Thoughts on budgeting

[Graham Leggett]

Hi all,

For a while now I have been capturing transactions up to a year ahead (as opposed to being behind), entering the expected transaction value. When the account is reconciled, the values become actual values.

What this allows me to do is know what my bank account will look like in three months time, taking into account things like the VAT return that might be due in two months time, and I can get a clear indication of how much money I really have to spend, as opposed to what my bank balance is telling me on any given day.

What I'd really like is a way to mark transactions as "draft" transactions, perhaps lightly coloured in grey, but otherwise functionally identical to a normal transaction. This would clearly distinguish them from actual transactions that have actually happened. Perhaps in addition to have a reconciliation flag of N, Y or C, there could be a D for draft, and some quick way to toggle the transaction between N and D. You could then have reporting options where draft transactions are included (ie show me my projected income statement for this coming year), or specifically excluded (ie show me actual transactions only).

In theory, this would be a low tech, simple way to get a kind of budgeting done.

Thoughts on the idea?

Regards,
Graham
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