Table of Contents
The main window consists of six different views. When Eqonomize! is started, the account view is shown. To change view click on the corresponding icon in the vertical list on the right side of the window.
The first time you start Eqonomize! the account view is displayed with a predefined set of accounts and categories. These can be considered as an example or a starting point for a setup matching your own conditions. You can either begin by modifying the suggested accounts and categories or start from scratch with -> (Ctrl-N).
Accounts should be created to match your real world bank accounts plus at least one account for your cash. Categories are used to keep incomes and expenses better organised. Each transaction must be connected to an account and a category, or two accounts for transfers between accounts. To create accounts and categories use menu or the context menu in the list.
Eqonomize! allows you to specify a budget for each month and category. This way you can continuously compare actual and planned expenses. You can also check what your current budget will mean for your future wealth.
A budget is initially asked for when creating a category. Then you can update it from the budget tab at the bottom of the accounts view, for the category selected in the list. If the budget has not been set for a month, the budget for the previous month is used.
You can choose to set budgets for only some categories. In the accounts list, budget and remaining budget (budget - expenses/incomes) is displayed in the second column. If not all categories have a budget, the total remaining budget only summarises the categories with budget and thus does not include actual expenses/incomes from other categories.
The account view displays a list of all accounts and categories, sorted alphabetically under each main type – accounts, incomes, and expenses. The rows for the main types displays the sum of all accounts/categories below.
The list has four columns. The first simply displays the name of the account or category. The second does for categories display the budget for the selected period and what is left of the budget. Unless the option is checked, the budget (and remaining budget) is displayed for whole months, thus you can in the default mode see whats left to spend of the current monthly budget. The third column displays the change in value, while the last column displays the total value.
In the bottom of the accounts view, there is a box for selection period. The period controls within which dates statistics will be shown in the list. If the button for the from (start) date is unchecked, all transactions up til and including the to (end) date will be included. The third, Change, column displays the value of all transactions that occurred between the two dates – the change in total value from start to end date. The last column (Total) displays the total value of all transaction up til and including the end date, plus the initial balance for accounts. If from date is unset, change and total will be equal for all categories. For accounts the total represents the actual money present at the end date, and change the profit during the period.
By default, the period is set to run from the beginning of the current month to (including) current date. Thus, the current state of accounts and transactions so far during the month are shown.
Values for future dates are based on budgets and scheduled transactions (whichever is greatest). An account can be designated as budget account (default for current accounts), meaning that budgeted change will be added to the statistics displayed for this account. Otherwise this will only be added to the summarising account item (thus it will not necessarily equal the sum of account statistics).