Budgeting graph is using my paycheck reminders, not my budgeted amounts

James J

OK, so this will make no sense unless you open the image.

I'm making my budget for 2021. Quicken is doing something funky. I'm looking at only the "budget" amounts in this planning view.

Looking at the table:
A - B = C So that when C is a negative number, I know I have planned more expenditures than my planned income. (Not optimal ) Therefore, A = C + B. Simple.

Looking at the bar graph:
C1 + B1 SHOULD = A This bar graph SHOULD be a representation of the chart. Here's the problem. While my table correctly shows I have a shortfall of $879, the bar graph shows I have a SURPLUS of $3,144.

What the heck?

I know how Quicken is calculating that surplus, but I don't know why and I don't know how to make it stop. So here's what Quicken is doing. In the bar graph, instead of using my budgeted amounts in the paychecks row, it is indeed looking at all the paycheck reminders I have established for 2021. My paycheck reminders are simply carrying over from 2020, and my pay varies somewhat and I am sure I'll make a little less in 2021. So, in the table, I've budgeted less pay. But in this bar graph, Quicken is ignoring my budgeted amounts and looking to the pay reminders.

Why, you ask dear reader, don't I adjust the pay reminders?

Because I have a decent idea how my pay will change, but those pay reminders include a whole lot of tax, pre-tax etc detail that I don't want to mess with.

So, even though in this planning view I have used the drop-down menu to choose "Budget Only" (see the circled item), in fact Quicken is using the pay reminders for the bar graph. And that, is rather confusing. . .

Or am I missing something?

Sherlock

If you don't want to include reminders in the budget view, uncheck Budget Actions > View options > Include reminders

Sherlock

If you don't want to include reminders in the budget view, uncheck Budget Actions > View options > Include reminders

Chris_QPW

James J said:

Or am I missing something?

I think you are missing something. You are missing the purpose of the bar graph. It isn't representing the same as what is in the table.

The bar graph doesn't change based on the "budget only" selection.
It is exactly the same no matter if you select Details, Balances only, ...

It is showing your overall budget.  And like Sherlock pointed out that will be using your reminders if you have that option on.

James J

> @Sherlock said:
> If you don't want to include reminders in the budget view, uncheck Budget Actions > View options > Include reminders

Baboom! That fixed it.

> @Chris_QPW said:
> I think you are missing something. You are missing the purpose of the bar graph. It isn't representing the same as what is in the table.
>
> The bar graph doesn't change based on the "budget only" selection.
> It is exactly the same no matter if you select Details, Balances only, ...
>
> It is showing your overall budget.  And like Sherlock pointed out that will be using your reminders if you have that option on.

Yeah that's true, the bar graph stays the same regardless of what I'm choosing in drop-down menu.

What's slightly confusing, is that choosing "Budget Only" excludes reminders from the table, yet those same reminders continue to affect the bar graph (until you make the additional selection in the "view options" as Sherlock described.

I never use the reminders when initially building a budget. But I guess I can see the utility in being able to toggle them on and off, just to sort of test whether your budget will handle estimated costs of bills. This utility decreases, however, if like me you have a lot of variability from year to year.

And to be honest, I have never really understood what that bar graph is trying to show.

Looking at this JPEG, can you walk me through this? How do each of these numbers move and change?

Chris_QPW

I personally don't use that graph either, and yeah it is confusing.  I don't even really "budget" for that matter.

But bar graph and the reminders are about predicting how you are going to do.  And interesting enough as I play with it, it has nothing to do with your income (but the "SAVINGS"/Z does), only with the spending.

The reminders are the "stand ins" for the spending that hasn't happened yet.  If you have reminders for every income/expense (and somehow they were exactly right) then it would show how the budget is going to play out in the future.  As each month of income and expenses come in these actual amounts would replace the reminders (which of course are just guesses in reality).  And watch out for the fact that the reminders are prorated for the amount of the month left.  And that the balance is the difference between the "actuals" and the budget, but also includes the rollovers if you have those.

W is the total spending (the actuals, which if you include the reminders it includes the reminders that are in the future. As you go through the year reminders fall away, as they pass the date they are for).
Y is the total of your budget expense categories.
X is the balance of the expense categories.  Note this is Budget - Actual  + roll over amount (and reminders are actuals for future dates if option is selected)
Z is just the budget income - the budget expenses (sort of).

I put in "sort of" for Z/SAVINGS because they are doing some kind of bizarre "prorating" or something when you look at this number in this year for next year.  I wasn't able to every figure out exactly how they do this calculation (when in this year).  But as soon as I set my system clock to January it became the simple budget income - budget expenses.