Hi Jim,
Thanks for your input on this. My take on the scheduled transactions is
different than yours (and possibly from lots of others here). I don't
try to *predict* the balances of the accounts. I actually want my
GnuCash balances to exactly *match* the cleared balances. And I want to
be able to do that for each and every account on any given day.
The way I use Scheduled Transactions is to have a list of actual
upcoming transactions that haven't yet taken place. And when I talk
about a "list" here, I don't mean the SLR (Since Last Run). I'm talking
about the list I see on the Scheduled Transactions page. I always keep
that list ordered by Next Occur date; so that the most immediate
transactions are at the top of the list. I set the Next Occur date on
each transaction to be as *early* as possible. For example, if I have a
monthly bill setup on AutoPay and the AutoPay date might range between
the 23rd and 28th of each month, I'll set the Next Occur date for that
transaction to be the 22nd of each month. That way, I know that I'll
need to have enough of a balance available to pay that bill *prior* to
any AutoPay date regardless of when it will actually take place on any
given month. This technique or strategy of mine is what causes the SLR
to show a large number of overdue transactions with a "To-Create" status.
In any case, I think Kevin's idea of just disabling the scheduled
transactions until I'm ready to enter them is probably the way to go for
now. I keep track of the upcoming transactions via the list on the
Scheduled Transactions page. And now I won't enable a transaction until
I'm actually ready to enter it. Once it's enabled, then I'll do the SLR
to enter it. That way the Last Occur and Next Occur dates all stay
correct and in sync.
I will point out one additional annoying thing here about the Scheduled
Transactions page. I have the view setup so that I can see the Enabled
status column, which shows the checkbox for each transaction. It's
checked for Enabled, or unchecked for Disabled. I would think that a
user should be able to enable or disable a transaction by checking or
unchecking that box. But no! You can only view the status there. You
can't change it unless you go and edit the transaction. I guess I
should do a Bugzilla enhancement request for that one. Anyway, I have a
workaround for that annoyance. I setup a AutoHotkey macro to handle
it. I just select the transaction of interest, and I can now tap the
F12 function key to toggle the status between Enable or Disable.
The real solution here would be to get an "Enter Now" button on the
Scheduled Transactions page. But since that Bugzilla request is over 2
years old, I guess I'll just plan on living with my workaround here for
now. Anyway, thanks again for your input on this.
Tom
On 4/2/2026 7:07 AM, Jim Passmore wrote:
First, let me say that I think an Enter Now button could be useful.
But Kevin's email comparing the process of disabling all the
transactions in the editor vs toggling to "reminder" in the SLR dialog
prompted the following thought... If that many transactions are
overdue, maybe there is a better way to use scheduled transactions.
As I look at it, the scheduled transactions are there to make sure
transactions get entered on (or at least close to) a specific date. I
use them mostly for monthly bills. When they pop up in the SLR I
enter them (sometimes using a variable prompting me for the amount).
The idea is to *not* let a bill be overdue--it keeps you from
forgetting the bill in real life.
<edit!>. So I had written a long section describing how I use
scheduled transactions, but it was simply pointing out that I don't
mind transactions entered in advance if they are known. I'd rather be
able to predict the balance than be exactly coordinated to the cleared
balance. <edit complete>
If there is a usage that includes a long list of transactions with
unspecified dates (maybe you want to wait until they happen before
entering), you might try this: schedule them far in advance but put an
even longer *remind* in advance timeframe. For example, if you know a
transaction will occur sometime in April, schedule it for April 30 and
use a 30 day advance reminder. On April 1 it will start showing with
a "remind" status instead of "to create". You can leave it as is and
create other transactions until you want to enter it, and only then do
you need to change status from "remind" to "to create". Once you
create it, you might need to adjust the date a bit.
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