tag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:/discussions/budgeting/981-negative-budgeting-amountsInfinite Kind: Discussion 2023-10-24T15:03:14Ztag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/416628742017-01-04T04:55:44Z2017-01-04T04:55:46ZNegative budgeting amounts<div><p>Hi,</p>
<p>As the year just finished, I'm trying to adjust my budget from
2016 so that no expense category ends the year with a negative
difference (meaning, I spent more than I budgeted for that area). I
don't want to enter an adjustment as a transaction since that would
misrepresent the amount I actually spent. When I entered a negative
amount in the budget, the software appears to compute the absolute
value, which is making the discrepancy worse.</p>
<p>For instance, let's say that car repairs this year exceeded the
budgeted amount by $550, but I underspent in the groceries,
entertainment, and restaurant category by $100, $200, and $300
respectively. If the monthly budget for each of those items is
greater than the year's total difference (meaning, I underspent in
entertainment by $200 but the amount budgeted in December is $230),
I can subtract from December's budget and add it elsewhere without
problem (meaning, I reduce December's entertainment budget from
$230 to $30 and add the $200 to car repairs line in December).</p>
<p>However, if the amount that I want to "transfer" from one budget
item to another exceeds the monthly expenditure, the budget
includes this as a positive value, leading to more money being
allocated than if I had just put $0 for the month (meaning, I want
to transfer the $300 from the restaurant surplus, but the monthly
allocation is only $140. When I remove the $140 for this month and
try to remove another $160 by putting a "-$160" in the budget, it
appears think the month's budget is +$160 instead of -$160.)</p>
<p>This can be done by adjusting several months' budgeted amounts,
but I'd rather solve this once than go through the rigamarole every
year.</p></div>AxleRodtag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/416628742017-03-20T12:37:59Z2020-07-12T12:33:17ZNegative budgeting amounts<div><p>@AxleRod Just wondering if you received a response from Moneydance support to this? As a new user I have exactly the same issue and I really cannot work out the logic - or simple workaround - for it.</p></div>Kidglove57tag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/416628742017-03-20T16:38:04Z2017-03-20T16:38:05ZNegative budgeting amounts<div><p>I haven't heard anything from them in the 2+ months except for the generic,<br>
auto-generated "thank you for your submission" email.</p></div>Alex Roddytag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/416628742017-03-23T10:46:53Z2020-07-12T12:33:17ZNegative budgeting amounts<div><p>At the moment I cover this sort of scenario by keeping a general contingency fund in my budget and (in the above specific scenario) covering any overspend in other categories from there.<br>
I guess it keeps me honest about what I really need to allocate to specific expense categories in the future!</p></div>Kidglove57tag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/416628742017-03-24T07:56:33Z2020-07-12T12:33:17ZNegative budgeting amounts<div><p>Sorry Alex - of course what I said above produces exactly the error that you were complaining about!</p></div>Kidglove57tag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/416628742017-04-01T13:36:13Z2023-10-24T15:03:13ZNegative budgeting amounts<div><p>I've just come across this problem too. It is disappointing if the software treats negative expense budgets this way - they are occasionally necessary for me.</p>
<p>Infinite Kind - a response would be gratefully received.</p></div>neil.buchanan2tag:infinitekind.tenderapp.com,2009-01-14:Comment/416628742017-05-10T21:54:23Z2017-05-10T21:55:02ZNegative budgeting amounts<div><p>This also happens for budget bar totals - negative budgeted amounts cause expense categories with negative totals to show as positive values. This is pretty annoying if the negative amount is in a child category (of another category), e.g. a "contra" type expense category where the total, and budget, amounts would normally be negative.</p>
<p>As a work-around to make parent totals show right, I make the budgeted amount for normally negative total child accounts positive - usually 1$. Of course, the child category's budget then is bogus, but usually such categories are not important to budget bar by themselves.</p>
<p>BTW, this bug has been around since at least 2011.</p></div>avp2