How to use the Cash Flow Forecast correctly.

FWIW, I don't use the formal "Cash Flow". I simply enter ALL my transactions (mostly scheduled) ahead of time, about one month out (including anticipated paychecks) and simply use the register to ensure that my 'cash flow' covers all my anticipated expenses. As long as there are no negative balances in my checkbook (this includes transfers to savings, tax escrow accounts, and equity/IRA purchase - everything!) I am happy. Works for me. Just a thought of another technique you might wish to consider. YMMV.

And about the comment of editing a single occurrence of a scheduled transaction - I must be missing something. Once the scheduled transaction hits the register, you most certainly can edit that single occurrence without affecting all the others past as well as those in the future that haven't been recorded yet. What am I missing?

I've never found any use for a long-term cash flow projection (and when I try to test Quicken's Cash Flow Forecast, I usually run into an error message that says I have too many scheduled bills and deposits), so I can't even provide much useful comment on the feature.

But for short-term cash flow projections, you don't need to enter scheduled transactions into your register. The "Scheduled Bills & Deposits" display available for user-created Home views, has a nice bar graph that is pretty clear about cash flow (you select the account, or accounts, to include in the graph) ... but displays only one month at a time. [If you have the patience, you can use that graph to look a long way into the future.]

The op wants to modify selected future paycheck transactions to reflect that fact that they will span a holiday or vacation day. Then when those modified scheduled transactions appear in cash-flow forecasts, they will (correctly) forecast a lower inflow of cash for that period because the op does not get paid for holidays. By the time the scheduled transaction hits the register, it will have no long-term forecasting ability ... unless op wants to enter all scheduled transactions for many months into the future ... which he has said he doesn't want to do.

Wow, am I the only person that uses this? Why does no one else find the use in knowing if you are going broke any time soon? It makes me wonder if I am doing this right. When so many people don't use this, I have to wonder if I'm doing something wrong.

Yeah, but it's a month at a time and that makes it hard to notice financial boundaries and such.

Exactly. I'm a contractor and, for example the 4th of July is comming up. I know the check that includes is going to be short. I'd like to be able to note that in the forcast so the forcast stays moderately correct. But, since I can't get the forcast to be correct in any case, it kindof becomes a moot point.

Still looking for a financial package that works correctly...

Tom P.

Or you could wonder if the feature just isn't very useful out of the box :)

I like the concept, but every time I've tried to use Cash Flow Forecast it never comes close to reality. I'm sure it's something indiosyncratic about the way I'm use categories or transactions or schedules or paychecks (or something...) but I haven't had the motivation to track it down.

I find the registers combined with scheduled transactions much more reliable and intuitive when forecasting balances.

-- Mark

I'm not sure you paid attention to my comment.

I said I don't find any use for a "LONG-TERM cash flow" projection [emphasis added].

You wonder if anyone cares about "going broke ANY TIME SOON" [emphasis added].

I'm not interested in the Cash Flow Forecast because I don't believe it has any ability to tell me anything about when/if I will "go broke" in the medium to long-term, and because I find better tools in Quicken to tell me whether I will have sufficient "cash" to meet my short-term needs.

The further in the future you look, the greater the chance that unforseen events will affect your finances. I have no confidence that a cash flow projection of my currently known cash inflows/outflows for December of this year will tell me whether or not I should be concerned about my financial situation come December.

I have no idea what that means.

The graph will tell you whether your cash flow will be positive or negative for each day for all months in the future ... based on your known current balance and your future scheduled transactions.

While I can't comment on whether the Quicken Cash Flow Forecast works "correctly" (which it well may not), I can say that you haven't provided me any good reason to care (other than that I always prefer software to be bug free).

If you really like the Cash Flow Forecast, and you can't get it to work; I suggest you lay out your problems in great detail at the Intuit Bug Report site; making sure that the person who reads your problem can exactly reproduce it.

Fair enough. Maybe I'm expecting too much out of it. I mean, as a contractor I can't be sure I'll have the same job at the same pay in six months so how can I expect an accurate finacial projection a year from now?

Yeah, but it takes getting used to. I get paid every two weeks and if that falls on the first it looks weird to my eye to have no money in one graph and then a lot of money in the next graph. It's just something I'm going to have to get used to, as is the case with most things in Quicken. I'm comming from being a long-time MSMoney user and I'm going to have to make allowances.

Why you should care is your lookout, not mine: I just asked a question. I'm not trying to justify anyones participation in a voulenter message board. You don't care - don't answer. But don't blame me because you voulentered an answer. I made an off-hand snide comment that your own admissions have supported, I'm not trying to make you care. I'm trying to use a piece of financial software.

When I figure out that I'm using it correctly and it's giving me the wrong information, I will. One thing I thought I'd do first is get a little advice from people that have used the product more than I have and determine if I'm not doing something wrong. I'm not the kind of person that blames everybody else when I can't get something to work. It may, in fact, be that I'm using it incorrectly and I thought I'd explore that possibility before claiming I've found a bug.

Thank you for the help and advice. I appreciate the input.

Tom P.

Hi, Tom.

The bottom line (to coin a phrase ) is that Quicken doesn't predict or forecast anything. All it can do is calculate.

YOU predict what your paycheck and other inflows are going to be and what outflows will happen - and when. Then Quicken (or other software) can put those into your calendar, along with your starting balance, and calculate (not "predict") what the balance will be on any day in the future within your calendar's range. If YOUR predictions change, then the calculated future balance will change, too. If YOUR predictions change often, the calculated future balances may not be relevant.

Like John, though, I've never used the Quicken forecasts.

RC