Add Income (Manual, Generate)

Use this guide when you need to add income and are deciding between a real transaction and a planning-driven generated entry.

Before you start #

Know whether you are working with actual money received now or a planning layer for later.

What you will do #

Choose the manual or generated flow that matches the situation, save it, and then confirm the result landed in the right part of the app.

1. Start on the Budget page in the correct month #

Income planning work happens in Income Events for [month] on the Budget page.

Open the month you actually mean to work in before you add anything.

The month matters because expected income, actual income, and generated events all belong to a specific month view.

2. Decide which income flow matches reality #

Use this quick rule:

• use Add Actual Income when the money has already happened and belongs in your real transaction history
• use Add Expected Income when you want to plan manually for money that has not landed yet
• use Generate Income from Sources when recurring income sources should create the expected events for you

Choosing the right flow first is what keeps the planning layer honest.

3. Use Add Actual Income when the paycheck or deposit already exists #

Open Add Income and choose Add Actual Income.

Use this when the money is real and should affect the file as a real transaction now.

Review the core details carefully before saving, especially:

• date
• amount
• payee
• any note you want to preserve

After save, check that the result appears in the Income Events table as actual income.

4. Use Add Expected Income when you are planning manually #

Open Add Income and choose Add Expected Income when the money has not happened yet, but you want it represented in the planning layer.

The expected-income form includes:

• Date
• Amount
• optional Payee
• optional Note

Keep the date inside the month you are viewing. If you type a payee that does not already exist, Common Cents can ask Add New Payee? while you save.

5. Use generated income when the source pattern already exists #

If the income is recurring, generation is often the cleaner path.

First make sure your Income Sources are current and active. Then go back to Add Income and choose Generate Income from Sources.

This is the right flow when you want Common Cents to build the month’s expected income from source definitions instead of keying each event manually.

6. Set up or fix Income Sources before generation if needed #

If the generation option is missing or the wrong paychecks would be created, stop and review Income Sources first.

The source setup controls things like:

• payor
• pay type
• pay frequency
• first pay date
• active range

Only active sources are used when Common Cents generates expected income for the month.

7. Use the prompt intentionally when Common Cents offers to generate expected income #

If the month has active sources but no expected income yet, Common Cents can show Generate Expected Income?

That prompt gives you three choices:

• Yes - Generate Expected Income
• Not Now
• Never for This Month

Use Yes when you want the expected events now. Use Not Now when the timing is wrong. Use Never for This Month when you do not want repeated prompts for that month.

8. Review the Income Events table after any income flow #

After adding or generating income, verify the result in Income Events for [month].

Check:

• the row type is what you expected
• the date and amount are correct
• the Match Status makes sense
• the month summary chips still look believable

If a generated row already existed for the same source and date, Common Cents leaves the existing event alone instead of creating a duplicate.

9. Keep actual income and expected income conceptually separate #

The workflow works best when you keep these roles clear:

• actual income is real transaction history
• expected income is planning data
• generated income is just a faster way to create expected income events

That separation is what makes later matching and planning reliable.

See also: Income Sources, Paycheck Planning, and Budget Planning.