Overview
Understanding the difference between Planned Expenses and Recurring Expense Transactions can make your Spending Plan feel much more accurate and predictable. If you’ve ever wondered "which one should I use?", this article has you covered.
Here's a comparison of the two features to guide you as you create them.
Feature | Planned Expenses | Recurring Expenses |
Best for | Budgeting flexible expenses | Tracking predictable bills |
Amount | Flexible or variable | Consistent or expected |
Frequency | Varies | Weekly, monthly, yearly |
Good for | Groceries, gas, shopping | Rent, subscriptions |
How do they affect your Spending Plan?
Planned Expenses:
These items help you monitor how much you plan to spend in a given category, but they don’t occur on a fixed date.
Planned Expenses can affect your Spending Plan in two different ways:
By default, the Spending Plan uses the full amount you planned, even if you end up spending less during the month.
Use the "Release all unspent funds" option so the Spending Plan only counts what you actually spent, regardless of the original planned amount.
Note: You can turn on "auto-release" to ensure your Spending Plan always reflects what was actually spent each month.
Want to learn more about the Spending Plan? Take a look at our article on Understanding Your Spending Plan.
Recurring Expense Transactions:
The app automatically detects your Recurring Transactions (expense or income) and creates a series of them. These series serve as grouped reminders, allowing you to view upcoming expenses and income easily so you never miss a payment or forget a deposit.
The Recurring Expense Transactions affect your Spending Plan by accounting for bills you know are coming. These bills are automatically included in the corresponding month, reducing the money you have available for everything else, even before the bill is paid.
Note: You can exclude any recurring expense from the Spending Plan at any time. For more information, see How to Exclude and Include Transactions from Reports and the Spending Plan.
How to Create a Recurring Expense Transaction
In Quicken Simplifi, a Recurring Expense Transaction is a series of reminders for a specific expense. If you already have a transaction for that fixed bill in your register, you can use it to create a new Recurring Expense Transaction (reminder series).
To set it up, follow these steps:
Hover over the left panel and click the Settings icon.
Select All Recurring.
Click the + Series button in the upper right.
Choose the transaction you'd like to use to create a series, and click on it.
If you can’t find the transaction to create a series:
Click Add Manually at the bottom left.
Enter the bill's basic details:
Payee.
Amount.
Account.
Category.
Enter the bill's frequency and occurrence:
Fixed Date.
Start Date.
End Date.
Day of the Month or Day of the Week.
Click Create.
Quicken Simplifi will automatically pre-fill the Series data—Date, Payee, Category, and Amount—based on the transaction you select.
Note: To modify the pre-filled data, simply click on the Edit Series button.
How to Create a Planned Expense
If you have flexible, everyday expenses you want to plan for (e.g., groceries, gas, dining out, shopping), follow these steps to create a Planned Expense:
Hover over the left panel and click Spending Plan.
Select Planned Spend.
Click the + Expense button in the upper right.
Enter the Expense details:
Name
Target amount
Category
Click Create.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need Planned Spend if I already categorize transactions?
Do I need Planned Spend if I already categorize transactions?
Yes, Planned Spending is about budgeting — it helps you set a monthly limit for flexible categories.
Accidentally set a bill as Planned Spend?
Accidentally set a bill as Planned Spend?
No worries — you can always edit or delete your existing Recurring Expense Transactions and Planned Spend items.
What should I do if my monthly bills vary?
What should I do if my monthly bills vary?
We recommend creating a Recurring Expense Transaction so that Quicken Simplifi can set a reminder for that bill, even if the amounts vary.
If you have any questions or need help managing Recurring Expense Transactions or the Planned Expenses in Quicken Simplifi, please don't hesitate to reach out to our support team!