[Bug]: Multiple "spend" templates don't stack #1284

New Issue

GiteaMirror · 2026-02-28T19:38:44-06:00

GiteaMirror commented

2026-02-28 19:38:44 -06:00

Originally created by @sylvainmetayer on GitHub (Aug 1, 2024).

Verified issue does not already exist?

I have searched and found no existing issue
I will be providing steps how to reproduce the bug (in most cases this will also mean uploading a demo budget file)

What happened?

Here a my existing categories :

- Birthday A / note: #template 30 by 2024-10 spend from 2024-09 repeat every year
- Birthday B / note: #template 30 by 2025-01 spend from 2024-12 repeat every year
...

What I'd like is a single category "Birthday" with multiples templates in a note, which seems supported in the documentation :

Birthday A
#template 30 by 2024-10 spend from 2024-09 repeat every year
Birthday B
#template 30 by 2025-01 spend from 2024-12 repeat every year
...

However, when doing so, the assigned amount is too low and does not seems to process all templates.

Below is a sample budget, where the budgeted amount is only 10€.

sample.zip

This bug may be related to https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/issues/1983 with Schedule templates.

Where are you hosting Actual?

Pikapods

What browsers are you seeing the problem on?

Firefox

Operating System

Linux

Originally created by @sylvainmetayer on GitHub (Aug 1, 2024). ### Verified issue does not already exist? - [X] I have searched and found no existing issue - [X] I will be providing steps how to reproduce the bug (in most cases this will also mean uploading a demo budget file) ### What happened? Here a my existing categories : ``` - Birthday A / note: #template 30 by 2024-10 spend from 2024-09 repeat every year - Birthday B / note: #template 30 by 2025-01 spend from 2024-12 repeat every year ... ``` What I'd like is a single category "Birthday" with multiples templates in a note, which seems supported in the documentation : ``` Birthday A #template 30 by 2024-10 spend from 2024-09 repeat every year Birthday B #template 30 by 2025-01 spend from 2024-12 repeat every year ... ``` However, when doing so, the assigned amount is too low and does not seems to process all templates. Below is a sample budget, where the budgeted amount is only 10€. [sample.zip](https://github.com/user-attachments/files/16451228/sample.zip) This bug may be related to https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/issues/1983 with Schedule templates. ### Where are you hosting Actual? Pikapods ### What browsers are you seeing the problem on? Firefox ### Operating System Linux

GiteaMirror added the goal templates feature needs votes help wanted labels 2026-02-28 19:38:44 -06:00

GiteaMirror closed this issue

2026-02-28 19:38:45 -06:00

GiteaMirror commented

2026-02-28 19:38:46 -06:00

@youngcw commented on GitHub (Aug 20, 2024):

Ok, so I looked at this some. The problem is that all these templates are spend templates. That kind isn't setup to stack properly. If you remove the spend from <date> part of each line it works. Ill see if I can figure out a way to make the spend templates stack.

@youngcw commented on GitHub (Aug 20, 2024): Ok, so I looked at this some. The problem is that all these templates are spend templates. That kind isn't setup to stack properly. If you remove the `spend from <date>` part of each line it works. Ill see if I can figure out a way to make the spend templates stack.

GiteaMirror commented

2026-02-28 19:38:46 -06:00

@mullermn commented on GitHub (Jan 21, 2025):

I just came here to report this too. I guess the logic for stacked spending is quite complex but it would be a big benefit if it can be made to work. In the case of the example use case in the documentation - budgeting for a holiday - you either need multiple stacked templates to ensure you can:

Pay for flights
Pay deposit for accommodation
Pay balance on accommodation
Allocate spending money
at the right points in time

Or you need to manually do all the maths to work out how much money you need in which month, which undermines the benefit of the templates - I might as well just type the figures in.

@mullermn commented on GitHub (Jan 21, 2025): I just came here to report this too. I guess the logic for stacked spending is quite complex but it would be a big benefit if it can be made to work. In the case of the example use case in the documentation - budgeting for a holiday - you either need multiple stacked templates to ensure you can: - Pay for flights - Pay deposit for accommodation - Pay balance on accommodation - Allocate spending money at the right points in time Or you need to manually do all the maths to work out how much money you need in which month, which undermines the benefit of the templates - I might as well just type the figures in.

GiteaMirror commented

2026-02-28 19:38:47 -06:00

@youngcw commented on GitHub (Jul 6, 2025):

Moving this to a feature request. Currently you will get a validation error if there are multiple spend templates in a category.

@youngcw commented on GitHub (Jul 6, 2025): Moving this to a feature request. Currently you will get a validation error if there are multiple spend templates in a category.

GiteaMirror commented

2026-02-28 19:38:47 -06:00

@github-actions[bot] commented on GitHub (Jul 6, 2025):

✨ Thanks for sharing your idea! ✨

This repository uses a voting-based system for feature requests. While enhancement issues are automatically closed, we still welcome feature requests! The voting system helps us gauge community interest in potential features. We also encourage community contributions for any feature requests marked as needing votes (just post a comment first so we can help guide you toward a successful contribution).

The enhancement backlog can be found here: https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/issues?q=label%3A%22needs+votes%22+sort%3Areactions-%2B1-desc+

Don’t forget to upvote the top comment with 👍!

@github-actions[bot] commented on GitHub (Jul 6, 2025): :sparkles: Thanks for sharing your idea! :sparkles: This repository uses a voting-based system for feature requests. While enhancement issues are automatically closed, we still welcome feature requests! The voting system helps us gauge community interest in potential features. We also encourage community contributions for any feature requests marked as needing votes (just post a comment first so we can help guide you toward a successful contribution). The enhancement backlog can be found here: https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/issues?q=label%3A%22needs+votes%22+sort%3Areactions-%2B1-desc+ Don’t forget to upvote the top comment with 👍!

GiteaMirror commented

2026-02-28 19:38:48 -06:00

@youngcw commented on GitHub (Jul 16, 2025):

Just as a thought. This could work if a tag could be attached to each separate spend line. That way the spending for each template could be separated from the total and applied to a given line

@youngcw commented on GitHub (Jul 16, 2025): Just as a thought. This could work if a tag could be attached to each separate spend line. That way the spending for each template could be separated from the total and applied to a given line