Starting a New Month

Use this guide when you are rolling from one month into the next and want the Budget page, planning layer, and current-month setting to all line up.

Before you start #

• enter or review any important end-of-month transactions first
• make sure your income sources are current if you use generated expected income
• decide whether the next month is still a planning month or whether it is ready to become the live working month

What you will do #

Move into the next month, generate expected income if needed, review planned versus assigned money, and commit or adjust funding so the month starts in the right state.

1. Move to the month you want to work in #

Open the Budget page and move to the next month.

If that month is still in the future, Common Cents keeps it in the forecast-style layout. That means you can review Planned, Expected Starting, and Expected Available without treating the month like it is already live.

2. Decide whether to keep planning or open the month #

If you are still sketching the month out, leave it as a future planning month.

If you are ready to start working in it as the live month, open Commit Plans and choose Open Month and Commit.

That action does two things at once:

• it opens the month for transaction work
• it commits planned amounts into assigned amounts as far as the current budget can support

This is the cleanest month-start path when you have already planned ahead. It works especially well when Month Ahead Mode is enabled.

3. Correct the current month period if Common Cents is pointing at the wrong month #

If the app is not treating the right month as current, open Settings and go to the Budget feature settings.

Use Current Month Period to select the correct month, then use Save Current Month to apply it.

This is the setting that controls which month is currently open for transaction and assignment work.

4. Generate expected income if you plan with recurring sources #

If you use Income Sources, go back to the Budget page and open Add Income.

From there, choose Generate Income from Sources to create the month’s expected income events.

If prompts are enabled and the month has active sources but no expected income yet, Common Cents can also show Generate Expected Income?. In that prompt you can choose:

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

If you do not use generated income, add expected income manually instead.

5. Review the month’s funding pools before you change numbers #

At the top of the Budget page, check which pool you are working from:

• Unassigned is real money you can assign now
• Unplanned is expected income that is still only in the planning layer

That distinction matters. Planned money is for forecasting. Assigned money is for the live month.

If Targets are enabled, you can also use:

• Apply Target Needs to Assigned for real current-month funding
• Apply Target Needs to Planned for planning against expected income

6. Commit or assign money intentionally #

Once the month is open, choose the funding action that matches reality:

• type into Assigned when you are giving real dollars jobs now
• use Commit Full Month when the full set of planned amounts is ready to move into assigned money
• use Commit Through Today when you want a partial commit that respects how far through the month you are

If you use Income Planning, remember that planned amounts do not become committed budget dollars until a commit action happens.

7. Do a quick month-start check before moving on #

Before you leave the Budget page, confirm that:

• the correct month is open
• expected income exists if you rely on it
• overspent or underfunded categories have been reviewed
• planned and assigned amounts still tell the story you want for the month

When this guide matters most #

This workflow matters most if you:

• plan ahead before income arrives
• use Income Sources or expected income events
• rely on targets to fill categories faster
• regularly move a forecast month into a live working month

See also: Budgeting Overview, Assigning Money, Income Sources, Budget Planning, and Features.