Customize Budget Cycle (As Opposed to Month-to-Month) (3 Merged Votes)

purdnost

Currently, Simplifi handles all budgeting on a month-to-month basis by default. I like to budget paycheck to paycheck. In my case, my budget would cycle every month on the 15th. It would be nice to see Simplifi implement this functionality.

jagger

Give the user tha ability to define the dates that fit within a month.

I get payed on a 2-wk cycle, which means my income never aligns with the month.  However, if i cold shift the month then it wouldbe useful. 

For instance, i have a lot of bills that get paid on 1 March.  However, my first paycheck isnt until 3 march.  So effectively those 1 march bills are paid with Feb income.  If i could extend the feb spend plan to 2 Mar and delay the Mar spend plan unti 3 Mar then the problem is solved.

I will have a similar problem at the end of March, because i get paid on 31 March.  So i will have to pay the first 2 weeks of April bills with March income.

emory2001

We are self employed and pay ourselves once a month on the 15th, so all our budgeting is based on a 15th—14th month. So the Planned Spending calculation for a calendar month 1st-31st doesn’t help us keep track of our actual pay period.

EverittCL

Instead of having the spending plan based on month to month, allow users to change the date. This gives users more flexibility and can allow them to see their spending plan based on their monthly paycheck cycle. Thank you!

RobWilk

As I mentioned elsewhere today, I'd like the ability to customize it, and perhaps mark the start date like "2nd tuesday" "3rd Wednesday" for monthly cycles.  Some people seem to want annual tracking, so the ability to set it Jan1 - Dec. 31 for those folks might give them the annual budgeting they want.

TeamBradford2013

We like the app so far, but not being able to customize start and end dates of monthly spending is really limiting and creating a poor user experience because that is our primary need.

cfields

Right now you can only see your spending plan by month.  The Spending Report, on the other hand, allows you to set a date range.  I'd like to see the same capability in the Spending Plan.  What if I want to see what my Spending Plan looks like between now and my next paycheck?  That capability does not exist. 

mroge15

Echoing the requests here. Our credit card statement hits on a specific date each month and not being able to adjust the spending plan specifically for that date interval (and having to do month to month) has caused significant spending plan issues and inaccuracies.

cfields

I really like the simplicity of the spending plan. But I am paid every 2 weeks and being locked into a monthly only view is not helpful. For example, I got paid on 30-August. While technically correct, the spending plan vastly over states my income for August and understates it for September since most of that paycheck gets spent in Sept. We need the ability to customize the spending plan intervals.

cfields

FYI the U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS reports that 30% of workers are paid on a monthly basis. 70% on a weekly or biweekly basis. See https://www.bls.gov/ces/publications/length-pay-period.htm I think that means it makes sense to let the 70% see the spending plan the way they get paid by setting weekly or biweekly intervals!

Scott L

This is a key feature for me to be able to define spending plans dates. I am paid twice a month and I don't really deal in monthly budgets. SUPPORT TEAM @ Quicken: Is this on the roadmap? This is a factor if I keep my subscription or not.

MelonieH

I too would like this feature.

gumnam

I am ttransitioning from Mint. I had the ability to create budget with different granularity. For example,

I could have an annual budget and assign things like credit cared annual fee or amazon prime membership etc to that category

I could create a quarterly budget or a once-in-two month budget.

cnunes

 I too need this feature. I get paid around the 22nd of the month, and the app starting each budget cycle on the first of the month is really not working for me. I love the app in many ways and don't want to get off it, but I'm finding this is a major hurdle to using it effectively. I'm going to give it another month then cancel the app if it continues not working for me, then maybe I'll check in down the road and see if this feature has been added.

MattL

I also need this feature. I'd like to set up budgets for half the month and start the first half of the month in the last days of the previous month. (I.e., Jan-1st: December 31st through January 14th; Jan-2nd: January 15th through January 30th,….)

user09128374

I would like the option to do an annual budget vs a monthly budget. Monthly is too granular for about half of my categories.

