Switch budgeting methods

Change a budget file between envelope mode and tracking mode without losing anything.

A budget file uses one of two methods, and you can change it whenever you like. Switching rewrites nothing: it changes how your existing numbers are read.

Refer to Envelope mode and tracking mode for what each one does.

Steps

To switch budgeting methods, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Settings tab.
  2. Tap Budgeting Method.
  3. Choose Envelope or Tracking.

The Budget tab changes immediately.

What switching changes

The Budget tab’s arithmetic, and nothing else.

Your accounts, transactions, categories, payees, rules, schedules, and reports are identical either way. Your allocations and holds are stored untouched, so switching back restores the envelope numbers exactly as they were.

That makes trying the other method safe. Run a month in tracking mode, decide you preferred envelopes, switch back, and nothing has been lost.

Note

Move, Cover, and Hold for next month are envelope tools and do not appear in tracking mode. They depend on carryover and on the To Budget pool, neither of which tracking mode has.

Assign, quick budget, and Fund goals work in both.

Next steps