How to Finalize and Close Your Monthly Budget

💰 The 5-Step Budget Closing Checklist

The Budget Closing Checklist is designed to guide you through the final steps of your monthly budget, ensuring that every dollar is accounted for and ready for the next period. All five tasks must be completed before you can click "Finalize Budget."

Task 1: Zero All Buckets

This is the core principle of Zero-Based Budgeting (ZBB). Before closing, you must ensure that your Planned Amount for every single budget category ("bucket") equals its Linked Amount (the transactions assigned to it).

Action: Every dollar planned must have been spent or allocated to its specific bucket.

Task 2: Remaining to Spend (RTS) Must Be Zero

The budget must resolve completely to zero. This confirms that all income has been assigned to a bucket and no funds are left floating unallocated.

Action:Ensure your final calculation results in exactly $0.00.

Task 3: Checking Transfer Income Confirmed

This task confirms that the planned amount of money you designated to come into your budget from your savings account has transactions linked to match it.

Action: Ensure your actual income (paychecks, other deposits) linked to the Checking Transfer Income bucket matches your initial plan.

Task 4: Savings Transfer Expense Confirmed

This task confirms that the amount of money you planned to move out of your budget and into your savings or long-term goals has been executed.

Action: Ensure the actual transfer transaction you made to your savings account is linked to the Savings Transfer Expense bucket, matching the planned amount (after any automatic RTS adjustments).

Task 5: Credit Card Payment Confirmed

For users paying off their cards in full every month, this step ensures the payment made to the credit card company is properly recorded and linked.

Action: Ensure the transaction representing the actual credit card payment is linked to the Credit Card Payment bucket, matching the planned amount.

Once all five tasks show a green checkmark (✔), click the **"Finalize Budget"** button to successfully close the current month and roll over your balances to the next.