Adding past repeating/multiple transactions

Asked by Rob D

I am entering a lot of historic data. Is there a way to enter repeating transactions from the past? For example, to enter £x per month from 01/01/2015 to date.

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Rob D
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Andy Northcott (xandyfive) said :
#1

Hi Kalico,

I think I can help with this. If you set up a scheduled transaction as you would a normal (future) one but with the 'Next Date' set in the past (e.g 01/01/2015). Close the scheduled transaction dialog and then select Transactions -> Post Scheduled from the menu. This should create the past scheduled transactions in the account. To see them in the account view, just make sure you have 'Range : Entire Range' selected.

Hope this helps.

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Rob D (drd) said :
#2

Hi Andy,

That's a big help - thank you very much.

It is not as perfect as being able to simply specify a start date and end date and amount, then press 'Go' and have those X number of transactions entered, but it is something at least.

My problem is that, for example, I want to add a past Direct Debit payment for, say, £100 that went out monthly. But say that payment increased at some point to £110, there is no way (using the method you suggest) to allow for that. At least not easily. I guess i could do a scheduled transaction (like you say) but do it for only a certain number of transactions/months.

If you can think of any easy way, let me know. It seems to be common with accounts packages that they all assume everything will get added as it comes in, but sadly I am not so efficient!

Although I am new to Homebank, it does seem pretty good. I looked at GNUcash and KMyMoney, but both seemed so overly complicated that my head hurt just trying to assess them.

Thanks again. I shall keep my fingers crossed that you might have some wonderful suggestion for how to work-around this problem.

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Andy Northcott (xandyfive) said :
#3

Hi Kalico,

One option would be to go through each transaction one by one - i.e. set up all repeating transactions as I suggested but rather than select 'Post Scheduled' from the menu, select the transaction from the 'Scheduled Transaction' pane in the main window and select 'Edit & Post'. This will give you the option to change the amount for each one. Clearly, depending on the number of transaction you need, this could be quite time consuming.

Another option would be to use the export/import facility. If you create all your scheduled transactions as per my first answer and then go to the Account Window and select 'Account' -> 'Export CSV'. You could then quickly be able edit all the transactions to suit your requirements (e.g amount) using a spreadsheet and save it as a .CSV file. You then need to go back to the Main window and select Import CSV file. This will enable you to select which Account you wish to import into (by selecting 'Change Action' during the dialog. You may want to delete the original transactions from the Account before doing this as HomeBank will identify them as duplicate and not select them by default. If you select them manually, you will get duplicate entries.

This second option would be my preference if you have multiple transactions to set up. I would suggest setting this up using a Test Account so you can get comfortable using the import/export functionality and understand exactly how it behaves.

Regards.

Andy.

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Andy Northcott (xandyfive) said :
#4

Hi again Kalico,

Just another thought : when you create a scheduled transaction and 'Post Scheduled' as per my first answer, the scheduled transaction should be moved from Scheduled to Template within the scheduled/template dialog. This enables you to then edit it (i.e amount and date range) and 'Post Schedule' again.

For example If you had a Direct Debit to pay an electricity bill in 2015 which was £100 for the first 6 months and then £120 for the next 6 months, set it up as £100 for the first 6 months and 'Post Scheduled' as per my first answer. Then find it in the 'Templates' tab of the scheduled/template dialog change the amount to £120, activate it and set the date range to the next 6 months.

By doing this you only have to change what you want rather than having to setup the whole scheduled event again. This method may be quicker/simpler for your requirements.

Hope these options give you something you can work with.

Regards

Andy.

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Rob D (drd) said :
#5

A belated thanks for this Andy - it works perfectly.