Planning Mode

Use Planning Mode on the Budget page when you want to decide what pending scheduled inflows should fund. Planning Mode is available when Scheduled Transactions is enabled and the month has planning available.

Switch between Actual and Planning modes #

The Budget summary shows the mode you are working in:

• Assign Mode shows Ready to Assign and edits Assigned. It is for real money that is available now.
• Planning Mode shows Ready to Plan and edits Planned Assigned. It is for forecast funding from pending scheduled inflows.

Use the Ready to Plan summary card in the contextual sidebar to enter Planning Mode. In a current month you can switch back with the Ready to Assign card. Future months open directly in Planning Mode because they are forecasts; they do not offer normal Assigned editing.

Plan category funding #

In Planning Mode, enter a category’s Planned Assigned amount. In the current month this display includes the category’s Assigned amount plus its planned add-on; in a future month it shows the planned amount for that month. Common Cents records the planned add-on separately from Assigned, so your live budget does not change just because you are looking ahead.

Ready to Plan is the maximum forecast funding available for additional planned amounts. It includes pending scheduled inflows directed to the budget month, not the cash currently in your accounts.

If you try to plan more than Ready to Plan supports, Common Cents stops the change and asks you to add or adjust scheduled inflows first.

Use targets in Planning Mode #

When Targets are enabled, Quick Plan in the sidebar can fill planned amounts from category target needs. You can also use a category’s planned target action for one category at a time, or select several categories and use Plan to Targets.

Review the result before applying it: targets describe a goal, while Ready to Plan limits what the current forecast can support.

Keep planning and assigned funding separate #

Use Assigned when the money already exists. Use Planned Assigned when you are preparing for scheduled money that has not become actual funding yet.

When the planned month becomes actionable, do not manually copy each planned amount into Assigned. Use Review & Apply so Common Cents can show the available funding and reduce each planned add-on by the amount it applies.