Archive - Can Moneydance automatically calculate my budget?

This is an archived document. Please refer to the more recent knowledge base articles on this page

Yes! Moneydance can calculate a budget based on your past spending activity. Here's how to get started!

First, in the Tools menu select "Budget Manager." Select New to start a new budget.

Then give your budget a name, and click the Calculate button at the top right of the budget entry window.

The next window allows you to set the parameters for the budget you're creating. The "Effective Date" is the date you'd like the new budget to begin on. The "Date", "Start Date," and "End Date" fields refer to information you'd like Moneydance to use to calculate your budget. Setting a "Date" will automatically set the "Start Date" and "End Date" appropriately. The final field permits you to set the date interval for the budget- daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.

Voila! Your budget is now ready for editing. The calculated budget will include line items for all accounts and categories, so at this point you can delete the lines which you deem unnecessary by highlighting a line and clicking the - button at the bottom left of the budget window.

If you'd like to print or copy your budget to a spreadsheet program, use the buttons at the bottom of the window.