I really like the balance forecast report
I just woud really like the granularity of the cashflow report,
the cashflow report is historic, but i was hoping like the balance forecast to see future estimates based on scheduled tasks in a cashflow forecast

if it is already done in the balance forecast, then maybe it is in the report design, and not in the core functionality?

A simple part solution would be to add a "speculative" attribute to scheduled transactions, which could inhibit the actual scheduling but enable the transaction to be included in the forecast. Suppose we have a groceries bill of $500 per month made up of several visits to several shops. One speculative or representative entry of $500 as a scheduled transaction could solve the forecast problem without encumbering normal accounting.

Is this a feature yet? I bought Microsoft Money for years and their premium version did this. Then in the last commercial version it was removed and you had to get the pro version for that feature. In their Sunset edition you have to trick it into displaying the report and reinstalling old versions doesn't work because they killed the license server for it.

In MS Money it would give a graph of select-able accounts (credit cards or bank accounts) and then from the scheduled future transactions would give you a graph of future balances in those accounts. you could graph out to months with the third cheque (for those on bi-weekly paychecks) and then decide when you could afford to make that repair or purchase those new tires.

this feature can be added as a 'balance-forecast' linechart

it would default to asset accounts, and show future projections based on Scheduled Transactions applicable to these accounts.

The contributor has also added future projected minimum balances, as well as a couple other balance indicators.

Good enough?

GnuCash Function Requests
My only concern is "not bouncing checks by having a $200.00 buffer in the account at the usual low point of the monthly cycle."

The only thing that has worked for me in either Quicken or GnuCash is using the Scheduled Transactions or Reminder function. My reading has confirmed that several accounting pros have noted budgeting software is not really designed to do what I call "Low Monthly Balance Estimation."..

I Schedule transactions for when I expect them in the 30 days before the next expected low balance date. Once all of the scheduled transactions have been entered in the Scheduled transactions window with their amounts and dates. I run "since the last run" and can then scan the balance column to see if there is any red entries and at the Projected Minimum at the bottom.

Secondly I have scheduled Budget transactions for things like groceries, OTC medications, pet food. Things that can bust a budget. As these transactions come in I subtract those amounts from the "budgeted amount" in the Scheduled transaction. When I have zeroed or come close, I know to watch that spending, or delay the next purchase until after the next expected deposit.

The only headaches I would like a programmer to explore a fix for me are:
1. 1. When importing from a bank, the Match existing transactions keep the Scheduled Transaction information, not the Banks transaction information which loses the check numbers mainly.
> My work around is not to match any transactions and delete the Scheduled versions.
2. 2. I think as in Quicken the Projected Minimum cannot be set for The Projected Minimum on a particular day of the Month or EOM.

3. Having to subtract transaction amounts from the budgeted Scheduled Transactions is a headache I would love a set of algorithms to do for me [call it something else beside budgeting]. [
I worked around Programmers for 30 years, know most of the lingo, and still consider what they do as magic smoke and mirrors that happens to work most of the time.]

I could not find a way to show my future CashFlow when I have an accounts payable and receivable. Hope this gets impemented soon!

The closest I got was to display transactions for the accounts payable and receivable accounts, but we only get an option to display by entered date and not by due date.

If it would at least display this information on the report, I could export to excel and work from there.

We need forecasting/projected balances based on scheduled transactions for sure!
It is very helpful to view future balances for accounts.

This is a great way to see when the money runs out for a given account; that is, without having to enter each scheduled transaction ahead of time.

Similarly, Quicken projected balances can be viewed via line graph or even in the calendar itself.

Yes we need a good forecast method

i can't vote (got message:We couldn't submit your vote at this time--> nvm, it seems caused by ghostery)
anyway, this suggestion is similar to this (by principle, IMHO):

https://gnucash.uservoice.com/forums/101223-feature-request/suggestions/10049337-better-budgeting-based-on-managerial-accounting

i pretty much agree with calendar implementation. Like being implemented in (but i dont know how to record debt or accrue something by using this app, actually I only familiar using Accrual base) :

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiG_OLKobTLAhVHBI4KHX24BAwQFggcMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fstore%2Fapps%2Fdetails%3Fid%3Dcom.blogspot.arkannsoft.hhbudgetlite%26hl%3Den&usg=AFQjCNH34qLhs0A4CCxPbsOP79fnWqAj1A&bvm=bv.116573086,d.c2E

For now, i am using gnucash, kmymoney, and Money Manager Ex (it have attachment, and dropbox) because i need to know how liquid I am at certain date when i decide to make expense or expenditure (i am poor but have high expenses)

There is an API in C with bindings in Scheme and Python.

