Break down Annual/Bi-Annual Expenses to a monthly amount in Spending Plan [edited] (6 Merged Votes)
Comments
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I have my annual and semi annual expenses set up as a savings goal. And then I have a recurring bill set up for the actual bill but set to not show in the spending plan so I have the reminder to pay it. I will see how this works for me. Any other suggestions?
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I used the same system for a while. But then I learned that I could not delete completed goals without also deleting all record of savings contributions in previous months' Spending Plans. Which made looking back at those months deceptive.
Some people don't care about that because they don't refer to previous Spending Plans, so it makes no difference to them if the previous months get corrupted. But I do look back at them, so it doesn't work for me.
(Note: Of course, you don't have to ever delete Savings Goals. But I had a bunch of similarly named goals for quarterly expenses building up and no way to hide them and it got unwieldy. So I wanted to be able to clean that up.)
DryHeat
-Quicken Classic (1990-2020), CountAbout (2021-2024), Simplifi (2025-…)0 -
Thank you for pointing that out. I haven't deleted any prior goals. I name each annual and semi-annual savings goal with the {Year.Month plus name} it is due so it's easy to distinguish. The only place those items are sorted properly is on the monthly spending plan, savings goal breakdown though and that annoys me.
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I name each annual and semi-annual savings goal with the {Year.Month plus name} it is due so it's easy to distinguish.
After I try this experiment with Expense Series Rollover — if it doesn't work out — I will probably go back to doing pretty much what you are doing.
I can at least hope that within a year or so Simplifi will enable us to hide completed Savings Goals.
DryHeat
-Quicken Classic (1990-2020), CountAbout (2021-2024), Simplifi (2025-…)2 -
…because my aging brain depends on these reminders…
I never thought of "excluding" a non-monthly recurring expense from the Spending Plan - didn't even know that could be done. But if excluded, the reminder still shows up somewhere where you will see it?
I rely on a couple of things to keep up with when a payment is due and getting it paid on time:
- Where possible, I have auto pay set up with the vendor to be drawn on the account I save the funds in.
- If not possible to set up auto payments, when I receive the bill or notification of payment due, I set up the payment at that time at my bank specifying a payment date that ensures payment is received on time.
- Having a Planned Spend bucket named for each non-monthly/annual/semi-annual payment works for me as far as a general "Don't forget this is coming up…"reminder.
Now that I am thinking about it, I suppose I could include a date in the description of the Planned Spend item. For example, I pay my property tax once a year instead of breaking it up into to payments (one less due date to remember 😁). Right now, that item description is "NM - Property Tax." I could change it to "NM - Property Tax Dec" or "December." For my auto tags I could add "May/June" since those are the months I pay those fees, etc.
Danny
Simplifi user since 01/22
”Budget: a mathematical confirmation of your suspicions.” ~A.A. Latimer0 -
I'm the one @DryHeat is referring to when he wrote, "Some people don't care about that because they don't refer to previous Spending Plans, so it makes no difference to them if the previous months get corrupted." 🤣
I'm going to try using Planned Spend rollover to handle these expenses in 2026 to see how it goes. Up until now I've done what you are doing except I didn't set up these bills as recurring series. We'll see how it goes…
… of course, the QS developers may release a more organic way to handle annual/semi-annual recurring expenses at any moment. After all this feature request is "In review."
Danny
Simplifi user since 01/22
”Budget: a mathematical confirmation of your suspicions.” ~A.A. Latimer0 -
But if excluded, the reminder still shows up somewhere where you will see it?
Right. It shows up in the reminder carousel of the account that it is to be paid from.
It also shows up in the "Excluded this month" panel of Bills (or Income) in the Spending Plan.
DryHeat
-Quicken Classic (1990-2020), CountAbout (2021-2024), Simplifi (2025-…)1 -
Title:
Add Monthly Amortization for Irregular Bills (Accrual‑Style Prepaid Expense Handling)Description:
Simplifi’s Spending Plan is excellent for cash‑flow visibility, but it currently treats all Bills & Subscriptions as single‑month expenses — even when they occur every 3, 6, or 12 months. This creates large spikes in the Spending Plan and makes monthly budgeting less accurate for users with irregular billing cycles.Many users pay insurance, memberships, or services in advance. Economically, these are prepaid expenses whose cost is incurred evenly over the coverage period. However, Simplifi currently shows the entire amount in the month paid, rather than spreading the cost across the months of benefit.
Requested Enhancement:
Add an option for any recurring bill to be amortized across its billing cycle. For example:- A $600 insurance premium paid every 6 months would allocate $100 per month in the Spending Plan.
- A $1,200 annual subscription would allocate $100 per month.
- The Spending Plan would show the smoothed monthly cost, while the actual transaction still appears in the month paid.
Why This Matters:
- Creates a more accurate and stable monthly Spending Plan
- Prevents large, misleading spikes in months with irregular bills
- Aligns with how prepaid expenses work in real‑world budgeting and accounting
- Reduces the need for manual workarounds using Planned Spending envelopes
- Helps users forecast cash flow more realistically
- Makes Simplifi more competitive with tools that support envelope‑style smoothing
Optional Implementation Ideas:
- A toggle on each bill: “Spread this bill across its billing cycle”
- A Spending Plan section showing “Amortized Bills”
- Automatic monthly allocation with rollover support
- Ability to choose straight‑line or custom allocation
Who This Helps:
- Anyone with insurance premiums, annual subscriptions, HOA dues, or semi‑annual payments
- Users who want smoother, more predictable monthly budgets
- Users with accounting backgrounds who expect expenses to match the period of benefit
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