Closing a month is optional. It locks in what the month carries forward, so the next month's starting balances stop moving.
Only a month that has already ended can close, and months close in order, oldest first. If an earlier month is still open, close that one first. An earlier month you never really budgeted in, such as one before your budget started, doesn't count: it closes along with the month you're closing.
The checklist
On the Budget tab, go to the month and tap Close out. Forward checks the month and lists what is left. Rows marked Blocking must be cleared first; most have a Go to link that takes you there:
- transactions in the month that still need approving or review,
- changed-transaction notices still open,
- paychecks still waiting to be funded: confirm or dismiss each one in Notifications,
- accounts in your budget that aren't reconciled through the end of the month,
- a credit card reconciled against a mid-cycle statement: tick "accept the interim statement" on its row, and the rest of the cycle lands next month.
Some rows don't block:
- Heads up rows count transactions still pending at the bank. They settle into their own month.
- Amounts you scheduled for paychecks that never arrived are listed for information. Closing removes them.
When nothing is outstanding, tap the close button, for example Close September 2026.
What closing does
The dialog then lists each category's frozen carryover. If the Riveras close September with nothing still changing, its lines include "Groceries · $42.18 carried", "Car insurance · $150.00 carried" and "Gifts · $35.00 carried". October's Prior column reads those figures from then on.
The month shows a Closed badge.
Transactions that arrive late
A purchase dated in a closed month that reaches Forward afterwards keeps its real date in Transactions, but it counts in the month that is open now. If your bank changes or removes a transaction from a closed month, Transactions is corrected and the budget difference lands in the open month, with a notice in Notifications explaining both. Nothing rewrites frozen history; nothing rewrites bank dates; nothing is silent; the register always matches the bank.
Reopening
You can reopen only the most recently closed month: on the Budget tab, go to it and tap Reopen. Its numbers update live again. Anything that was counted in a later month while it was closed stays where it landed.
What to do
If you can't close the month:
- Tap Close out and read the rows marked Blocking.
- Tap Go to on each one and finish it: approve the transactions, confirm or dismiss the paycheck, or reconcile the account.
- Tick any "accept the interim statement" row.
- Tap Close out again.