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Outlined below is the way that I have designed Snap Budget to be used. You can use my workflow to help get started if you like. Feel free to deviate and experiment from there to find what works best for you.

Import Previous Transactions

When getting started, I find it easiest to import last month's transactions from your primary bank account. For example, if the current month is August, download transactions from July 1st to the 31st.

Your primary bank account is the account where your main income is deposited and your bills and credit card payments are sourced from.

Snap Budget currently supports importing the QFX/OFX format versions that I have encountered so far. If you encounter a new format, please provide me with a sample and I will update Snap Budget to support it.

Configure Repeating Transactions

Select the transactions that repeat monthly, right click (or control click), and select Repeat Monthly. Next, select transactions that repeat every two weeks, right click, and select Repeat Biweekly.

If you have transactions that repeat at a frequency other than Monthly or Biweekly, double click the transaction, and configure it to repeat as needed via the transaction editor.

Congratulations! Your initial budget is now setup.

Import Current Transactions

Download your current month's transactions from you bank and import them into Snap Budget. Snap Budget will filter out any transactions that have already been imported (if any).

Snap Budget will also suggest matches that look as such. When Snap Budget suggests matches, you can set them to match, always match, not match, and always not match.

When using the always option, you will create Import Match Rules that you can later manage via the Import Match Rules window. The Import Match Rules window can be accessed via the Windows menu button.

When Snap Budget does not automatically match or suggest matching a freshly imported transaction with an existing one, you can select the two transactions and match them manually.

Monitor

Now that your repeating transactions are setup and your imports are current, you can forecast how much savings you will or will not have in future months.

In my opinion, the most important metric is Minimum Balance. That is effectively how much savings you have or are forecasted to have in the future. It can also be helpful to see how the other metrics improve or change from month to month.

Remember though, Snap Budget is a tool to help you forecast your future. Ultimately, it is your responsibility to make sure everything is correct and you do not overdraft your account.

Repeat

At whatever frequency you wish, download and import transaction updates from your bank. I usually do this every day or so. Like before, you can match any transactions that were not automatically matched via the Import Match Rules.

As you create matches, future transactions that are part of the repeat series will also be updated. You can of course disable that on a rule by rule basis via the Import Match Rules window if you choose.

As you use Snap Budget and derive new use cases that could benefit the community, please feel free to share them if you like. I can currently be reached via the Snap Budget Help menu. Who knows, one of them may make it into a future Snap Budget version!