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  1. Click the Planning tab.
  2. Click the Budgets button.

Things you can see in the Budget window

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titleBudget summary

At the top of the window is a budget summary for the selected date range.

  • If you are budgeting expenses (most people do) the summary shows the total amount you have budgeted, how much you have spent, and how much you have left (or how much you have overspent).
  • If you are budgeting income and you have unbudgeted money remaining, this "extra" amount is displayed as Savings in the summary.
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titleBudget categories and groups

A budget category is a Quicken income or expense category, transfer, savings goal, or loan payment that you track in your budget.

Budget categories are listed and organized into category groups such as Personal Income, and Personal Expenses.

For each budget category or category group you can easily see the amount you've budgeted, spent or received, and how much remains.

Click a category group name, such as Personal Expenses, to hide and show the categories within.

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titleRed and green bars or lines

In Graph View, each category group and category has a either a green, red or grey bar next to it.

  • For expense categories: A green bar means that you have spent as much or less than you budgeted; a red bar means that you have spent more than you budgeted. The actual amount you've spent appears as a number in the bar.
  • For income categories: A green bar means that you have received as much or more income than you budgeted; a red bar means that you have received less income than you budgeted. The sum of your income in the category appears as a number in the bar.
  • A grey bar (no green or red at all) means that there has been no income or expense activity in the category group or category during the selected date range.
  • A light green or light red segment within a bar means that there are reminder transactions (transactions that will occur in the future) included in the category group or category. The sum of the reminder transactions appears as a number in the segment.

In Annual View, each month has either a green or red line under its column header(s).

  • For each month: If you are on budget, or under budget, the line is green; if you are over budget, the line is red.

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Expand
titleEverything Else

Everything Else within a category, such as Auto

Everything Else appears within a category if you've selected the parent category and at least one, but not all subcategories within that category. It represents the sum of amounts spent or received in the unbudgeted subcategories within a category. Here are some things you can do with the amount:

  • Ignore the amount: If you are not concerned with the amount, you can just ignore it.
  • Reduce or eliminate the amount: Take a look at the subcategories included in the Everything Else amount, then add those subcategories to your budget; or, remove all of the subcategories and track only at the category level.
  • Budget the amount: Assign a budget amount to Everything Else to create a collective budget for all of the subcategories it contains. To do so, click the Everything Else line and enter an amount.

Everything Else within a category group, such as Personal Expenses

In Graph View only, Everything Else within a category group represents the sum of amounts spent or received in the unbudgeted categories in a category group. Here are some things you can do with the amount:

  • Ignore the amount: If you are not concerned with the amount, you can just ignore it.
  • Reduce or eliminate the amount: Take a look at the categories included in the Everything Else amount, then add those categories to your budget. To do so, click the add icon (the green circle with the plus sign in it) to the right of each category and enter an amount.
  • Budget the amount: Assign a budget amount to Everything Else to create a collective budget for all of the categories it contains. To do so, click the add icon (the green circle with the plus sign in it) to the right of the Everything Else line and enter an amount.


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Expand
titleIn Graph View
  • If necessary, use the options at the top of the Budget window to select the Monthly date range and then select the budget month you'd like to set amounts for.
  • To enter a single budget amount, click the budget amount you'd like to set and type a new amount.
  • To copy, calculate, or enter multiple budget amounts, click  next to an amount and then choose:
    • Apply [the selected month] budget forward to the end of [the budget year]. This copies the currently selected category budget amount to all future months of the budget year.
    • Apply [the selected month] budget to all of [the budget year]. This copies the currently selected category budget amount to all months, past and future, of the budget year.
    • Edit Yearly Budget. This lets you manually enter monthly budget amounts for the currently selected category for any or all months of the budget year.
    • Calculate Average Budget. This lets you set monthly budget amounts for a category based on an amount per time period. Quicken then calculates a monthly budget amount based on the amount per time period you specify and inserts it into your budget.
    • Set [the selected month] budget based on average [spending or income] for this category. This calculates and enters a budget amount that is the average spending or income for the category over the past 12 months.
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titleIn Annual View
  • If necessary, at the top of the Budget window select either the Details or Budget only filterfilter.
  • Click the budget amount you'd like to set and type a new amount.
  • To copy, calculate, or enter multiple budget amounts, click  next to an amount and then choose:
    • Apply [the selected month] budget forward to the end of [the budget year]. This copies the currently selected category budget amount to all future months of the budget year.
    • Apply [the selected month] budget to all of [the budget year]. This copies the currently selected category budget amount to all months, past and future, of the budget year.
    • Set [the selected month] budget based on average [spending or income] for this category. This calculates and enters a budget amount that is the average spending or income for the category over the past 12 months.
    • Edit Yearly Budget. This lets you manually enter monthly budget amounts for the currently selected category for any or all months of the budget year.
    • Calculate Average Budget. This lets you set monthly budget amounts for a category based on an amount per time period. Quicken then calculates a monthly budget amount based on the amount per time period you specify and inserts it into your budget.
  • To copy all budget amounts from one month to other months in your budget, click the Budget   column header of the month you want to copy, and then choose how you want to copy the amounts: to future months, to past months, or to all months in the current year.


Other things you can do in the Budget window

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titleSelect a budget

If you have more than one budget, choose the budget you want to work with at the top of the window.

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Expand
titleAdd budget categories

Click Select Categories to Budget at the bottom of the budget window. You can also right-click a category name to add or remove categories, or click Budget Actions > Select categories to budget.

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