There are a thousand feature requests and very few developers of this free software. I fear that by adding 'features' we lose focus on the foundation product: excellent double-entry accounting.

Might it not be more productive to ask for a product API that allows other's to create add-on products?

I am going to agree with Joe Wassenberg, a Calendar view like Quicken that shows previous transactions, and shows future transactions that are scheduled with a forcast for the account.

I am looking to replace Quicken but find the ability to forcast through a Calendar a lot easier. I can see how this is setup for Accountants so a feature like this might be tricky yet simple (depends on the scope and granularity).

The Net Worth Linechart can be modified to show a crude cashflow forecast. First de-select Assets and Liabilities to show only the Net Worth line. Then select only the relevant accounts (current account in my case). This graph shows all the transactions entered for that account, which by default doesn't include future scheduled transactions. However, if you set your scheduled transactions to be entered a few days before the actual transaction date, once they show up in the transaction register, they'll be reflected in the graph, giving a future cashflow. Set the step size to 'Day' and you get a reasonable approximation of MS Money's cashflow feature.
Ideally, of course, the Net Worth Linechart should show future values as a default. Also, it would be nice to have the date options start from 'Today' and end in after a certain duration rather than the current 'Start of month' - 'End of month' etc.
I think this also shows that this feature could possibly be implemented as a report. Anyone willing to give it a go?

Patches welcome, as the saying goes. None of the regular developers has this as a priority AFAIK.

So how about it? Is Gnucash coming up with a cash balance forecast? Exactly like MS Money would be great.

This is really an essential feature, and a very simple one. You start with the current balance of a checking account, for example, and produce a dot and line graph of the projected balance from the scheduled transactions.
If you want to know what it can look like, check Quicken and even KMyMoney, they are doing it perfectly! :)
It's really all that's missing for me in GnuCash.

How likely is it that there is a cashflow forecast coming to gnucash? I really like the program and would like to stick with it which is giving me a hard time if this feature is not yet implemented.

I would suggest to the developer to at least add a line "Starting Balance" in the budgeting window of expenses down below where "Income", "Expense", "Transfers", and "Total" is written. "Starting Balance" would be the difference of all (reconciled) income and expenses until each first day of a new month.

Say we have a regular income of 100 USD and total expenses of 30 USD in month a. In the budget window down below should be Income=100, Expense=30, Transfers=0, Total=70 for month a, and Starting Budget=70 for (the next) month b. Since we know that our regular income is equal to 100 and our expenses unknown (in this example), the Starting Budget for month c would be 170, et cetera.

I hope it is clear what I suggest.

Would like to see a bar (or line) graph of (past and) future daily balances of an account or set of accounts, based on entered transactions and scheduled transactions, with a customizable time scale. Or, almost as good, a calendar (like the 'upcoming transactions' calendar, where accounts could be selected, and their (actual past and) projected future balances would be shown for each day. Desperately looking to escape Quicken, this is about the only thing holding me back.

Hey, Is anyone up there who does NOT look at their cash flow ?

Guys, its really simple -- having a look at all recurrent payments and monthly cash flows and projecting them ahead for a couple of months and then displaying them...

Could be like a "ghost" transaction on the register in terms of coding it...

Again thank you for your prompt response. It appears the feature "Future Scheduled Transactions" was added in gnucash 2.4.2. After downloading 2.4.4 using GetDeb.net sources I have tried out the suggested feature. Unfortunately this falls short of a usable forecast. What I need to do is select assets of interest (not all of my assets) for example >select bank checking accounts only and apply scheduled transactions. A graphical output with daily balance allows me to see the account balance and plan for the future transactions visually and plan ahead. The "Future Scheduled Transactions" text report is unusable in for me in it's current form. I really need to be able to customize the included accounts at will.