Comment by jldugger

> As a result, I've always had to maintain a separate spreadsheet to track my actual cash flow.

This is more or less how I already set up GNUCash. Couple dozen scheduled transactions created 90 days into the future, with the "Future Minimum Balance" field enabled on the homescreen.

For me, the time sinks are interrelated:

1. Monthly reconciliation. Every month I sit down and compare the scheduled transactions with what actually happened in statements, for approximately thirty different accounts. Many don't have APIs, certainly none GNUCash would speak. This takes a lot of time and I wish I could just have this automated. Just give me exception handling on the edge cases like a new transaction category, or a forecasted negative checking balance.

2. CC transaction import. This is a structural failing of banking closing down formerly open APIs. Only thing left on my BofA accounts is CSV exports. Which thankfully works with a bit of setup but the writing is on the wall and even that may soon vanish in the name of banks defending their core business.

3. Stock transactions, equity grants & price tracking. This one is even harder since CSV feels structurally not up to the task of representing the "sell to cover taxes" split of RSU grants, and I never really got it working in OFX anyways. Plus I have a pretty weird collection of accounts including a pension IAP that updates once a year (and that update is retroactive to 6 months ago) and a 457b invested in restricted custom funds with no ticker symbols.