Work with a budget

After you create a budget in Quicken, you can view, refine, and monitor your financial plan throughout the year. You’ll use the Budget window to adjust amounts, track actual results, and customize how your information is presented.

Open your budget

To begin working with a budget, you need to access it through the Planning tab.

Use cases:

• You want to check your budget progress against actual spending.

• You’ve created multiple budgets and want to switch between them.

To open your budget:

1. Click the Planning tab.

2. Click the Budgets button.

3. If prompted, select the budget you want to work with.

Understand the Budget window

The Budget window provides a summary of your budget along with a breakdown by category and group. This is where you’ll view totals, compare actual vs. planned values, and see overall progress.

Budget summary

The summary at the top of the Budget window shows totals for income and expenses, based on your selected date range.

Use cases:

• You want to see if you’re under or over budget overall this month.

• You need to know how much surplus income is being categorized as savings.

Category groups and categories

Budget categories are grouped into categories such as Personal Income and Personal Expenses. Each group can be expanded or collapsed.

Use cases:

• You want to track specific areas of spending such as groceries or rent.

• You want to hide inactive groups to simplify your view.

Click a group name (such as Personal Expenses) to show or hide its categories.

Budget views

You can view your budget in two formats—Graph View and Annual View—depending on how you want to analyze your information.

Graph View

Graph View displays your data using colored bars that represent your spending or income against your budgeted amount.

Use cases:

• You want a visual representation of over- and under-budget categories.

• You want to include future-dated reminders in your totals.

Bar colors indicate budget status:

• Green: On budget or under

• Red: Over budget

• Gray: No activity

• Light green or light red: Includes future-dated reminders

Click any bar to see transaction history for the category.

Annual View

Annual View displays your budget in a monthly table with columns for budget, actual, and balance values.

Use cases:

• You want to compare budget vs. actual values over time.

• You want to make manual adjustments for different months.

Use the filter at the top to switch between Details, Budget only, Actuals only, or Balance only.

Columns and values

Each column in the Budget window displays a different aspect of your planned and actual finances.

Use cases:

• You want to pinpoint overages by reviewing category balances.

• You want to see how much of your budgeted income has been received.

Column definitions:

• Budget: Your planned amount

• Actual: Total based on transactions (not editable)

• Balance: Difference between budget and actual

• [Year] Summary: Year-to-date balance

• Totals: Combined amounts for the displayed period

• Rollover Reserve (Annual View): Sum of unused rollover balances

Set or change budget amounts

You can enter or adjust budget values manually or use built-in tools to copy or calculate amounts.

Edit a single value

You can enter a budget amount directly into a category field.

Use cases:

• You want to increase your grocery budget for a specific month.

• You need to update your income to reflect a raise.

Click the budget cell you want to update, then type a new amount.

Use the amount options menu

Click the ⯈ next to a budgeted amount to copy, apply, or calculate other values.

Use cases:

• You want to apply your current month’s values to the rest of the year.

• You want to use an average based on time or past spending.

Available options:

• Apply forward

• Apply to all months

• Edit Yearly Budget

• Calculate Average Budget

• Set based on average actuals

Copy a full month’s column

You can copy all budget values from one month to other months.

Use cases:

• You want to duplicate your April budget into the summer months.

• You want to overwrite prior months with your most recent plan.

Click the Budget column header for a month, then choose a copy option.

Manage categories and groups

You can control which categories are included in your budget and how they’re grouped.

Use cases:

• You want to remove categories you’re not using.

• You want to budget at the group level instead of per category.

To manage categories:

• Click Select Categories to Budget

• Right-click any category to add or remove

• Use Budget Actions > Select Categories to Budget

• Use View Options > Show parent category rollup

Use rollover categories

Rollover categories let unused budgeted amounts carry forward to future months, helping you balance irregular expenses.

When to use rollovers

Rollover budgets are helpful when expenses fluctuate month to month or when you’re saving for future large payments.

