Learn about the five kinds of Budget Items in Budget Forward
Budget Forward has five kinds of Budget Items, all of which can be added to any Budget.
This one is fairly self explanatory. These are positive amounts that you add to an account on a recurring basis. Income can also contribute to goals.
You use this item when you have a recurring expense where both recurrence and the amount are reasonably predictable.
This item is for tracking spending where either the amount or times of occurrence are irregular. For example, fuel, groceries and utility bills all fit quite nicely into allowances. An allowance reserves funds into a Pocket Account within a Standard Account. Spend is then done by entering expenses, before or after they actually occur.
This operates in a similar way to an expense for budgeting purposes, however they only work on loans and credit cards. When simulating, if the budgeted amount exceeds the payout amount, only the necessary amount is paid.
A transfer is quite different from the others as transfers are not counted as an income or an expense. They are simply a way to automate the moving of funds from one account to another. For example you may regularly move funds from an every day account to a savings account. Money transferred can also optionally contribute to goals on the destination account.