Linking Budgets and Accounts to Goals
How to link budget items and bank accounts to your goals in Forbidden Finance, and how an account link opens up the three ways a goal's balance can move.
Overview
Linking is what makes goals in Forbidden Finance truly powerful. By connecting a goal to a budget item, an account, or both, your progress updates as money moves instead of waiting for you to update it by hand.
The two links do different jobs, and it is worth being clear about the difference up front:
- Linking a budget item feeds the goal from your budget. Your allocation to that category is the plan, and the goal is credited as far as real deposits back it up.
- Linking a bank account attaches a real account to the goal, and it is what unlocks the choice of how the goal is tracked. Depending on the mode you pick, the account can sit alongside the goal, be the goal's balance, or be divided between several goals.
- Recording a manual contribution covers everything that happens outside both, a gift, a windfall, a transfer from somewhere you have not linked.
Once an account is linked, Forbidden Finance asks you a question it cannot answer for you: what is allowed to move this goal's balance? That is the goal's tracking mode, and there are three of them. This article covers the links themselves; Goal Tracking Modes covers what each mode does with them.
How to Link a Budget Item to a Goal
Linking a budget item makes it the primary progress driver for your goal. The category says how much you intend to put toward the goal each period, and Forbidden Finance credits the goal as deposits arrive to back it up.
Open your goal
Navigate to Goals and tap the goal you want to link.
Add a budget item link
Find the Funding this goal section, described as "Budget money that goes into this goal each month", and tap the add button. Its tooltip reads Add budget item link.
Select a budget category
Choose the budget category that corresponds to this goal. For example, link your "Emergency Fund" budget category to your Emergency Fund goal, or your "Vacation Savings" category to your vacation goal.
Confirm the link
Tap Link. The goal now tracks contributions from this budget category automatically.
What Gets Credited, and When
A budget item link states your plan. What lands in the goal is what real deposits into the linked account justify, capped at that plan.
Say you budget $500 a month in your "Emergency Fund" category:
- Deposits into the linked account cover it, so the goal is credited the full $500.
- Deposits only came to $300, so the goal is credited $300, and the shortfall is flagged rather than papered over.
- No deposits arrived, so nothing is credited. A month you did not save does not show up as a month you did.
If more money arrives later in the same month, the existing credit is topped up rather than duplicated. A goal is never credited twice for the same deposit, and a credit is never revised downward. Deposits also have to be in the same currency as the goal, since using one to back the other would imply an exchange rate nobody chose.
Automatic crediting like this applies only to goals in You record the money. A mirrored goal is written by its account alone, and a goal sharing an account is fed by its share, so neither is credited this way. Doing both would count the same deposit twice.
How to Link a Bank Account to a Goal
Linking a bank account attaches a real account to the goal, and it is the gateway to choosing how the goal is tracked. Until an account is linked, the only thing that can move a goal's balance is you (and any budget item you linked). With an account attached, two more options open up: the goal can follow that account's balance directly, or it can share the account with other goals.
Open your goal
Navigate to Goals and tap the goal you want to link.
Add an account link
In the accounts section of the goal detail screen, tap the add button. Its tooltip reads Add account link.
Pick an account
A sheet headed Link Savings Account lists your checking and savings accounts. Investment accounts are not listed here. Choose the account where the money for this goal actually lives, ideally a savings account kept for the purpose.
Confirm the link
Tap Link. The account is now attached to the goal.
Choose how the goal is tracked
With an account linked, you are offered the tracking-mode chooser, headed How is this goal tracked? Pick a mode and tap Use this mode, or close it and decide later from the goal's Change how this is tracked button.
