"Is it best practice to simply launch a new File each year?"
There are two main routes to follow. Read both, as I've not checked to ensure that actions common to both have been entered in both lists.
One route:
Launch a new file using the Personal Budget template, Replace the categories in the summary by category table with a copy of your current categories popup menu, set t none, then copied from your current table and pasted into all cells in the Category column of the summary table AND of the Transactions table.
If you expect to reuse many of the descriptions you might also want to add several rows to the Transaction table and paste those description items into those rows (with no other data).
You may also want to transfer other items from your 2020 document to the new document using copy and paste.
New 2021 budget information can be entered in the new document.
Enter a starting balance and new transactions as of the start of your new budget year.
Alternate route:
- Add the year (2020) to the file name of your current document.
- Use Save as… to save a copy of the file, using the same name, but with 2021 in place of 2020
(In the File menu, press and hold the option key to change Duplicate to Save as…)
- In the new (2021) document, clear out the transaction amounts and description columns
- (option) Leave descriptions you are likely to use again, and gather them in the same column, and near the end of the table.
- Set one of the category popups to 'none', check to see that it has all of the categories you currently use, and edit it to remove any categories you will NOT be using in 2021.
- With the popup still set to 'none', select and Copy it's cell, then select all of the Category column cells (not including those in Header rows or Footer rows, and Paste.
- Repeat the select and Paste with the category column of the Summary table. Set those menus in the order you want the categories to appear around the pie chart, adding or removing cells in the column to match the number of categories in use.
- Enter the new budget values, then, at the start of the budget year, enter the starting balance and carry on.
Regards,
Barry
PS: If you expect the 2022 tables to be much the same as next years, you might consider Saving the 2021 table as a template before entering any trans actions, giving you a clean sheet (with your current categories) next winter.
