---
title: Forecasts and actual settlement
section: Financial workflows
order: 13
summary: Capture expectations, match actual payments, and keep only the outstanding amount in the forecast.
---

Forecasted events come from confirmed agreements and obligations, formula drivers, and reviewable historical patterns. They use the same balanced journal and calculation engine as actual accounting, with explicit forecast or scenario state.

An actual transaction should replace only the obligation it demonstrably fulfills. Balsa does not erase every similar-looking forecast when money moves.

## Capture an expectation

Open `/reconciliation` and inspect the candidate’s source, accounting treatment, amount and expected date. Confirm that it is an independent obligation before capturing it. A preserved expectation has an identity and review history that survive later driver changes and month rollover.

Recurring capture can preserve subsequent obligations within an approved window. See [Recurring assumptions](/docs/recurring-assumptions/).

## Allocate an actual payment

Choose the expectation and the compatible posted actual journal. Review the amount to allocate and whether this is the final settlement. The service checks currency, accounting shape, ownership, available payment capacity and reversal state.

Suggestions use compatible amounts, descriptions and date proximity to aid review. Similarity is not approval. Automatic matching is limited to the explicitly approved, supported source-fact path; it is not a general amount-and-memo matcher.

## A partial-payment example

For a synthetic $100,000 customer receipt:

| Event | Actual cash | Remaining forecast |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Expectation captured | $0 | $100,000 |
| $60,000 payment posted and allocated | $60,000 | $40,000 |
| Remaining amount rescheduled | $60,000 | $40,000 on the reviewed new date |
| Final $40,000 payment allocated | $100,000 | $0 |

The fulfilled forecast portion disappears from projected cash. The expectation and its allocations remain in history.

## Correct an expectation

Revise its amount or date with a reason and current version. Cancel an obligation that no longer exists. Mark a supported final settlement explicitly when no further payment is expected; the difference remains a variance rather than being silently erased.

Revoke a mistaken allocation to release it for review. Reversing a linked actual reopens the outstanding expectation without deleting allocation history.

## Overdue does not mean received

Overdue obligations survive month rollover. They are not silently moved to today or treated as new cash in the current month. Review and reschedule them, settle them, or cancel them with a reason.

The weekly view lists overdue and undated cash separately from dated totals. This avoids presenting a late receipt as available cash.

## Supported settlement shape

The current workflow supports balanced, two-line, single-currency cash movements. Transfers, split journals and FX treatments need appropriate accounting support; they are not automatically interpreted as ordinary receipts or spending.

Actuals beyond the current UTC date are excluded from the current outlook. Preserved snapshots record what was known when saved; arbitrary historical knowledge-cutoff queries are not available.