[GH-ISSUE #5062] [Feature] Add "Budgeted" type to Custom Report generator #27946

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opened 2026-04-18 04:33:48 -05:00 by GiteaMirror · 4 comments
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Originally created by @gemivnet on GitHub (May 25, 2025).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/issues/5062

Verified feature request does not already exist?

  • I have searched and found no existing issue

💻

  • Would you like to implement this feature?

Pitch: what problem are you trying to solve?

I'm trying to track YTD total budgeted amounts in a custom report, but the current reports only show actual spending/payments. This doesn't work well when you have sinking fund categories - like saving up for a car or home repairs over several months.

For example, if my yearly budget goal is $50k, that's what I plan to budget throughout the year, not necessarily spend. Some of that budgeted money sits in sinking funds and gets spent in future years. Right now I can only see YTD spending, which doesn't tell me if I'm on track with my budgeting goals.

The custom report generator is currently focused entirely on transaction analysis - payments, deposits, net spending, etc. There's no way to analyze the budgeted amounts themselves. Since I don't follow a fixed budget every month, I want to track if I'm on pace with my yearly budgeting targets, but there's no reporting tool for budgeting data.

Describe your ideal solution to this problem

Add a "Budgeted" option to the Type dropdown in the custom report generator (alongside the existing Payment, Deposit, Net, etc. options). This would let me create reports showing total amount budgeted per category over time periods.

This way I could build a YTD budgeted report to see how close I am to my $50k yearly budget target, separate from tracking actual spending.

Teaching and learning

No response

Originally created by @gemivnet on GitHub (May 25, 2025). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/issues/5062 ### Verified feature request does not already exist? - [x] I have searched and found no existing issue ### 💻 - [ ] Would you like to implement this feature? ### Pitch: what problem are you trying to solve? I'm trying to track YTD total budgeted amounts in a custom report, but the current reports only show actual spending/payments. This doesn't work well when you have sinking fund categories - like saving up for a car or home repairs over several months. For example, if my yearly budget goal is $50k, that's what I plan to budget throughout the year, not necessarily spend. Some of that budgeted money sits in sinking funds and gets spent in future years. Right now I can only see YTD spending, which doesn't tell me if I'm on track with my budgeting goals. The custom report generator is currently focused entirely on transaction analysis - payments, deposits, net spending, etc. There's no way to analyze the budgeted amounts themselves. Since I don't follow a fixed budget every month, I want to track if I'm on pace with my yearly budgeting targets, but there's no reporting tool for budgeting data. ### Describe your ideal solution to this problem Add a "Budgeted" option to the Type dropdown in the custom report generator (alongside the existing Payment, Deposit, Net, etc. options). This would let me create reports showing total amount budgeted per category over time periods. This way I could build a YTD budgeted report to see how close I am to my $50k yearly budget target, separate from tracking actual spending. ### Teaching and learning _No response_
GiteaMirror added the needs votesfeature labels 2026-04-18 04:33:48 -05:00
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@github-actions[bot] commented on GitHub (May 25, 2025):

Thanks for sharing your idea!

This repository uses lodash style issue management for enhancements. That means enhancement issues are automatically closed. This doesn’t mean we don’t accept feature requests, though! We will consider implementing ones that receive many upvotes, and we welcome contributions for any feature requests marked as needing votes (just post a comment first so we can help you make 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 👍!

<!-- gh-comment-id:2908097504 --> @github-actions[bot] commented on GitHub (May 25, 2025): :sparkles: Thanks for sharing your idea! :sparkles: This repository uses lodash style issue management for enhancements. That means enhancement issues are automatically closed. This doesn’t mean we don’t accept feature requests, though! We will consider implementing ones that receive many upvotes, and we welcome contributions for any feature requests marked as needing votes (just post a comment first so we can help you make 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 👍! <!-- feature-auto-close-comment -->
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@andymarden commented on GitHub (Jun 16, 2025):

I guess I am using a traditional tracking approach. I have just retired and had set a budget for each month in the cateories I have defined. I now have all of 2024 spending against those. What is key for me to understand is - in what categories did I overspend or understand, by hos much and when. I can then drill into what happened and make sure I have a budget going forward that matches what will be needed - wither by adjusting spending or by revising the category budgets.. Then we see how that works going forward and iteratively tune.

So it is not about having money at the end of a month and moving envelopes around - it is strategic planning based on actual spend!

I don't need anyone to create report, just be able to choose budget amount, actual amount or arithmetic between them.

Can if strange only to have access to half of the equation in the custom report tool

<!-- gh-comment-id:2976074959 --> @andymarden commented on GitHub (Jun 16, 2025): I guess I am using a traditional tracking approach. I have just retired and had set a budget for each month in the cateories I have defined. I now have all of 2024 spending against those. What is key for me to understand is - in what categories did I overspend or understand, by hos much and when. I can then drill into what happened and make sure I have a budget going forward that matches what will be needed - wither by adjusting spending or by revising the category budgets.. Then we see how that works going forward and iteratively tune. So it is not about having money at the end of a month and moving envelopes around - it is strategic planning based on actual spend! I don't need anyone to create report, just be able to choose budget amount, actual amount or arithmetic between them. Can if strange only to have access to half of the equation in the custom report tool
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@windturbines7 commented on GitHub (Aug 18, 2025):

If this was implemented, it could also help create something similar to the stacked bar charts people have been requesting to compare budget vs current spending (reddit thread that brought me here, feature req 1, feature req 2).

I was really surprised not to be able to display budget in the reports (except the spending analysis report). This would add a lot of flexibility to the reports for sure, even beyond the example use case I described above. I hope this request gets more attention!

<!-- gh-comment-id:3196979794 --> @windturbines7 commented on GitHub (Aug 18, 2025): If this was implemented, it could also help create something similar to the stacked bar charts people have been requesting to compare budget vs current spending ([reddit thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/actualbudgeting/comments/1mt8blg/report_visually_showing_emptying_of_envelope/) that brought me here, [feature req 1](https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/issues/1346), [feature req 2](https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/pull/4371#issuecomment-2675970503)). I was really surprised not to be able to display budget in the reports (except the spending analysis report). This would add a lot of flexibility to the reports for sure, even beyond the example use case I described above. I hope this request gets more attention!
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@aGitForEveryone commented on GitHub (Aug 18, 2025):

There is also this other new feature request for yearly overviews. Perhaps a common solution can be found to tackle both requests at the same time: https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/issues/5468

<!-- gh-comment-id:3198262933 --> @aGitForEveryone commented on GitHub (Aug 18, 2025): There is also this other new feature request for yearly overviews. Perhaps a common solution can be found to tackle both requests at the same time: https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/issues/5468
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Reference: github-starred/actual#27946