JD & Financial Category Parity

Life Admin System
1

Over the last couple of years, I’ve implemented 3 JD systems, 2 for business, and 1 for personal. Our business finances are tracked and managed in Quickbooks which isn’t my favorite, but it’s what we use. I’ve only just started to be more proactive about tracking all of my family’s personal finances and after plenty of trial and error, I’ve ended up in Monarch Money. It is also not perfect, but it’s good enough for what I need and I appreciate the automations.

As I started categorizing all of our expenses, income, investments, etc. I realized that I (and Johnny) had already done the work figuring out what categories all of the “things” in my life belonged in. There is something really enticing about using this financial software as another navigation point for the information in my life. For instance, when there’s a charge in a category in Monarch, it would have an ID that points to any other non-financial information about that particular thing.

I know there are always suggestions of tracking things in a simple spreadsheet, or keeping things to 4 or 5 basic categories, but one of the things I like about this idea is that I can store data about a financial transaction in my JD system and find both things quickly from either direction.

Since some IDs are not financial in nature, the categories in Monarch don’t perfectly match up with all of my JD IDs, and some monarch categories need to have more extended areas. For instance utility expenses are all in p12.33, but in Monarch I’ve broken them out by utility for reporting and tracking.

I haven’t implemented this yet, because I’m nervous about over complicating my financial record keeping by being so granular. I’m wondering if anyone has any experience tying these two systems together and if so, do you have any advice or cautions?

Here is the category list as I’ve drafted it:

(note that all the emoji are part of the Monarch system.)

INCOME:

  • p13.11 :money_bag: Earned
  • p13.11 :money_bag: Other Income
  • p12.12 :money_bag: Interest Accrued
  • p13.31 :dollar_banknote: Credit Card -Rewards

EXPENSES:

  • P11 :hammer: Things, Pets, & Plants

    • p11.010 :rooster: Pets & other animals
    • p11.030 :seedling: Plants & Gardening
    • p11.060 :gem_stone: Precious & Personal
    • p11.100 :desktop_computer: IT Equipment
    • p11.200 :radio: Audio Video Equipment
    • p11.300 :wrench: Tools & Equipment
    • p11.500 :light_bulb: Appliances
    • p11.550 :couch_and_lamp: Furniture
    • p11.600 :game_die: Gaming & Recreation
    • p11.701 :basket: Laundry & Linens
    • p11.702 :framed_picture: Decor
    • p11.703 :fork_and_knife_with_plate: Kitchenware & Dining
    • p11.704 :package: Organization & Storage
    • p11.705 :green_apple: Groceries
    • p11.706 :pencil: Office & School Supplies
    • p11.800 :teddy_bear: Toys & Kid’s Items
    • p11.000 :shopping_cart: Miscellaneous Retail

  • p12 :house: Housing, Vehicles

    • p12.20 :house: Mortgage
    • p12.20 :office_building: Rent
    • p12.23.01 :high_voltage:Electric Utility
    • p12.23.02 :wastebasket:Garbage Service
    • p12.23.03 :droplet:Water Utility
    • p12.23.04 :fire:Gas Utility
    • p12.24.01 :globe_with_meridians:Internet Service
    • p12.24.02 :mobile_phone:Phone Service
    • p12.25 :hammer_and_wrench:Repairs, Maintenance & Upkeep
    • p12.26.01 :dizzy:Renovation & Improvements
    • p12.50.01 :automobile: Vehicles & Upgrades
    • p12.50.02 :automobile: Auto Payment
    • p12.50.03 :fuel_pump: Gas
    • p12.50.04 :wrench: Auto Maintenance
    • p12.50.05 :p_button: Parking & Tolls
    • p12.50.06 :taxi: Ride Shares
    • p12.80 :bicycle: Boats, Bikes, & Other
    • p12.81 :railway_car: Public Transit

