How progress is calculated

Every number on a goal comes from your account balances. Nothing is stored or entered by hand, so the goal is always as current as your accounts.

Saved

For each linked account, MoneyMatter takes the balance, subtracts the account’s credit limit if it has one, and counts your share of what’s left:

Saved = Σ share × (balance − credit limit)

A negative balance counts as 0, so an account in the red never pulls a goal backwards.

Example: a goal with 100% of a savings account holding $3,000 and 25% of a current account holding $2,000 has saved $3,000 + $500 = $3,500.

Balances in other currencies are converted to the goal’s currency at today’s exchange rate.

A few things that are different from the dashboard and reports:

Accounts with Exclude from statistics turned on still count toward goals.
Archived accounts still count.
The credit limit is always subtracted, whatever Include credit limits in balance says in your settings.

Left is the target minus Saved, and never goes below 0.

Pace

Your pace is how much a goal grows in a typical month. MoneyMatter looks at the goal’s value at the end of each of the last 6 full months, takes the change from one month to the next, and uses the median of those changes. The current month isn’t used until it’s over.

The median means one unusual month, such as a bonus or a big withdrawal, doesn’t swing the pace. The goal page tells you how many months the pace is based on, for example “Pace is the median monthly change over the last 6 months.”

At least 3 months are needed. With fewer, the goal shows Not enough history and has no projected finish yet.
History starts at the newest account. If one of the goal’s accounts has balances only from two months ago, only the months since then count, even if the other accounts are older. Otherwise the new account would look like it saved nothing before it existed.
A monthly amount replaces the pace. If you turn on Set a monthly amount in the goal, that amount is used as the pace, and the goal page says “Pace uses your planned … a month.” See Monthly amount.

Pace measures how the counted balance changed, not just deposits. Spending from a linked account lowers it, and so does a falling market on an investment account.

Projected finish

The projected finish is how many months it takes to cover what’s left at your pace:

Months to go = what’s left ÷ pace, rounded up to a whole month.

The goal shows it as the month you’ll get there, for example around Mar 2027. If your pace is zero or negative, there’s no projected finish, and a goal with a date shows Behind.

Projections assume no investment growth: only your pace moves the goal forward.

Needs per month

For a goal with a date, Needs is how much you’d have to save each month from today to reach the target on time:

Needs = what’s left ÷ (days left ÷ 30.44)

It’s worked out by the day, not by calendar months, so it doesn’t jump at the start of each month. When less than a month is left, or the date has passed, Needs is the whole amount that’s left.

Ahead, on track or behind

A goal with a date compares the projected finish with the date:

Ahead when you’d reach the target at least a month before the date.
On track when you’d reach it by the date.
Behind · N mo when you’d reach it N months late.

There’s no tolerance band. Being a few days late at your pace already counts as behind. See Statuses for the full list.

Things that can surprise you

Credit limits in the past. An account’s current credit limit is subtracted from every past month too. If you changed the limit, older months use the new one.
Transfers between linked accounts. Moving money between two accounts of the same goal changes nothing if both count at 100%. If their shares differ, the goal moves by the difference.
Market drops. On investment and crypto accounts, a fall in prices lowers Saved and can lower your pace.