ClaireD

I agree it would be great to see your spending plan in other increments than monthly. I use monthly, but I'd also like to be able to see how everything I have put in shakes out across the a quarter or year (or other customizable amount).

ggavin

I would like to be able to pick the start and end dates for the month. I get paid on the 26th of each month, I would like that to be the start date. Currently it tells me I have a large balance at the end of the month because I just got paid, but I would like to set the month end to the 25th before my check comes in.

UrsulaA

Good news! Your idea exists and has 32 votes. Check it out. Ideas with more votes are more likely to be considered.

[removed link to merged thread]

jbexten

I also need this. I get paid every 2 weeks and need to budget by paycheck. Having the ability to set the spending plan up on a given start date that aligns with a paycheck and then select the frequency weekly, bi-weekly, twice a month, etc. is crucial.

Davidnk

We receive our Social Security checks the third Wednesday of each month. We would like to be able to adjust the monthly budget to coincide with our income arrival. Thus, Simplifi would allow us to budget from the 3rd Wednesday to the 3rd Wednesday of each month.

M132487561093

I put most charges on a credit card which runs from the 15th-15th, with billing 1 month behind. I do not carry a balance. This makes the spending plan not accurately reflect my spending. Also there needs to be a way to better represent that the billing is 1 month behind.

Basically, add a feature for people who use their credit cards like this. I'm not the only one that is trying to rack up points and doesn't carry a balance on their credit card.

UrsulaA

This request that has 37 votes, fits your need. More votes increase the chances for consideration.

[removed link to merged thread]

DannyB

For spending purposes the credit card billing cycle does not matter nor does the credit card payment date. Simplifi tracks the actual expenses on the day the expense is incurred (or the day it clears in your account. Since the credit card payment is not an expense and thus the payment is excluded from your spending plan and treated as a transfer of funds between accounts rather than an actual outlay of funds.

sjg

Agree with the previous comments. I am paid bi-weekly, so the spending plan doesn't align with the actual balance in my checking account. Most of my major bills are due on the 1st of the month, so if I spent what the spending plan says is available, that could often lead to me to overdraw the account when my first paycheck of the next month is a week or two after the first of the month. It is much easier for me to budget over a 4 week period that aligns with my pay dates.

Ryan L.

Has a solution been created?

CarpeDiem49

The ONLY real criticism I have of Simplifi is the inability to set up and monitor an ANNUAL Budget within the program. To compensate for this I had to develop an Excel spreadsheet and MANUALLY transfer the YTD data from Reports at the end of each month to see how much is left in my annual budget for each category. I still find it strange that an accounting program as sophisticated as Simplifi does not have an annual budget feature and I can tell from the comments I am not alone. However, I don't see where Simplfi has responded to this thread and it is has been there for quite some time. Is it even being considered by your programmers? Or is this something Simplifi has no intention of doing? It looks like quite a few of us users would like an answer to that question.

ajbopp

There are plans to do a lot of things, but they have be prioritized. Currently the issues deemed most important seem to be rollover (and now fixing it) and Apple Card support.

Homine

Some of us get paid every 2 weeks, which makes it really had and uneven to create an spending plan for a month. There will be months where payday is early in the month and others where we have 3 paydays in a single month. It would be nice if we could define the period of time to define an Spending Plan

jflores11

a majority of Americans get paid on a biweekly basis. Having a customizable spending plan would be a huge benefit and give those people real understanding of their cash flow. Monthly spending plans are too rigid for the 21st century.

Logan M

Would like the ability to set custom dates from when I get paid to when I get paid again. Currently anything I purchase the last 5-6 days of the month will show that I am over budget for that month but in reality I am starting a new cycle because I just got paid again. The expenses will not show up on the new month, making it appear that I have more to spend then what I really do because there are overages from the end of the previous month.