12 Month Budget No Longer Provides a Month-To-Date View (Q Mac)

Casablanca

The 12 month budget no longer provides a month-to-date view it only shows year-to-date. Before the last update, I was able to use the "Budget as of" field to advance the "month/year" (2/2021) to the current month to see what remained in each line item. Currently using the "up arrow" or manually changing the month launches the "Edit Budget" window. I need to know exact figures in each line item. The one month budget only rounds up or down. Is this an intentional function or an error in coding?

jacobs

@Casablanca  I'm trying to understand your question and I'm confused. The month column -- in this case February -- shows you month-to-date actual values. What is it that you're missing?

Casablanca

@jacobs...thanks for responding. The 12 month budget is made up of three sections (a) category list; (b) the month-to-date/year-to-date column; and (c) the month-by-month columns. Before the most recent update if I clicked the up arrow next to the "Budget as of" field or entered a manual "month" (2/2021) number to see my month-to-date spend. Now the "Edit Budget" window launches when I try that method. I can't see my month-to-date spend at all.

Casablanca

@jacobs....I had been able to see my MTD income and expenses simply by clicking the up arrow or entering the month number manually. It would provide a budget vs. actual spend for the current month rather than only YTD as it is currently configured.

jacobs

@Casablanca  I understand that you want to see budget versus month-to-date actual for a specific month. My point was that you have this on the main budget screen simply by viewing the monthly column. That is, if you look at the February column is a budget that began with January 2021, it's showing your month-to-date actual income/expenses for February versus your February budget. Forget about clicking arrows and what you used to do for a second -- what are you missing simply by looking at the February column?

Casablanca

@Jacobs....If a look at the February column alone, it shows actual spend vs. budgeted. I am missing the budget remaining for each category. If I budget $100 for gas and as of today have spent $14, I can only see the $14 spend vs. the $100 budgeted. I am missing the $86 left to spend in the budget. I was able to glean that information from the month-to-date column in the past.

jacobs

@Casablanca Ah, now I understand; thanks for clarifying. Can't you see that by clicking the 1-month budget screen? It shows amount over or under budget in the far right "Results" column.

Casablanca

@jacobs....The short answer is yes to your question. However, I need to determine if a feature has been removed or is there a bug causing this behavior. Until the last update, I could see my remaining budget line item amounts to the penny. Having a month-to-date view to the penny is pretty fundamental to budgeting in my book. Thanks!

jacobs

@Casablance  I can't answer your question about whether a feature has been intentionally changed, whether it was never supposed to work that way before, or whether there's a new bug. I never used the budget in the way you're describing, so I can't offer more about what specifically has changed. Maybe someone else can jump in on that.

I will say that I think you have multiple ways to get the data you want, even if it's not the way you did previously. You could export the budget to a .csv file, open it in Excel or Numbers, delete all but the current month budget, actual, and difference columns; the latter has the numbers you're seeking. Yes, it takes a few extra clicks, but it gets you there.

You're concerned about pennies, so I wanted to point out that showing or hiding cents is a Preference setting in Preferences > Budgets (or click the Settings icon on the budget screen). Personally, I find displaying cents ads to the clutter of a lot of numbers, and doesn't add anything of value. A budget is an estimation, and your mid-month actual isn't complete data for the month, so I don't find seeing the pennies meaningful. (I agree with you that precise accuracy matters with financial record-keeping, so I want to see everything to the penny in any final financial reports -- but I disagree that a mid-month check of actual versus budget matters if amounts are rounded and the bottom line is off by less than half a dollar.)