Manage budget files

Keep several separate budgets and switch between them.

A budget file is a complete, independent budget: its own accounts, categories, transactions, rules, schedules, and budgeting method. Pentos can hold several, with one open at a time.

Steps

To manage your budget files, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings tab and tap Budget Files.
2. From here you can:

   Action	What it does
   New Budget	Creates an empty budget file
   Switch to This Budget	Closes the current one and opens this one
   Rename	Renames a file
   Delete	Removes a file and everything in it

Switching is immediate, and nothing is lost in the file you leave.

When to use more than one

• A household budget alongside a business or freelance one.
• A scratch file to try something without touching the real budget.
• A budget for a specific project with its own money.

For most people one file is right. Two budgets that should be one is a common way to end up not maintaining either.

Each file is separate

Settings, categories, rules, and the budgeting method all belong to the file, not to the app. A rule you created in one budget does not exist in another, and neither do your categories.

Backups are per file too. Backing up one budget does not back up the others.

Next steps

• Back up your budget
• Switch budgeting methods