Grouping a Spending Report

Question

I would like to create a report similar to Spending by Category but with high-level groupings.

For example

I have Categories for Mandatory - Recurring, Mandatory - Non-Recurring and Discretionary.

I want one spending report that includes both Mandatory categories, but groups the report as follows:

* Mandatory Recurring Expenses* Expenses in the Mandatory - Recurring category

* Mandatory Non-Recurring Expenses* Expenses in the Mandatory - Non-Recurring category

brettossman · Answer

Thanks for all the responses.

After further research I won't be able to do the number of grouping levels I would like.

Maybe I can export to Excel with the levels I'm allowed and further group in Excel.

Jim_Harman · Answer

One approach to this would be to create custom Category Groups, which are essentially super-categories.

Some are built in, but you can create your own and assign existing Categories to them by going to Tools > Category List and selecting Assign Category Groups.

Some but not all reports can be filtered and organized by Category Group, which I think is what you are looking for. This includes the Budget and Cash Flow reports. To select Category Group organization, click on the gear to customize the report and on the Organization dropdown, select Category Group.

I think there is a limitation that you should not include a mixture of income and expense Categories in any one Category Group.

NotACPA · Answer

Have you set up your category list using those high-level qualifiers?

OR, if you TAG every expense using those groupings, you might be able to create a spending report by Tag.