Spending Plan should include Recurring Transfers [edited] (8 Merged Votes)

bcrossman
bcrossman Member ✭✭✭✭
edited June 2023 in Feature Requests

It took me a while to understand how to use the Spending Plan, but I've come to really like it. I find it presents a simpler and more useful way to budget for the month.

One suggestion would be to add recurring transfers in addition to "Bills & Subscriptions" as a category that is deducted from Spendable Income.

Currently, I have several recurring monthly transfers that operate more like savings (e.g., mortgage principle, brokerage, 529s). Because I transfer the same amount every month, I don't consider this part of spendable income. I can account for them in my Spending Plan by including them in "Bills & Subscriptions," but they're not really bills. It would be great if I could separate them from the recurring bills in my Spending Plan.

(Of course, this probably requires working through some bugs with recurring transfers, which I know is an ongoing issue.)

Anyway, the Spending Plan is great!

38
42 votes

Completed · Last Updated

The 'Transfers & Credit Card Payments' bucket has been added to the Spending Plan!

Comments

  • Coach Paco
    Coach Paco Moderator admin

    @bcrossman Great suggestion!

  • I agree, every paycheck I send money to tithe and money to emergency savings fund and money into savings for my 15 "funding accounts" - which really goes into one funding savings account - but so far I have kept track on one funding spread sheet.
    But anyway these are 3 items that always come out first thing from my paychecks - same amounts every time. And we have other tithe amounts going after other income comes in - that could be transferred just like he mentioned above just the same. This is an awesome suggestion. Please make it happen.

  • gildrush
    gildrush Member ✭✭

    I too would like to see this, as I have mostly scheduled transfers to different accounts

  • mverbree
    mverbree Member ✭✭✭
    I have a number of transfers that come in as income like for example my son and mother-n-law pay me for a group cell phone plan that I manage.  I also have a number of transfers that go out, like money to a brokerage, Vacation fund, Tax Fund, etc....  With both of these type of transfers, it would be nice to be able to add them to my spending plan, because they influence how much I have left.  What I am doing now is creating categories under financial like "Transfer (Vacation)" or "Transfer (M1 Finance)" so essentially this allows me to break the transfer between accounts and set them up as planned expenses.  I know this is not right, but not sure how else to go about this.  I see an area where the transfer is setup under recurring, just need this to be available as a tab under the spending plan and have it part of the calculation.  Thanks
  • bcrossman
    bcrossman Member ✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2021
    Totally agree. There are some unresolved issues with how Simplifi handles transfers, but once worked out, it would be great to include exactly the type of transfers you describe in the spending plan. Seems like this should be an easy addition.

    Also, see this thread: [removed link to now-merged thread]

  • RyanB
    RyanB Member
    I have multiple savings transfers where I don’t have a specific target amount. The goal is to save a set amount every month until it makes sense to stop.  College savings and retirement are perfect examples of goals with out a set goal amount and a fuzzy end date.  Seems like the simple fix is to allow goals without a target amount…
  • DannyB
    DannyB Superuser ✭✭✭✭✭
    I vote yes to transfers.
    Danny
    Simplifi user since 01/22
    Budget: a mathematical confirmation of your suspicions.” ~A.A. Latimer
  • Josh H80
    Josh H80 Member
    I agree that recurring transfers need to be included in the spending plan. This may also require better integration with the "Savings Goals". My savings goals each align with a savings account into which I have scheduled recurring transfers. When I achieve the savings goal I now want to expense the money in savings (e.g. "Christmas Gift Fund", "Vacation Fund"). I cannot show the "Savings Goal" as an income; therefore, when i spend the money saved it shows as an expense greater than the amount of income for the month. Some manner of transfer out "expense" and transfer in "income" would greatly assist in identifying the "actual amount" of income available in the spending plan.
  • Has there been any update on this by the Simplifi team?
  • Coach Natalie
    Coach Natalie Administrator, Moderator admin
    Hello All,

    Great news! Although we don't have an exact ETA to provide on this request, our Product Team has confirmed that Recurring Transfers are expected to become available in the Spending Plan in the near future. 🥳

    -Coach Natalie
  • chouser10
    chouser10 Member
    I totally agree. Transfers would be nice to show as income.
  • mverbree
    mverbree Member ✭✭✭
    Just checking since it has been a while, is there any update on ETA on this feature.  This is a feature that I have been waiting for, I have transfers set up as bills and it does not really seem right.
  • Coach Natalie
    Coach Natalie Administrator, Moderator admin
    Hello @mverbree,

    Thanks for reaching out!

