Can I use the balance of one report as an entry in another report?

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rdharbis1
rdharbis1 Member
edited July 2023 in Reports (Windows)

I have a report for all my cash accounts and would like to subtract that value from my Net Worth account. My cash accounts are all of my reserve funds, like Ramsey's envelope system, and I want a report that will deduct those accounts from the balance of my checking account, which is where that money really exists. I can run two reports by creating a dummy account to represent the reserves, but I want Quicken to do it all in one. Is that possible?

Best Answer

  • Tom Young
    Tom Young SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
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    The easiest way to do that is as @q_lurker say, just don't have the cash Accounts included in the Net Worth Report.

    For a more "informative" version of the Net Worth Report then use of a dummy cash Account is the way to go. The easiest way to do this without making actual "reversing" entries in your various cash Account would be to run your cash report and then make a self -referential ( "[Name of Dummy Cash Account]" entry for that balance as a Payment. (The Account would have only one transaction in it, the "reversing" entry, and you'd just put a new cash balance in that one transaction each time you use it.)

    Quicken can't do this for you.

Answers

  • q_lurker
    q_lurker SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I have a report for all my cash accounts and would like to subtract that value from my Net Worth account.

    Can’t you just exclude those cash accounts from your net worth report? No need for a “dummy” account nor do I know what you meant by that suggestion.

  • splasher
    splasher SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Explain what you mean by "Net Worth account". There is no such thing in Quicken. There is a Networth report, but no accounts.

    -splasher using Q continuously since 1996
    - Subscription Quicken - Win11 and QW2013 - Win11
    -Questions? Check out the Quicken Windows FAQ list

  • Tom Young
    Tom Young SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    Answer ✓
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    The easiest way to do that is as @q_lurker say, just don't have the cash Accounts included in the Net Worth Report.

    For a more "informative" version of the Net Worth Report then use of a dummy cash Account is the way to go. The easiest way to do this without making actual "reversing" entries in your various cash Account would be to run your cash report and then make a self -referential ( "[Name of Dummy Cash Account]" entry for that balance as a Payment. (The Account would have only one transaction in it, the "reversing" entry, and you'd just put a new cash balance in that one transaction each time you use it.)

    Quicken can't do this for you.

  • rdharbis1
    rdharbis1 Member
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    Example: I have two cash accounts: Amazon Prime $120.00/yr and Norton $120.00/yr. I have $300.00 in my checking account. I want a report that will run and tell me how much money i have in checking that does not include the money set aside for Prime or Norton. If I am 2 months into the year. I would assume $40 of my checking account balance is money that is set aside.

    In my real budget, there are many of these with many transactions in checking and I was looking for a simple way to get to the actual balance. I hope I have said it better this time. some were misunderstanding what I am wanting to happen.

    Thanks

  • Tom Young
    Tom Young SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
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    "I have two cash accounts: Amazon Prime $120.00/yr and Norton $120.00/yr. "

    Those aren't cash accounts, those are annual bills. Maybe bills that you've set up to be automatically deducted from your checking account when they are due?

    Quicken has a utility called "Savings Goals" that would work perfectly here. Each month you'd transfer $20 out of checking and into the Savings Goal. Name the Savings Goal anything that strikes your fancy, maybe "Set aside for Prime and Norton." The $20 will disappear out of checking and will not be included in your Net Worth reports, but will be included in your checking Account for purposes of reconciliations.

    Read the 5 Help articles about Savings Goals here for a complete understanding of how Saving Goals work:

    https://help.quicken.com/display/WIN/About%2Bsavings%2Bgoals

  • q_lurker
    q_lurker SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Quicken is not set up for an envelope budgeting system. Some users manage it with some difficulties. Savings goals are a possible tool. If envelope budgeting is your desire, you might try searching on this site using those terms (envelope budget).

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