Debit & Credit 4.0: Financial Plans
I am very excited to introduce version 4.0 which brings support for a completely new section of the app called “Plans” and also improves tax-related reporting. Let’s get started!
What Is a Financial Plan? Why Do I Need It?
A financial plan is a summary of all expected expenses and income over a period of time. Having a financial plan allows you to see your future net wealth and compare your financial performance against it.
What Is the Difference Between Reports, Budgets and Plans?
Reports are mostly about the past. They provide you information about your spending/income that has already happened. Budgets are about the present, they are used to monitor and control variable expenses (e.g. restaurants, entertainment). Plans are about the future, they allow you to see your future net wealth and make long term decisions about your spending.
How It Works
You start by creating a list of all monthly expenses and income payments. Once you do that, these payments are recorded for every month in your plan. You can make adjustments for particular months when there is an expectation of a financial event (e.g. you are planning a trip). You can read more about creating a new financial plan in the user guide.
It is also perfectly reasonable to make adjustments on the go in the first few months, especially when it is your first plan. In the end, you will be able to look back at the plan and tell yourself how well you performed and what can you do better to improve your financial position.
Financial plans on the Mac have two different view modes: regular and table view mode. The table view mode is great when you want to have a complete overview of your financial plan. The regular view mode is focused on a particular plan period.
Tax-Related Improvements
One of the frequently requested features for reports was the ability to export not just a report itself but also include corresponding transactions in the same file. This is useful when preparing a report for tax purposes.
Now you can do that with some of the reports, including ‘What do I spend my money on?’ report. On the Mac, you have the option to export report data directly into the Numbers app or into a CSV file. In iOS CSV file is the only option.
Share Your Feedback
Financial plans is a completely new feature and any feedback about it is most welcome. Please feel free to share your suggestions with me by contacting support from the app. Thanks and I hope you enjoy Debit & Credit 4.0!
