Budget Sort Order

SomebodyInGNV

I have a category group called "Income - Earned" to which I've linked our salary and pension categories. When I added the group and associated categories to the calendar, it went to the bottom. A similar income category group sorts to the top. I have no control over sort order. Is it not reasonable to assume income would go to the top, like every other income/expense report in Quicken?

Chris_QPW

Does the category group have both income and expense categories in it?
That will change where it is placed in the sort order.

SomebodyInGNV

> @Chris_QPW said:
> Does the category group have both income and expense categories in it?
> That will change where it is placed in the sort order.

It has only income categories in it. It seems to me that groups are assumed to be expenses. Where ungrouped income categories show positive surpluses when actual exceeds budget, grouped income categories as listed at the bottom among other expenses and surplus income shows as negative.

This is either an oversight on somebody's part, or they need to allow distinguishing between income groups and expense groups. I think that, if all included categories are of one type or another, they could distinguish that automatically, but that may be too complicated.

Chris_QPW

Groups are determined to be expense or income groups based on the categories.  If all the categories are expense, then the category group is considered "expense".  If they are all income, then the category group is considered "income".  For mixed groups I think they are considered expense (they come at the end) unless the user overrides that by right clicking on the category group name in the budget and selecting what they want from the Mixed / Default Group Type list.

Jack Buffalo

This may or may not be similar Re: budgeting I entered Social security as income but also had medicare ans Fed tax withholding as expenses. when I run a report on income and expense by category Social security is not listed as income but as a negative expense. If I run a actual to budget report the social security does appear as income and the medical and fed withholding are listed as expenses - how do I get SS listed as income in the first report?

SomebodyInGNV

> @Chris_QPW said:
> ... For mixed groups I think they are considered expense (they come at the end) unless the user overrides that by right clicking on the category group name in the budget and selecting what they want from the Mixed / Default Group Type list.

I was unaware of the Mixed / Default Group Type list. It initially didn't work for me because I included transfers in from my IRA as income, which it is. But Quicken didn't offer of income or expense - only "ignore". I tested removing the transfers from the group and adding an expense. I then saw the income/expense option. I added the transfers to the group and kept the expense in it. I still had the income/expense option. I removed the expense and kept the transfers, the income/expense option was gone, leaving the group at the bottom with ignore as my only choice.

My conclusion is to leave the expense category in the group (it's a dummy with no content). That way the group is listed at the top when I select income as the mixed type, and it includes the transfers. The dummy expense has to be in the group for Quicken to recognize the group as mixed, but it needn't be in the budget.

SomebodyInGNV

Using this new insight I created a mixed expense/transfer out group, to include transfers to my mortgage in a housing group. Because I record my mortgage as a loan payment rather than a simple expense, I was previously able to include the principal portion in the budget only as a detailed loan payment. That sorted to the bottom, away from the housing group. Now, principal and interest are not juxtaposed but are at least in the same group.

Because the default behavior of a mixed group is to sort to the bottom, it isn't necessary to include a dummy income category for it to sort correctly.

Chris_QPW

@SomebodyInGNV, very creative!