    Sadly, there hasn't been any further updates to provide on this request as of yet. As soon as I hear anything, though, I'll be sure to post back. :smile:

    -Coach Natalie
  • Coach Natalie
    Coach Natalie Administrator, Moderator admin
    edited October 2022
    Hello All,

    Great news! The Product Team is working on the design and specifications for Recurring Transfers in the Spending Plan, and they are looking to have 10-15 minute sessions with a few users to go over design ideas. Is anyone here interested in participating in a session?

    Tagging some active users who have commented -- @bcrossman @dgalt @DannyB @mverbree

    Please let us know, thank you! :smiley:

    -Coach Natalie
  • bcrossman
    bcrossman Member ✭✭✭✭
    I'd be happy to participate. It looks like these transfers are now included among other recurring transactions, which is great and partially addresses my request above. Including them in the spending plan would be even better. Thanks!
  • DannyB
    DannyB Superuser ✭✭✭✭✭
    Hi @Coach Natalie I’d be happy to participate in this conversation.  However, now that I have more experience with Simplifi and having reread this thread I’m not sure what it is that’s being asked for.  In some instances this feature request seems to be more about what others are calling rollovers and in other instances it seems to be about actual transfers between accounts, i.e. to set money aside for annual fixed expenses.

    But please put me down as a potential participant in one of these sessions.
    Danny
    Simplifi user since 01/22
    Budget: a mathematical confirmation of your suspicions.” ~A.A. Latimer
  • Coach Natalie
    Coach Natalie Administrator, Moderator admin
    Hello @bcrossman & @DannyB,

    Thanks for being willing to participate!

    I went ahead and sent your emails to our Product Team, and they will be reaching out to both of you directly to schedule a session. As far as what they're working on, it is my understanding that they're looking to add a "Transfers" section to the Spending Plan in addition to Income, Bills, and Subscriptions. I believe they may also be adding the ability to include Recurring Series' with the Category of just "Transfer" in the Spending Plan as well, though I'm not entirely certain on this part. 

    Let me know if there are any additional questions or concerns! :smile:

    -Coach Natalie
  • mmiles3gt
    mmiles3gt Member
    @Coach Natalie I'd be happy to participate as well. I use recurring transfers within my savings accounts much as you describe in your post from 9:34am on 10/5.
  • Coach Natalie
    Coach Natalie Administrator, Moderator admin
    Great, @mmiles3gt! I let them know. :smile:

    -Coach Natalie
  • dgalt
    dgalt Member ✭✭
    edited November 2022
    Bit late to the recent updates, glad to see this is moving along though. This is exactly what I'd suggest / what I'm looking for (the quote below). 

    As far as what they're working on, it is my understanding that they're looking to add a "Transfers" section to the Spending Plan in addition to Income, Bills, and Subscriptions. 

     Not sure I'd have other comments, but if the Product team is still soliciting feedback happy to provide some 


  • cfields
    cfields Member ✭✭
    Any updates on this feature request?  Is it being planned for a release?  
  • Coach Natalie
    Coach Natalie Administrator, Moderator admin
    Hello @cfields,

    Thanks for reaching out!

    If you navigate to the very first post in this thread, you'll see that the status of this request is "In Progress". Although we don't have an ETA to provide as to when we can expect to see this ability in Simplifi, our Product Team has confirmed that it will be coming, and it is my understanding that it should be available fairly soon. 

    In the meantime, I'd definitely suggest following this post for future updates, as we will update it accordingly as soon as any new information becomes available. Our FAQ here has more details on following Community posts. 

    I hope this helps!

    -Coach Natalie
  • Coach Natalie
    Coach Natalie Administrator, Moderator admin

    Hello everyone!

    The "Transfers" bucket in the Spending Plan is expected to be released sometime in June, and should become available on both Web and Mobile at the same time. I'll be sure to let everyone know if there are any changes. 🙂

    -Coach Natalie

  • Coach Natalie
    Coach Natalie Administrator, Moderator admin

    Hello All,

    Great news! The 'Transfers & Credit Card Payments' bucket is live for both Mobile and Web. You can now include just one side of a Recurring Linked Transfer in the Spending Plan, and Recurring Transactions with the Category of just "Transfer" can now also be included. 🥳

    Please stay tuned for a more thorough announcement in our Updates From the Product Team category for more details!

    -Coach Natalie

This discussion has been closed.