Estimated income no longer part of app update

Does anyone know if this feature is gone forever? I would put mine and my wife’s estimated income in the app and I could see the difference between that and my budget. Is it somewhere else now? It’s not in the app from what I can tell.

3 Likes

I’m looking for this answer as well! I’m always adjusting this figure based on changes that occur. My family has irregular pay that fluctuates through the year. And I cross-reference what actually comes into my bank account with what I estimate for the month. I need this back in some way!

1 Like

Hi Stephen and Aaron – thanks for posting. Long story short, that field was indeed removed from the Edit Budget page, and currently there is no equivalent elsewhere within the app.

The main reason we removed it is that it was causing a lot of confusion for new users – people thought that entering a number there functioned as an Income or Fill transaction, and didn’t understand why their Envelopes weren’t Filling or there wasn’t money in their Accounts when they had clearly entered numbers in a field marked “income”. Our metrics also showed that the field wasn’t used very frequently, so removing it seemed like a simple enough way to make things more straightforward.

But obviously “not very frequently” isn’t the same as “never”, and there were people like you who not only used it, but found it useful. Sorry about that. I’ve entered this on our tracker as a request to be considered for addition (or re-addition) to the app in some other form in the future. I can’t guarantee anything, of course, but it’ll definitely be considered, and it’s definitely helpful to know that it wasn’t completely unused.

In the meantime, one way to sort of recreate that feature would be to create a monthly scheduled Income with an Amount of 0 and a Note that lists your estimated income. Since it’s a 0 transaction, it wouldn’t actually change any of your numbers, but you would be able to periodically compare your estimate to your actual numbers.

1 Like

Just putting in my vote for bringing the income budget back as well as seeing the unallocated envelope. Having multiple sources if income makes it confusing to not see if this is correct other than when reconciling monthly. Two of the main reasons I use Goodbudget.

2 Likes

Thanks for your vote. Would you clarify what you mean about not seeing the Unallocated Envelope though? That, at least, should be still right where it should be and available to use like before.

Please add me also. I may not have used this everyday like I do with many other things in GoodBudget, but I did use it when necessary.

2 Likes

I can see the unallocated envelope, but I can’t click on it to drill down into the transactions that have gone through unallocated. That was the quickest way to see my funding and income if I needed to change something later.

1 Like

I also vote for bringing back the estimated income on the app. I loved being able to adjust my budget amounts based on changes in my income, which are frequent lately. I have to constantly refine these numbers with pencil/paper and a calculator now that i can’t easily put it in the app.

1 Like

I have been a paid subscriber for years. I like this app and have recommended it to multiple people. However the removal of the income estimate portion of the app is a deal breaker for me. I’m disappointed to learn it was intentionally removed. Also I am not happy that I have pre paid a year subscription and one of the features I use has been taken away. I am going to start looking into other budget apps. Hopefully GoodBudget brings back the income estimate asap, if not I will not renew my paid subscription.

2 Likes

There is another way…

When you sit down to plan your next budget period, add up all the income you expect to receive.

Now go into GB and create an account named “Projected Income”.

Now do a Fill from New Income into Projected Income account and distribute the projected money across your envelopes.

When you receive income during the period, instead of recording it as Income, simply record it as an Account Transfer from Projected Income to Checking (or whatever you call your regular expense account).

At the end of the budget period, the Projected Income account will show the discrepancy between your projections and your actual income. If there is a positive balance then you projected too much or received less than you expected. If there is a negative balance then you projected too little or received more than you expected. Simply set the account balance to zero and rename the balance change transaction appropriately (e.g. “Surplus Income”, “Income Shortage”, “Month end projection adjustment”, etc). Now you’re ready to project the next period.

Just remember that your envelopes may have money in them that you haven’t received yet, so you may want to double check balances before you spend money you don’t have :slight_smile:

I also want to express that I need that estimated income feature back. My income is variable and I use this feature often, I can’t believe this was causing confusion for anyone. I have been a subscriber for years but will have to look elsewhere if this feature is not added back. Super disappointing.

1 Like

Yes, the estimated income was a major part of the utility of this app. Please bring it back!
I also like the ability to look at transactions under the unallocated heading. Please bring this back as well.