Estimate balance of current assets throughout the year based on future income/expenses and present balance

[Mike or Penny Novack]

On 2/29/2016 1:13 AM, Christer van der Meeren wrote:
> Hi everyone, quick question about personal budget. (My economy-speak is not
> that good, sorry.)
>
> I want to use budgeting to estimate how much funds I will have available
> throughout the year. Right now I can easily see in the budget which periods
> I will earn or lose money, but I want to know at which point I will be low
> on funds in my bank accounts.
That is not "budget".

That is "cash flow". Look at the ability of gnucash to give you reports 
about cash flow.

It is important to understand that "cash flow" is a separate issue 
(from, for example, profitability). You could be doing very well 
overall, income way above expenses, and still have a cash flow crisis*. 
On the other hand, you could be doing poorly, expenses way above income, 
but in the sort run no problems with cash on hand**.

Examples:

* You are rapidly paying down liabilities, so net worth is increasing, 
but at some point in the period, may not have enough current assets 
(like money in the checking account) to cover current expenses.

** You have enough cash in the checking account and credit limit on your 
credit cards to keep paying bills, but your credit card balance owed 
keeps going up.

Michael