Special Account budget and transfers

4birdie

I have a separate account set up for large once a year spending. I transfer a set amount into this account each month from my main account and use it as income. The problem is that when I set up the transfer from that account it also includes every transfer from all accounts. So, in the budget it shows my planned income (what the planned transfer is) and also includes every transfer done each month.
It makes forecasting kind of difficult.

GeoffG

Have you investigated Savings Goals? They provide the functionality you are attempting to do and make budgeting a snap. You can use F1 Help within Quicken to learn more.

Chris_QPW

This is the fundamental reason I don't believe in budgeting transfers.

If I had what amounts to a fixed income, I wouldn't budget it at all.  People seem to be hung up on "balancing the budget" (between income and expenses).

If you have a fixed income of $XXX.XX a month and set your budget amounts so that it is equal or less than this amount, then the budget balance column tells you all you need to know.

Note a budget is different than cash flow.  For cash flow I use the projected balances to make sure I have enough in my checking account to pay the bills, like the credit card accounts.

4birdie

I still don't understand why the discrepancy with the budget vs actual

Chris_QPW

The "FROM" is every transfer into that account.  The "TO" is every transfer out of that account.