  • p13 :money_bag: Finance, Legal, & Insurance

    • p13.20 :chart_increasing: Saved
    • p13.25 :graduation_cap: College Savings
    • p13.33 :graduation_cap: Student Loans
    • p13.36 :money_with_wings: Loans
    • p13.50 :notebook_with_decorative_cover: Financial Services
    • p13.51.01 :bank: Financial Fees
    • p13.51.02 :atm_sign: Cash & ATM
    • p13.51.04 :money_with_wings: Check
    • p13.51.05 :heavy_dollar_sign:Miscellaneous Expense
    • p13.51.06 :exclamation_question_mark: Unknown
    • p13.80 :balance_scale: Legal
    • p23.70 :briefcase: Business Expense
    • p13.71 :crossed_fingers: Health Insurance
    • p13.72 :crossed_fingers: Life Insurance
    • p13.73 :crossed_fingers: Homeowners Insurance
    • p13.74 :crossed_fingers: Vehicle Insurance
    • p13.75 :crossed_fingers: Utility Insurance
    • p13.76 :crossed_fingers: Travel Insurance
    • p13.77 :crossed_fingers: Miscellaneous Insurance

  • p14 :laptop: Digital Life

    • p14.010 :desktop_computer: Networking & Backup
    • p14.030 :television: Streaming & Subscriptions
    • p14.090 :black_nib: Digital Resources
    • p14.100 :floppy_disk: Software

  • p15 :airplane: Entertainment & Travel

    • p15.31.01 :fork_and_knife: Restaurants
    • p15.31.02 :cocktail_glass: Bars & Alcohol
    • p15.31.03 :hot_beverage: Coffee & Treats
    • p15.32 :musical_notes: Music -Live
    • p15.33 :movie_camera: Movies -Theater
    • p15.35 :softball: Sports & Gaming Events
    • p15.36 :circus_tent:Fairs & Shows
    • p15.40 :station: Short or routine trips
    • p15.50 :airplane_departure: Longer trips
    • p15.70 :tent: Camping

  • p16 :books: Media, Documents & Recipes

    • p16.20 :open_book: Books & Magazines
    • p16.40 :film_frames: Movies & Music
    • p16.50 :cooking: Recipes

  • p17 :card_index: Family, Friends, & Neighbors

    • p17.10.01 :hatching_chick: Childcare
    • p17.10.02 :playground_slide: Afterschool Care
    • p17.10.03 :hiking_boot: Summer Camp
    • p17.10.04 :soccer_ball: Child Activities
    • p17.95 :reminder_ribbon: Charity
    • p17.96 :wrapped_gift: Outgoing Gifts

  • p20 :family_man_woman_girl_boy: Personal

    • p21.10 :card_index_dividers: Personal Records
    • p22.10 :flexed_biceps: Physical health
    • p22.11 :pill: Medical Expense
    • p22.12 :tooth: Dental Expense
    • p22.13 :glasses: Vision Expense
    • p22.30 :brain: Mental health
    • p23.10 :school: Education
    • p27.00 :wrapped_gift: Incoming Gifts
    • p22.37 :barber_pole: Personal Care & Treats
    • p22.38 :t_shirt: Clothing & Shoes

  • p24 :puzzle_piece: Hobbies & Recreation

    • p24.10 :puzzle_piece: Hobbies
    • p24.60 :american_football: Recreation
    • p24.70 :yarn: Clubs & Organizations
    • p24.90 :tada: Celebrations

TRANSFERS:

  • p13.51.07 :repeat_button: Transfer
  • p13.51.08 :balance_scale: Balance Adjustments
  • p13.31 :money_with_wings: Credit Card -Payment
  • p13.51.03 :clipboard: Overdraft Protection
2

I’m forced to use Xero for my business and have always been annoyed by the seemingly arbitrary numbers used in the Chart of Accounts.

485 Subscriptions. That’s it. I find that really unhelpful. I love the idea of them being much more granular, and if I started again, I’d certainly give this a go.

The caution of course is to be conscious of this causing you too much work. But hopefully once you’ve classified a vendor once, it gets auto-matched in the future?

3

The QuickBooks chart of accounts is the worst too. Fortunately for my personal finances, I don’t need to invoice anyone or pay bills through the system so there are a lot more options for software.

The flexibility and intuitiveness of the rules in Monarch is part of what made me feel like this is a good idea. I do wish that you could do a second layer of classification, but then I’d probably be tempted to make it even more complicated.

1 Like