Ready to Assign

Ready to Assign tracks the portion of your budgeted cash that still needs a job. When it reads zero, every unit is pointed at a category. If it is positive you still have decisions to make. If it slips negative, you have assigned more money than you actually have.

The Ready to Assign loop

1. Capture money the moment it arrives. Record paychecks, transfers, reimbursements, and cash top-ups in the account where the money actually lives. Budgero updates Ready to Assign instantly based on the inflow amount and account currency.
2. Check your budget table. Ready to Assign lives at the top of the budget table and shows how much of your cash still needs a job before the next inflow.
3. Assign funds with intention. Click on the allocated field in any category to assign money. The field acts as a mini calculator where you can type amounts directly or use math operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) to adjust existing allocations. Assign funds until Ready to Assign reaches zero.
4. Reconcile regularly. Matching Budgero balances with your bank balances keeps Ready to Assign aligned with the cash that is truly available.

Ways Ready to Assign changes

Inflows

• New income. Paychecks, freelance payments, or reimbursements push their net amount into Ready to Assign. These transactions must be categorized under the 'Income' category for Ready to Assign to increase correctly.
• Transfers between accounts. Moving funds from an off-budget account (like savings) to an on-budget account (like checking) increases Ready to Assign. Internal transfers between on-budget accounts keep Ready to Assign unchanged. Transfers out from on-budget accounts to off-budget accounts decrease Ready to Assign by the transferred amount.
• Account reconciliations. When you reconcile an account, any adjustment needed to match your bank balance affects Ready to Assign. By default, these adjustments are categorized as 'Income' unless you reassign them to another category.

Outflows

• Assigning money. When you fund a category, Ready to Assign decreases by the same amount.
• Reassigning funds. Moving money between categories does not change Ready to Assign, but pushing money back into Ready to Assign increases it.

How to allocate money

1. Select a category that needs funds and click its allocation field.
2. Type the amount you want to assign or use +, -, *, and / to adjust the existing allocation like a calculator.
3. Press Enter to confirm, then continue assigning until Ready to Assign shows zero.

Troubleshooting common situations

Ready to Assign is negative

1. Scan categories for red overspending badges and move money back until those categories reach zero or green.
2. Check for duplicate outflows or expense transactions entered twice and delete the duplicate.
3. Reconcile each budget account. If balances differ from your bank, adjust the account balance so Ready to Assign reflects your real cash.

Ready to Assign did not increase after a paycheck

• Ensure the transaction type is an inflow categorised to Ready to Assign (leave the category blank).
• Confirm the account is part of the budget—tracking accounts do not affect Ready to Assign.
• If the income arrived in another currency, verify the conversion rate and edit the amount if it changed after entry.

My Ready to Assign does not match YNAB

Budgero does not deduct overspending from Ready to Assign. Negative category balances stay in those categories until you cover them manually. Ready to Assign in Budgero is also a static value—it reflects your available cash regardless of which month you are viewing—so it stays consistent and easier to interpret than YNAB's month-sensitive version.

You want to park money for later

• Create a holding category (for example, “Next month buffer”). Assign funds there instead of leaving them unassigned.
• When you are ready to use the money, move it from that holding category to the category that needs it.
• Prefer goals for predictable targets—they remind you when to fund and how much to keep on track.

Next steps

Ready to Assign feels best when goals and categories reflect your priorities. Explore more guides in the Budgero docs hub to keep building momentum.