Envelope mode and tracking mode

The two budgeting methods a Pentos budget file can use, and how they differ.

Every budget file uses one of two budgeting methods. New files start in envelope mode, and you can change the method at any time in Settings.

Envelope mode

The default, and the method the rest of this documentation assumes.

You assign money you already hold, envelope balances carry from month to month, and a To Budget pool tracks what is still unassigned. Overspending in one month is charged back against the next month’s To Budget.

Use it when you want the budget to constrain what you spend.

Tracking mode

A plan measured against what actually happened.

Months are independent. Nothing carries forward, there is no To Budget pool, and instead of assigning money you hold, you enter what you expect. Income categories become budgetable too: you budget the salary you expect, and the category shows how the money you actually received compares.

The header changes to match:

Use it when you want to watch where your money goes without committing it in advance.

What the two share

Accounts, transactions, categories, payees, rules, schedules, reports, import, and backup all behave identically. The method changes only how the Budget tab reads your numbers.

Goals work in both, with one difference worth knowing: in tracking mode a save-by-date goal spreads the whole remaining amount over the months left each time, because there is no carryover for it to remember. If you want a strict monthly contribution in tracking mode, use a fixed goal instead.

What is only in envelope mode

Three tools depend on carryover and on the To Budget pool, so tracking mode does not show them:

• Move, which shifts money from one envelope to another
• Cover, which pulls money into an envelope that came up short
• Hold for next month, which sets part of To Budget aside

Assign, the quick-budget tools, and Fund Goals work in both.

Switching is lossless

Switching writes one setting and nothing else. Your allocations, transactions, holds, and per-category settings are untouched, and the numbers are reinterpreted by the method you picked. Switch back and the envelope numbers return exactly as they were.

That means you can try the other method for a month and lose nothing by changing your mind.

Useful links

• Switch budgeting methods
• How the budget math works