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Keeping track of averaged monthly payment plans

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jt

16 Jan, 2012 05:03 AM

Hi,
I currently have an averaged monthly payment plan set up with Xcel Energy. That is, I pay the same amount 11 months out of the year, regardless of the actual cost and then on the 12th month, I pay the difference, whether that be a debit or a credit. I'm brand new to Moneydance, so I haven't downloaded my bank information yet, but when I do, I will of course receive the transaction that paid the averaged monthly payment. I would also like to track the actual cost per month, so I can see how much I spent on Gas, Electric and Taxes and Fees each month and plan ahead for budgeting less energy use.

1. 1 Posted by dave on 20 Jan, 2012 07:48 AM

   

   That's an interesting question! I'm also a user, not on staff, but I have an idea that may help you:

   Set up the energy account as a "credit card" account and assign it an interest rate of 0.000001% (so that it calculates payments properly). A loan account will try to set up your scheduled payments, but since your case varies from the standard repayment plan, it wouldn't be helpful here.

   Set up a recurring transaction reminder for the monthly payment for the 11 months, transferring from the checking account to the energy credit account, as well as a final transaction for the 12th month for $0.01 - you can edit this when the day comes to the real amount.

   Set up another reminder to debit the Energy account by your estimated usage of Gas, Electric, Fees and Taxes (4 splits) each month, and set this one to manually commit, not auto-commit. Each month, you will edit the amounts to the actual usage for that month. Alternatively, you could set up a series of 12 non-recurrring reminders based on last years figures and then modify each on the day it needs to be committed.

   Your energy account will now reflect your true position (actual charges less payments made) and your budget can take the reminder information to estimate the payments for the future. The splits outlined above will allow you to track the individual Gas, Electric, Fees and Taxes separately for analysis purposes via the categories for these items.

   Your bank downloads will accurately reflect the averaged payments made from the checking account for 11 of the 12 months - that last one has to be manually edited for the difference.

   Hopefully that will help you, unless anyone else has a better solution?

   Dave

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2. 2 Posted by Angie Rauscher on 20 Jan, 2012 02:11 PM

   

   Jenny,

   I have a similar situation with yearly membership fees and travel expenses which are paid in one month but should be applied to another time period. I've posted an FAQ on this technique, which I have included here. In your case your monthly payment would be a transfer from your bank to the asset account, and the monthly bill amount would be akin to the monthly transactions I entered.

   Dave's suggestion is also excellent, these are just two different ways of getting to the same result. Good luck, and please let me know if I can be of further assistance,

   Angie Rauscher
   Moneydance Support

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3. Angie Rauscher closed this discussion on 20 Jan, 2012 02:11 PM.

4. Angie Rauscher re-opened this discussion on 20 Jan, 2012 02:15 PM

5. 3 Posted by jt on 20 Jan, 2012 10:06 PM

   

   Thank you Dave and Angie! You've been very helpful---your ideas will also help me be creative about other situations!

   Jenny

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6. Ben Spencer closed this discussion on 21 Jan, 2012 05:07 PM.