Personal Finance Manager Help/FAQ

JDM Software

Summary

The "Summary" tab can be used as a guideline to determine how close you are to meeting your budget throughout the course of the month or year. This is the final stage in the budget process - a review of your actual income and spending in different categories compared to your estimated budget.

The initial view is "Annual," displaying the results for the year selected in the upper-right corner of the tab. You can change this view to see any particular month in the year by selecting "Monthly" in the "Time-Frame" option menu. This will create a month spinner beside the year spinner, allowing you to select the month you wish to view. You can then use the "Category Filter" option menu to view just the categories or both categories and sub-categories in the table. Note that these options can also be changed using the "Summary" menu.

"Start Net" in the information bar indicates the net value coming into the selected month or year. "End Net" is your net balance after the period selected. "Gain/Loss" is simply the difference - the amount applies only to the period being viewed.

Topics

Financial Summary
Graphical Budget Results

Financial Summary

This spreadsheet displays categories (and sub-categories, if selected), your estimated amounts from the "Estimated Budget" tab (the "Balanced" column for categories, the "Estimated" column for sub-categories), and the total actual amount earned or spent in that category or sub-category for the period selected.

A percentage is computed to give an indication of how much less or greater the actual amount was compared to the estimated amount. This is shown by dollar amount in the "Over / Under Est" column. Negative percentages can be displayed if expense categories have more "Credit / Refund" transaction amounts than actual expenditure amounts.

For example, if a clothing item was purchased in a prior year for $20.00 and returned in the current year for the same amount (assuming no other clothing expense transactions have been recorded for the current year), a net credit will be displayed in the summary tables (a positive amount in the "Actual Amount" column and a negative percentage). Such results will be displayed as $0.00 and 0% in bar and pie charts.

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Graphical Budget Results

You can use this section to display pie and bar charts for various time-frames and categories. These charts display the same information as the spreadsheet, only in a graphical form that allows you to make quick, visual comparisons between actual and estimated amounts.

Begin by selecting the time-frame you wish to view - "Monthly" or "Annual" - from the "Time-frame" menu. The month and/or year viewed can then be selected at the top-right corner of the tab. Then choose an option from the "Chart Budget" menu. "Estimated" charts will display information pertaining to your estimated budget, "Actual" charts display the actual income or expenses for the month and/or year selected, and "Estimated vs. Actual" will display both side-by-side for comparison.

Use the "Category Filter" to show either "Just Categories" or "Sub-Categories." Based on the type of chart you select and the chart time range, different options may be available from the "Chart Category" and "Chart Sub-Category" menus. Pie charts can only display a single year or month of information at a time and can either display all expense categories or all sub-categories within income or expenses.

When "Chart Range" is set to one month/year, the bar chart displays the same information as the pie chart. In addition, bar charts can display data over multiple months or years. They also have the capability of displaying "Total Income," "Total Expenses", and individual sub-category amounts if "Chart Range" is set to greater than one month/year.

You can bring up as many charts as you wish simultaneously. For pie charts, if the colors (chosen with a random algorithm) are not suitable, select "Re-Color" to generate a new color scheme. If you have an "Actual" and "Estimated" window up for the same timeframe and category, the colors will always be identical for the two charts. Re-coloring one will automatically update the corresponding chart with the same color scheme.

For bar charts, when plotting "Estimated vs. Actual" amounts, the estimated amounts will appear shaded and the actual amounts will be solid colors. The precise amounts can be determined by moving the crosshairs over the bar of interest - the amount will be displayed over the bar itself and in the entry at the bottom of the window.

Note that, as explained above, net credits in expense categories will be displayed as $0.00 and 0% in the bar and pie charts.

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