Use cases:

• You want to build a surplus in winter for higher summer utility costs.

• You’re saving monthly toward a biannual insurance payment.

Enable rollover on a category

You can enable rollovers on any eligible category.

Use cases:

• You want to accumulate unspent money in a specific category.

• You want to ignore negative rollover balances from overspending.

To enable:

1. Select a category

2. Click the ⯈ next to it

3. Choose Rollover balances or Rollover only positive balances

Edit rollover balances

You can change the rollover value in any month as needed.

Use cases:

• You want to correct a rollover balance after manually adjusting spending.

• You want to zero out a rollover category for a fresh start.

To edit:

1. Click the balance amount

2. Click Edit

3. Enter a new value or 0.00 to remove it

4. Click Save

To reset all rollover edits for the year, click the Rollover On icon and choose Undo all rollover edits.

Everything Else lines

When only part of a category or group is budgeted, Quicken groups the rest under Everything Else.

Within a category

You may see Everything Else in a parent category if some but not all subcategories are included.

Use cases:

• You want to ignore spending in unbudgeted subcategories.

• You want to consolidate subcategory amounts under one line.

You can:

• Leave it as-is

• Add missing subcategories

• Enter a single budgeted amount

Within a category group

In Graph View, Everything Else appears for unbudgeted categories in a group.

Use cases:

• You want to see which categories haven’t been budgeted yet.

• You want to quickly add categories by clicking the + icon.

Click the + icon to add missing categories or assign a total to Everything Else.

Switch views and display options

You can change how the budget is displayed by switching views or toggling options.

Use cases:

• You want to focus only on budgeted values and hide actuals.

• You want to include reminders in your calculations.

View options include:

• Graph View

• Annual View

• Include reminders

• Show cents

• Show parent category rollup

• Show To-Date column (Annual View)

Include transfers and loan payments

Transfers and loan payments can be included in your budget to reflect money moving between accounts or to debts.

Include transfers

You can budget money going in or out of specific accounts.

Use cases:

• You want to track savings account deposits.

• You want to include monthly transfers to a brokerage account.

To include transfers:

1. Click Select Categories to Budget

2. Use the Transfers In or Transfers Out tab

Include detailed loan payments

You can include your full loan payment (principal + interest) as a budget line.

Use cases:

• You want to budget for your mortgage as one total payment.

• You want to include an auto loan tracked with a detailed reminder.

To include:

1. Click Select Categories to Budget

2. Click the Detailed Loan Payments tab

3. Select the loan

4. Click OK and assign the budget amount

Set budget preferences

Budget preferences control how transfers between accounts are treated in your budget.

Use cases:

• You want to avoid double-counting internal account transfers.

• You want to exclude savings goal activity from your plan.

To access preferences:

1. Click Budget Actions > Budget Preferences

2. Choose:

   • Don't include savings account to savings account transfers

   • Don't include savings account to savings goal transfers

Start a new budget year

Quicken lets you extend your current budget or create a new one for the upcoming year.

Extend your budget automatically

At the start of the year, Quicken may prompt you to create a new budget based on your existing one.

Use cases:

• You want to continue budgeting with the same structure.

• You want Quicken to copy all current budget values to the new year.

Click OK when prompted to create the new budget.

Create a new budget manually

You can create a new year’s budget at any time using the year selector.

Use cases:

• You want to plan ahead before the new year starts.

• You want to change how the new budget is populated.

To create manually:

1. Change the year using the selector

2. Choose how to populate the new budget:

   • Copy budget values

   • Copy actuals as values

   • Copy categories only

3. Click OK

Budget category groups

You can assign a single amount to an entire category group without entering values for each category.

Use cases:

• You want to budget a lump sum for a flexible spending group.

• You want to avoid manually setting values for each subcategory.

To assign a group total:

1. Click the Everything Else line under the group

2. Enter the total amount for all unbudgeted items