[GNC] Any Simpler Way to Schedule Irregular Estimated Tax Payments?

[Tom Route36]

Hi Mark,

You're my hero.  I guess I'm still a newbie here.  The idea of using a 
variable in the template transaction never occurred to me.  I wasn't 
even aware of the possibility of doing that.  In looking thru the 
GnuCash manual for tips about scheduling , I never saw any mention there 
about variables at all.  (But feel free to point me to the documentation 
if I missed it.)

Anyway, by plugging in a variable name in my template transactions, that 
pretty much takes care of my laziness.  Essentially, I just create those 
8 scheduled transactions once -- with a variable name for each amount.  
And then I never have to edit those schedules again.  I just plug in the 
correct amount whenever each transaction comes due and gets created.  
Easy!  That's what I was looking for.

Thanks for your help,
Tom


On 06/02/2026 12:50 PM, Mark Bourne wrote:
> I don't know if it would ease the burden of editing the transactions, 
> but you can use variables in the template transactions and the "Since 
> Last Run" dialog will then prompt for the value(s) each time the 
> transaction is due.  Where you would normally fill in debit/credit 
> amounts in the template transaction, instead enter a word such as 
> "estimate".  Use the same word in both splits, and it'll prompt for 
> the value for "estimate" each time the transaction is due and use the 
> value you enter for the transaction.
>
> That would avoid needing to go into each template transaction to edit 
> the amounts, at the expense of needing to manually enter the amount 
> each time.
>
> Another workaround would be to schedule the transaction for every 
> month, and just select to skip entering the transaction in the "Since 
> Last Run" dialog when it comes up in the months you don't need it.
>
> Neither of those options is perfect, more a matter of working out 
> what's least inconvenient ;)
>
> Mark.
>
>
> Tom Route36 wrote:
>> Hi Liz,
>>
>> I know what you're saying as far as GnuCash handling things "under 
>> the hood" once the transactions are setup.  The reason it's a bit 
>> annoying (at least once a year) is that I usually need to adjust the 
>> estimated payments each year.  So it would be easier to only have to 
>> adjust 2 scheduled transactions, rather than having to edit and 
>> update 8 of them individually every year.
>>
>> As I said, it's really minor.  But if anyone had come up with an easy 
>> way to handle these kinds of irregular schedules it would be useful 
>> to know about it.  Editing 2 each year is better than editing 8.  
>> (Hey, I'll admit I'm lazy.)
>>
>> Tom
>>
>>
>> On 06/01/2026 10:00 PM, Liz wrote:
>>> On Mon, 1 Jun 2026 20:51:01 -0600
>>> Tom Route36<tom.route36 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I know this isn't a big issue.  But I'm just wondering if it's
>>>> possible to combine those 8 scheduled transactions into just 2.  Any
>>>> advice would be appreciated.
>>> I don't know of any way to do that.
>>> I would also note that once they are all scheduled it doesn't really
>>> matter how they appear in the editor for scheduled transactions, as
>>> Gnucash handles the rest under the hood.
>>>
>>> I have had 12 monthly tax payments listed, 4 occurring regularly at
>>> quarterly intervals with one set of splits, and the other 8 on the
>>> fill in months with a second set of splits.
>>>
>>> I made separate entries for the second group as the only way I found to
>>> manage this in Gnucash.
>>> It was then of no concern until I needed to cancel eight separate
>>> entries.
>>>
>>> Liz
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