Budget Planner MyMicroBalance Online Help

Budgets let you plan how much money should be available for specific categories each month. MyMicroBalance uses a flexible approach with a second account and the Reference Account for Posting feature.

This lets you use the envelope method: your actual money remains visible in your main account, while the budget account shows how much of the planned amounts is still available. A paid VIP license key is required to use reference postings.

The basic idea of the budget account

Create a separate account named Budget. In this account, enter your planned monthly budgets as receipts. Continue to record the actual expenditures in your main account and also post them to the budget account.

This means you enter each expenditure only once, while the budget account immediately shows how much remains in each budget envelope.

Step 1: Create a budget account

1. Open Account Management in MyMicroBalance.
2. Create a new account, for example with the name Budget.
3. If possible, copy the categories from your main account when creating the account.
4. Save the new account.

Copying the categories from the main account means you do not need to create categories such as Groceries, Leisure, Car, or Insurance twice.

Step 2: Define the budget as a credit

Switch to the new budget account and enter the planned monthly budgets as receipts. For example, a grocery budget can be entered as a receipt named Grocery Budget, assigned to the Groceries category, with an amount of EUR 300.00.

For recurring monthly budgets, it is best to set a monthly interval for the first day of the month. The planned budget is then automatically applied again each month.

Step 3: Record the expenditure in the main account

Continue to enter your actual everyday expenditures in your main account. Select the appropriate category, such as Groceries for a supermarket purchase.

Step 4: Select the reference account for posting

Select the budget account as the Reference Account for Posting in the entry window. MyMicroBalance then creates a corresponding copy of the expenditure in the budget account.

Important: Do not use the Counter Entry feature for this budgeting method. A counter entry would treat the expenditure as a receipt in the budget account and would therefore produce an incorrect budget result.

In Settings, open Transfer/Copy (VIP Feature) and select the copy option. This keeps a referenced expenditure as an expenditure in the budget account.

Read the result in the budget account

In the budget account, the planned budgets are displayed on the receipts side and the posted expenditures on the expenditures side. The balance shows how much budget is still available.

The analysis also shows which categories have already used a large part of their budget and where there is still room available.

Tips for reliable budgets

• Use the same categories in the budget account and the main account.
• Create monthly budgets as recurring receipts.
• After entering a larger expenditure, check that the correct reference account was selected.
• Save your file regularly and create a backup before making major changes.
• Treat the budget account as a planning view. Your actual money remains visible in the main account.