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Add "Next Month" to Date Range Dropdown in Reports

jtemplin

I handle my credit card tracking by post-dating downloaded transactions to the month I actually pay the bill (rather than when the charge occurred). When I pay the bill, it acts as a simple transfer from Checking to the Credit Card account. This helps keep my spending aligned with the month cash actually leaves my hands.

Because I post-date these transactions, I often need to run reports for the upcoming month to see what my next bill looks like. Right now, I have to manually enter custom dates every time.

Idea: Please add "Next Month" as a standard preset option in the Report Date Range dropdown menu (similar to "Last Month").

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Comments

splasher

The funds don't come from the credit card account, they come (usually) from a checking account.

If you ran your report solely using only the checking account(s) and ignore the credit card accounts, you will get your desired "This helps keep my spending aligned with the month cash actually leaves my hands."

Seeing what your next CC bill is going to be would involve a report of only the credit card transactions that have not been reconciled.

Boatnmaniac

What I do is to leave the credit card purchase transactions alone….just accept them as they are downloaded.

Then I have a recurring Bill Reminder set up for the day of each month that the credit card payment is due with payment being a transfer from the checking account. And…very important…on the Bill Reminder select Current Credit Card Balance for the estimated amount as shown in the following picture.:

Making this change will increase the amount due on the next credit card bill payment to match what the actual amount of debit is in the credit card account register.

The next step: In the checking account register click on the Clock icon above the register toward the right and select 30 days or 90 days. Then all Reminders as in the next 30 or 90 days for the checking account will show up in the checking account register. So as the amount charged to your credit card increases, that amount of your next credit card estimated bill payment will show show up in the checking account register and will decrement the future checking account register balance accordingly. You can also set up your credit card account to show the future bill payments in the register, too.

Another option, if you don't want to pay off the credit card in full each month is to enter one of the other estimated payment amount options in the reminder….such as Fixed Amount or Average of the last X Payments.

By doing it this way, Quicken automatically will do the work for you without needing to run monthly reports to see what you might need to pay for the next month.

I have all of my Bill Reminders and Income Reminders set to show up in my checking and credit card accounts this way and it is a great method for doing what it is that I think you are attempting to do….show future cash flow in these accounts so it is easier to budget them.

jtemplin

By ignoring the credit card account, you don't get the credit card transaction categories in the report I run at the end of the month. My end of month report includes them.

I think you misunderstood my workflow. The funds to pay the credit card charges do come from my checking account.

Seeing what your next CC bill is going to be would involve a report of only the credit card transactions that have not been reconciled.

Well, yes, of course. That's what I'm doing today. But because those are post-dated to the next month (the month they're getting paid), that's why I'm asking for a "Next Month" option in the date drop down for that report.

jtemplin

In this scheme, how do you report the credit card transactions by their categories?

By post-dating them to the month they're paid, my end-of-month spending report includes those categories.

The reminder trick using the estimated balance is slick and new to me. I'll play with that. I always pay my cc bills in full.

Boatnmaniac

In this scheme, how do you report the credit card transactions by their categories?
By post-dating them to the month they're paid, my end-of-month spending report includes those categories.

Purchases, per general account rules, are to be recorded in the month the transaction occurs with the actual transaction date and/or the financial institution posting date. This is because that is when the expense occurred. It does not occur in the month that the credit card bill is paid.

When a credit card is used to make that purchase, it does not change this rule. Using a credit card creates a debt liability...a loan of sorts….but the purchase and expense transaction remains unchanged.

Paying off a credit card bill is simply a transfer of cash assets to pay off that credit card "loan". That is a cash flow (cash in/cash out) event, not an income/expense event. This is similar to any other type of loan, whether it is for a car, a mortgage, a personal loan, etc. Paying the credit card bill is not the expense because that occurred previously (except for interest since that is an actual expense that occurs with the credit card card bill payment). Paying the bill is simply a transfer of cash from an asset account (i.e., checking) to a liability account (the credit card). It does not change Net Worth so it is not an expense.

What you are wanting to see, if I understand you correctly, is cash flow which is cash-in vs cash-out and that is different from income vs expense. The process I posted above addresses cash flow allowing you to forecast how paying the credit card bill (and any other Bill Reminder bills) impacts the cash flow in your checking account. That then allows you to better plan your checking account balance while leaving general accounting practices regarding income vs expense in the credit card account intact. It is not a trick, nor is it a workaround to "fool" Quicken. It is simply a Quicken tool that can be used to address cash flow in a way that is compliant with general accounting practices. From my perspective, it works incredibly well in doing this.

mshiggins

@jtemplin while you await the Next Month feature, you may want to utilize key board shortcuts to set your next month dates. For beginning of next month, type h and + in the from date field. For end of next month, type h and h in the to date field.

jtemplin

Thank you. That's what I already do. 😉

jtemplin

That's where we conceptually depart. I prefer to record the transaction in the month I actually pay it because that's when money leaves the bill-paying checking account.

If I really want the actual transaction date (rarely happens), I can log into my card account online. While not GAAP, it’s 100% compliant with GAAM: Generally Accepted According to Me. 😉

NotACPA

@jtemplin And how do you record tax-related purchases, made by credit card, in December? Such as charitable contributions or, in my case, Sales tax.

Those should be December tax deductions, not the next year which your method would have them be.

jtemplin

I don't use Quicken to track the two tax items you mention.

My charities send me annual statements and those become the source documents for my tax return. If I paid December's installment in January, the December installment is on the annual statement.

The safe harbor sales tax allowance on Schedule A is more than generous and makes tracking detailed sales tax more troublesome than it's worth. In the rare event I have a large sales-taxable item, I have that record (like a car purchase contract) and I can claim that in my tax software. Of course, YMMV, but it works for us.

As I've essentially written, because Quicken isn't a strict double-entry system, you can skin a cat in several ways. I find it a waste of time tracking detailed tax items in Quicken when I have actual source documents (which are more credible in an audit anyway). The only tax-related reports I run is a Schedule B report of interest paid to our cash accounts. And a medical insurance/LTC insurance/OOP expense report for the numbers I need for SEHI and Schedule A.