be sure to check to see if there are uncategorized transactions. The report also lists all your transfers between accounts.
Net Worth Report
The Net Worth report helps you see how your circumstances have changed over the year. A good way to use this report is to set the Interval to Monthly. This lets you see how your assets and liabilities changed from month to month.
Tax Summary Report
There are many useful tax reports, but a good place to start is the Tax Summary Report. It will give you an overview of your taxable income and expenses.
Spending by Category / Spending by Payee
Spending by Category is the best way to see what areas you have spent your money in. It is useful for setting up a budget and evaluating how you spend. Spending by Payee is a useful report that people often overlook. Knowing where you are spending money is an important aspect of knowing how you are spending your money.