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Posted by R. C. White on July 3, 2008, 10:03 am
Please log in for more thread options Hi, Tom.
> 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?
The bottom line (to coin a phrase <g>) 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
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(Retired. No longer licensed to practice public accounting.)
rc@grandecom.net
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Currently running Quicken 2008 Deluxe in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1)
>> Tom P. wrote:
>> >> Andrew wrote:
>> >>> Tom P. wrote:
>> >>>> ...
>> >>>> A sturdy Cash Flow Forecast and editing a single occurrence
>> >>>> of a
>> >>>> scheduled transaction are the only thing that are keeping
>> >>>> me
>> >>>> from
>> >>>> really enjoying this product.
>> >>> 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.
>>
>> >> 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.
>>
>> > 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.
>>
>> 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.
>>
>>
> 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?
>
>>
>>
>>
>> >> [I do think you can manually enter transactions in the
>> >> forecast
>> >> that will only affect the forecast, but I'm not 100% certain
>> >> of
>> >> that.]
>>
>> >> 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.]
>> > Yeah, but it's a month at a time and that makes it hard to
>> > notice financial boundaries and such.
>>
>> 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.
>>
> 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.
>
>>
>> > Still looking for a financial package that works correctly...
>>
>> 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).
>>
> 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.
>
>> 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.
>>
> 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.
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