Archive - Moneydance 2017 - Budgeting

This is an archived document.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

If you're using Moneydance for the first time, you may wish to refer to the following article -

'Getting Started - Creating a Budget'

You can find more information about Moneydance 2017 budget features below -

Using the Budget Status Graph -

You can monitor your budget using the Budget Status Graph. This feature provides you a quick overview of your financial status compared to your budget, and will adjust automatically each time you record a change in your budget or enter a new transaction.

The Budget Status Graph is located at the top of the register. You'll need to ensure that 'Show Budget Status' is enabled in the view menu to see this feature.

Clicking anywhere on the Budget Status Graph will bring up a chart of your budgeted categories.

Clicking on the budget name will let you select a different budget, choose the time period to be displayed, or open the budget manager window.

Using the Summary Budget Bars -

Budget Bars provide a detailed graphical view of how you're managing your budget. By default, once you've created a budget using Budget Manager, the Budget Bars will be displayed on your Summary Page.

Select the time period you would like to monitor by clicking on the double arrows at the top of the Budget Bars.

Hovering over a budget bar will display the percentage of your budget for that category that is already spent.

Hovering over the budgeted amount for that category will show the interval, time period, and budgeted total for that category.

Right click on any bar to move it up, down, or delete it from the graph.

Each bar corresponds to a budgeted Category. The bar itself has several features:

Category Name Located directly above the bar on the left.

Budgeted Amount Located directly above the bar on the right. This number represents the total budgeted amount for the selected time period.

Actual Spending Amount Located on the budget bar at the left. This shows the current spending in this category for the selected time period.

Color The color of the budget bar shows where you stand in relation to your budget based on a customizable color warning system.

Bar Length Current actual spending for the selected time period is represented as the horizontal length of the colored area.

Over Budget Limit In a budget you have overspent, a vertical line will appear in the budget bar to mark 100% of the budgeted amount.

Customizing the Summary Budget Bars -

You can customize the Budget Bars by selecting the time frame, categories and order. Click the Settings button above the Budget Bars to set your preferences.

Budget Select which of your budgets you would like to display.

Categories Click the Select button to choose which categories you would like to display and drag them to the “Included Items” window.

Show full category names Check this box if you would like to see full category names displayed, such as “Bills:Electric” rather than just “Electric.”

Show income bar limit as maximum Checking this box will track income categories as if they were expenses, so that exceeding your income budget will display as being “over” the budgeted amount. Leaving the box unchecked will display the income categories in green.

Under Categories in which you have spent less than your budgeted amount will display in the color selected here. The default color is green.

Warning Select the percentage of your budget to be spent before being notified that you're nearing your budget limit. You can also modify the default color (yellow) for “Warning” categories.

Over Select the percentage above your budget required for the Bar to turn red. You can also modify the default “Over” color.