What the Link Does Depends on the Mode
| Tracking mode | What the linked account does |
|---|---|
| You record the money | Nothing moves the balance except your contributions and any linked budget item. The account is attached, but it is not driving the number. |
| Mirror an account balance | The account balance is the goal's balance. Nothing is recorded by hand. Requires Starter or higher. |
| Share an account with other goals | The account is divided between several goals, each taking a share of what arrives. Requires Pro or higher. |
How it works in practice: your Emergency Fund goal is linked to a savings account holding $4,200, and you have recorded $4,500 in contributions. Those two numbers answer different questions, one is what your bank holds, the other is what you have recorded, and in You record the money mode they are allowed to differ. If you would rather they never differ, mirror the account: the goal becomes the account balance, and there is only one number to be right. See Goal Tracking Modes.
Manual Contributions
Sometimes progress happens outside your regular budget flow. Manual contributions let you record these one-off events.
When to use manual contributions:
- You receive a gift or windfall that goes toward a goal
- You transfer money from an account that is not linked
- You make a lump-sum contribution outside your normal budget cycle
- You want to correct the balance to match reality
Open your goal
Navigate to Goals and tap the goal.
Tap Correct balance
The balance controls sit under the progress arc. Correct balance is the tune icon beside Record a withdrawal.
Enter the new balance
Type what the goal should now read in the New balance field, and add a note if you want to remember why.
Save
Tap Save balance. You will see Balance updated and the goal reflects it immediately.
When money comes back out of a goal, use Record a withdrawal instead: enter the Amount withdrawn and tap Record withdrawal.
How Linking Works Together
In the default You record the money mode, here is how the pieces complement each other:
| Source | Role | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Budget item link | Primary progress driver | $500/month "Vacation Fund" budget category |
| Bank account link | Where the money lives, and what opens up the tracking modes | Savings account showing $3,200 balance |
| Manual contribution | One-time additions | $500 birthday gift added to the fund |
The goal screen shows contributions from all sources, broken down so you can see exactly where progress is coming from.
If you switch the goal to Mirror an account balance, this table stops applying: the account becomes the only thing that moves the balance, and contributions, withdrawals and balance corrections are all refused while mirroring is on.
Tips
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I link one budget item to multiple goals?
Keep it to one goal per category. Deposits are what justify a credit, and one deposit can only ever justify one credit, so pointing a single category at several goals means they share the same evidence between them rather than each getting the full amount. One category per goal is the setup that behaves the way you would expect.
Can I link multiple accounts to one goal?
A goal reads from one account: its primary link. That is the balance shown on the goal and the one it reconciles against, so the balances of several accounts are not added together. If the money for a goal is genuinely spread across accounts, link the one holding most of it and record the rest as contributions. In Mirror an account balance, that one linked account is not a reference point at all -- it is the goal's balance. See Goal Tracking Modes.
Does linking an account change how my goal's balance works?
Not on its own. It offers you the choice. A newly linked account leaves the goal in You record the money until you pick something else, and you can always close the chooser and decide later.
What happens to the link if I switch budget methods?
Budget item links are specific to your active budget. When you switch methods, existing links are cleared. You need to re-link budget items to your goals after setting up the new method.
Do I have to link anything for goals to work?
No. You can use goals with manual contributions only. Linking just makes tracking automatic so you do not have to update progress by hand each month.
What if my account balance and my recorded contributions do not match?
In You record the money mode they are measuring different things, so small differences are normal -- interest, fees, rounding, or money in the account that was never for this goal. Record a manual contribution if you want to close the gap. If you would rather not manage two numbers at all, switch the goal to Mirror an account balance and the account becomes the goal's balance outright.
Can I still use goals without linking an account?
Yes, on every plan. You record the money is the default mode and needs no account at all -- record contributions, link a budget item, or both. Mirroring (Starter) and sharing (Pro) are the two that need an account linked.
Related Articles
Goal Tracking Modes
What an account link lets a goal do.Funding Rules
Divide one savings account between several goals.Create a Goal
Set up a goal to link to.Tracking Progress
Read your goal metrics and projections.Budgeting Overview
Learn how budgets work in Forbidden Finance.Switching Methods
What happens to goal links when you switch budgets.Need more help? Contact us at [email protected].