Income/Spending distributions can be posted in one of two ways in Balance

1. You can automate the spending process (Automated Method),
2. You can enter the income/spending distributions manually using Add fund activity or the Import process (Manual Method).

The first step in either of these methods is to verify that your spending rule is set up and is correct. To check your existing rule(s), go to Spending & Fees on the left side panel in your database. Please review the article "How do I set up a spending rule?" for guidance on creating a new rule.  

Distributions using the Automated Method

First, verify your spending rule is set up correctly by navigating to Spending & Fees then the Spending rules tab. Make sure you check that the calculation date has been updated from the prior year. The calculation date, also known as allocation date, is used to calculate your spending draw. For example if averaging 12 months, the average value will start as of the calculation date and calculate an additional 11 months back from that date. 

 

Once you have verified that the spending rule parameters are set correctly, you can have Balance debit each individual fund for its spending amount. The automated method can be used to debit funds for the spending amount and set up to work with your withdrawal schedule. For example, if the annual payout rate is 5% and you want to debit funds quarterly using this automated method, you would change the Distribute spending parameter Frequency to Quarterly, then Distribute spending during the period the cash is drawn down.  See above for example spending rule.

 

After you've verified that your Spending Rules are set up correctly, go to Reports>Spending.

 

Click on one of your Estimated Spending Reports to run and then select Run Report. We recommend running the Estimated Spending Report with Column Grouping and Drill Down. Verify that funds are assigned to the correct rule and do a spot check to ensure your total distributions equal your typical annual draw.

Once you've verified that the Estimated Spending amounts are accurate, proceed to next step.

Next, go to Spending & Fees then the Spending rules tab and click the Distribute spending button.

Select the Calculation date and Spending rule on the Distribute spending screen.

Please note:  the calculation date selected here will override the calculation date within the spending rule itself.  

The options for the Spending rules dropdown are All spending rules, All primary rules, All secondary rules and Specific rule.

• All spending rules will process distributions for both primary and secondary spending rules.
• All primary rules will process distributions for all of your primary spending rule assignments.  
• All secondary rules will process distributions for all of your secondary rule assignments.  
• The All options (All spending rules, All primary rules, All secondary rules) should only be used if you wish to create distributions for all of your spending rules and those spending rules have the same calculation date.  

If you only want to create distributions for one spending rule and/or your spending rules have different calculation dates, it is best to select Specific rule from the Spending rules drop down and then the specific rule from that drop down (see below).

When you have selected the Spending rule and the Calculation date, click the 'Distribute spending' button.  Then, click the 'Yes, distribute spending' button in the 'Approve distribute spending' pop up box.

The Distribute spending screen will display a note indicating that the distributions have posted successfully. See the end of this document for a report you can run to review your distributions.

Delete Automated Distributions

To delete distributions that you created on the Distribute spending screen, go to Spending & Fees then the Spending rules tab and click the Delete spending button.

 

On the Delete spending screen, select the Spending rule from the drop down that you wish to delete. Then, click the 'Delete spending' button on the 'Approve delete spending' pop up box.  A confirmation will appear on the screen noting that the distributions were successfully deleted.

Distributions using the Manual Method

To enter spending/income distributions manually, follow the instructions for posting transactions using 'Add fund activity' or the Import process in the How Do I Enter Transaction Activity in Balance? article. For either method, use the applicable distribution related transaction type in your Balance database. The standard transaction type is called Distribution.

Reviewing Distributions

To review total distributions that have been posted (using any of the above methods) navigate to Accounting>Fund Activity. Choose the Distribution Transaction Type, the current period from the Posting period ending field and click the Load records button.

The Distributions transactions will be listed in a table on this screen. The transactions can be exported by clicking either the Export XLSX or Export CSV buttons.