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 Elm Software Forums : Elm Software Products : iDo Wedding Couple Edition |
 Topic: Budgeting improvement suggestion |
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kboushie
Member 
Joined: 11 March 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 16 |
   Topic: Budgeting improvement suggestionPosted: 11 March 2007 at 5:52pm |
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Here's a suggestion:
I would love it if the budget section had a place for "estimated" costs and "actual" costs for each entry, and it totalled them up separately. It would also be handy if you could indicate partial payments and it told you the balance due. If I'm correct, currently it's all or nothing.
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CounselorMelani
Senior Member 
Joined: 10 March 2007 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 24 |
Posted: 11 March 2007 at 10:43pm |
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Yes, I've found the same thing about payments. Since I made down payments for most of the purchases, I had to add a new item and call it "Photography Down Payment" and then another new item for "Photography Balance Due." It would be nice to be able to put in the down payment and any subsequent payments and have that subtracted from the balance due automatically.
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jupitershana
Member
Joined: 11 March 2007 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 12 |
Posted: 11 March 2007 at 10:59pm |
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I like both those ideas! estimates vs. actual and downpayment/amount due sections.
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laziale
Newbie 
Joined: 13 March 2007 Location: Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 3 |
Posted: 13 March 2007 at 8:37pm |
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This has been a huge issue for me! The ability to post a deposit and see the outstanding balance and it's due date would be a big help in budgeting and cost estimating. I am surprised this hasn't been included in IDo as of yet. Hopefully it will be in the next update.... and before we get married!
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Kerry
Moderator Group 
Joined: 05 March 2007 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 46 |
Posted: 13 March 2007 at 9:42pm |
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In the Budget area, you can enter multiple expenses that apply towards a contract for example.
Let's say a photographer contract is $3,000.00.
You can have one expense entry that reads "Photography - Downpayment" in the amount of $1,000.00.
A second that reads, "Photography - Second payment" for $1,000.00.
And a third, "Photography - Final payment" for $1,000.00.
These amounts will total $3,000.00 in the 'Estimates vs. Actuals' report for the Photography budget category.
Please tell me your thoughts on this and if this is satisfactory.
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Kerry
Elm Software Moderator |
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kboushie
Member
Joined: 11 March 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 16 |
Posted: 14 March 2007 at 12:29am |
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Thanks for responding, Kerry. I'm not sure I totally understand what you are describing, but perhaps I could just explain better what I meant.
What would be most useful to me would be to have a single expense like "Photography," with multiple payment options within that single expense. It's becoming messy at present because I'm having to do them as separate expenses.
Now, in each expense, I would like two money fields: estimated cost and actual cost. You would put an estimated cost in the estimated box in the beginning when you are formulating a budget. There would be a column totalling up these estimated expenses and giving you a budget. You then could tinker with your numbers until you get it to a number you don't faint at seeing:) THEN, when you actually hire someone and get fees finalized, you then would enter that number in the actual cost box. iDo would keep running totals of the estimated values and the real values separately, and this would help you see whether you are running over or under budget.
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Kerry
Moderator Group
Joined: 05 March 2007 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 46 |
Posted: 14 March 2007 at 11:35am |
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Currently, iDo Wedding Couple Edition does estimated vs. actual on a budget category basis, not per each expense. Below is a 'beta' screenshot of how entering expenses could look like with estimated vs. actual per each expense. Please tell us your thoughts.  |
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Kerry
Elm Software Moderator |
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kboushie
Member
Joined: 11 March 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 16 |
Posted: 14 March 2007 at 2:48pm |
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Thanks for the screenshot:)
It would be great if after typing in the estimated and actual, like you have done above, that it calculates how much you are over or under budget for that specific item. Here, it could say, Difference between estimate and actual: 500. Using the number you've entered, it's easy to do the math in your head so it may seem trivial, but when you start dealing with uneven numbers, it becomes more useful!
Then on the main screen for the Budget section, there would be separate columns for both estimate and actual. Both would be tallied, and iDo would give you an easy to view summary:
Estimated budget: $x
Actual budget: $x
Over/under budget: $x (+/- xx%)
As for the separate downpayment issue: Right now you only have the choice to click "paid." It would be great if you could note a "partial payment." Ideally, iDo would give you a field to add a partial payment and a due date for each partial payment. Then, iDo subtracts the partial payment from the "Actual" field and gives you a remaining amount due on that contract. On the Budget front page, there would be columns for 'Amounts Paid" and "Amounts Due."
