Personal finance software with "sub-accounts"

ThePants999

Hi folks,

I'm looking for some recommendations on personal finance software (either downloadable, or online).

The ones I've looked at so far cover basic tracking against a budget, i.e. am I overspending on X, Y or Z. I'm looking for a bit more than that, though. Ideally, I'd like to be able to set up "sub-accounts" so that, even though I've only got one actual current account, I can "transfer" money between sub-accounts. My use case for this is that I've got a lot of expenditure that's either annual or irregular, and I'd like to be able to set aside money each month for each of these, and thereby get an at-a-glance view of how much is actually "spare" in my account.

I'm also open to suggestions of alternative ways to handle this. I've seen some people talk of actually setting up additional real accounts to handle this sort of thing, but I'm not keen on that because (a) I've got about a dozen categories that I'd like sub-accounts for, and (b) I don't want to have to actually transfer money back from these accounts to my main account before I can spend it.

I figure this must surely be a pretty common requirement, so I'm hoping there's a simple answer :-) Thanks in advance!

ThePants999

Some further Googling tells me that what I'm talking about is called "envelope budgeting", except that I'm looking to do it electronically rather than with cash. So, to refine the question: does anyone have a recommendation for personal finance software that works with the envelope system?

red_flump

I use YNAB but this has recently switched to a subscription based service at £34/year which might not suit everyone. However it is a good example of zero based envelope money management. Syncs with mobile apps that allow you to see the available in your categories and enter purchases on the go.
Their whole philosophy is to take care of your "True Expenses" which is your annual/semi regular expenses as well as the more obvious monthly ones.

ThePants999

Thanks! Does YNAB have much in the way of direct importing from online banking? The impression I'm getting from Google is "sure, if you're American" :-D

red_flump

The new web version has direct import for US and Canadian banks, but has been reported it works with NatWest. Manual import is planned (like the old YNAB4 had)

ThePants999

Cheers. I'll wait for manual import and give it a try :-)