YNAB You Need A Budget

[hmsiegel]

Hello all,
I've been using YNAB for about a month now and have been very pleased with it. I'm still trying to remember to check my remaining budget amounts before I go out, but I have saved up quite a bit and am pretty close to bufferville. I will be very excited when I am.
I am currently the bookkeeper at the restaurant I work at, and we've recently started to use a budget. I put together a very nifty spreadsheet that has all of last years and this years P & L numbers, so we have some historical data to look at. I started think recently though if the YNAB way would actually work for a business. And we're not small. We're doing in excess of $2,000,000 in gross sales. Does anyone have any suggestions? The biggest issues I see it that 1) some months are busier than others and 2) we work on the 13 period accounting cycle, not a monthly cycle. The 13 period is 28 days each, which makes things a little easier, and sometimes a little more difficult. I would love to hear some feedback on this.

Thanks

Harlan

[hmsiegel]

Bueller?? Bueller?? Is anyone out there?? Or are there no ideas??

[llambe]

My (uneducated) opinion would be that although the YNAB methodology would be good, it would have to be secondary to the actual accounting. Also, YNAB is kind of a paradigm shift in thinking - unless the boss has bought into it I don't see how you could implement it?

[WairereRose]

As long as you are using it for budgeting, not for tax record keeping I see no reason for it not to be successful, although that 28 day cycle you mention has me intrigued.

Other than 'fudging' to make your year 13 months long (say starting a month early the first year, running a month late the second year, and starting anew in the third year) I cannot see that the 'month' cycle will be an issue for you. You might need to watch your dates so that they fit into your 28 day cycle rather than the strict month, so in one sense it will not be an accurate reflection of what you are doing, but if you are strictly using it as a budgeting tool then with that amendment I see no reason why it would not work.

Have a play with it first on your own and see how that goes before taking it to the boss. S/he may not like it if they have to tweak, and I don't see a version coming out that can be made to fit your situation any time soon.

[hmsiegel]

Thanks for responding.
Here is a good explanation of the 13 period accounting cycle.
http://rrgconsulting.com/4_week_accounting_periods.htm

Actually I was more thinking if I could possibly download an unlocked copy of the YNAB Basic for Excel. I'm assuming the cells and sheets are locked to prevent any unwanted changes. My thinking would be to change the way formulas to coincide with the 4 week, 28 day, 13 period accounting cycle. At least it's something to play with.
It is true about the shift in thinking. I tried explaining it to my boss and it took him a couple of minutes to really understand what I was saying. This would definitely be in addition to our normal accounting software, especially for tax purposes. Also I'm not completely sure how I would handle things like Liability Accounts, Prepaid Accounts, Accrued Accounts, Assets, etc. There's so much more than just Income and Expenses. But it could be interesting.

[WairereRose]

PM Steve (Mudie) or jesse would probably be your next best step.

[bernadettej21]

"You Need A Budget" or simply known as YNAB rules is a simplified calculation for some data. It is likely similar to the upgraded gadgets nowadays. You just have to get informed about it so you can start using it properly.