Hope this helps!?:)
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fayeatot
Newbie
Joined: 10 March 2007 Location: Australia Online Status: Offline Posts: 5 |
Posted: 15 March 2007 at 8:11am |
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Thank you, kboushie, for this suggestion. :) I personally want my budget plan to show me whether I'm over or under budget in a certain item. This would also guide me as to where I can offset expenses.
I definitely think that this would be a great help to all bride-to-be's.
Cheers!
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-=0=- Faye & Herbie -=0=-
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Soon2BMcLeod
Newbie
Joined: 14 March 2007 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 4 |
Posted: 15 March 2007 at 10:14pm |
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I also have the same wishes for the budget area. I know that you can list seperate line items already, but....
An example with photagraphy: 1st Deposit = $1,000 paid on DD/MM/YY, 2nd Deposit = $1,000 paid on DD/MM/YY, final payment of $2,000 due on DD/MM/YY, etc.
However, now you can not easily see the total % of the photography budget because the 1st payment is 1%, the 2nd is 1%, and the final payment is 2%. I'd rather just see that the TOTAL photography budget is 4% and not have to mentally add it up.
Edited by Soon2BMcLeod - 16 March 2007 at 6:08pm |
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csalib
Newbie
Joined: 11 May 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 9 |
Posted: 11 May 2007 at 6:54pm |
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Any news on the estimate feature? Having it even without the difference being calculated would be useful!!
Thanks!
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chai
Newbie
Joined: 31 March 2007 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 2 |
Posted: 20 July 2007 at 4:16pm |
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I agree with the previous posters on their suggestions to improve the Budget area. Tracking the expenses incrementally will be a great help!
As Soon2BMcleod had described it, a lot of my vendors also require 1) deposit, then 2) 50% payment, then 3) the remainder.
Each of these payment increments have a specific amount, due date, payment date.
So maybe within each budget item, have an option to drill down into the payment details or increments?
Thanks!
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JEN~OCTOBER08
Newbie
Joined: 25 July 2007 Location: Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 9 |
Posted: 25 July 2007 at 11:53pm |
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I agree with all the abouve I found this myself when i am in the begining stages and needed to keep trak of my deposits and what is left also I may suggest a reminder pop up? like we can set it to blank amount of days and have it remind us on that day that a payment is due tomorrow
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CrazyCatLady
Member
Joined: 29 June 2007 Location: Australia Online Status: Offline Posts: 12 |
Posted: 18 August 2007 at 12:07am |
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Hi,
I agree that not having to enter a budget item 3 times as a great idea. I'd also love to see a sub total in each section (maybe in the blue header line), of the actual budget for the section, with how much has been paid and how much is still owing (budgeted amount is not so important to me). The ability to see the areas that are costing the most at a glance would be invaluable, then being able to expand the sections to see when there expenses are,. The ability to see how much money is still outstanding, versus how much has been paid would be great. I know that you can filter for paid expenses, but it doesn't show the balance due unless you have a date for it. The suggestion of having separate "functions" i.e. honeymoon, showers etc. would be great... especially if you can hide costs being paid for others too (i.e. I don't need to always see the cost of things my parents have agreed to pay for) The more information I can have visible on the screen, the less paper gets wasted in trying to understand how everything fits together. The report function is my last resort to find information, because this means I have to go outside iDo to see it and compare it. Edited by CrazyCatLady - 18 August 2007 at 12:13am |
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brodyclay1221
Member
Joined: 10 December 2011 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 17 |
Posted: 20 December 2011 at 6:15am |
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Having it even without the difference being calculated would be useful!! Thanks for your suggestion.
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bryantrace2568
Member
Joined: 17 December 2011 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 15 |
Posted: 21 December 2011 at 4:05am |
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I am finding it quite tough. I do need to avail of the outstanding balance and due date of my deposit to assist in my budgeting and estimation of costs.
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Guests
Guest Group 
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Posted: 18 January 2012 at 6:15am |
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The aptitude to place a leave and observe the exceptional equilibrium and it's unpaid date would be a large assist in budgeting and price estimating.
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albertmorrison3
Member
Joined: 19 January 2012 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 13 |
Posted: 19 January 2012 at 4:19am |
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To keep track of your deposits and balance, I suggest to use a reminder pop up set to zero. The other day it will show new notifications.
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calvinjackson9
Member
Joined: 19 January 2012 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 14 |
Posted: 19 January 2012 at 8:03am |
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I am finding it quite powerful. I ought to avail of the outstanding balance and due date of my deposit to help in my budgeting and estimation of prices.
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adriantalon585
Member
Joined: 31 January 2012 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 15 |
Posted: 31 January 2012 at 2:53am |
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The aptitude to place a leave and observe the exceptional equilibrium and it's unpaid date would be a large assist in budgeting and price estimating.
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