Sheet Reference
A quick reference for the parts of the Sheet you’ll set up once and then come back to now and then: connecting Tiller, how transactions affect your envelopes, funding your envelopes for the first time, and what each column on the Categories sheet does.
New to Ultimate Envelopes? Start with Getting Started and the Startup Wizard first.
Connecting Tiller (Optional)
Tiller Money Feeds pulls your bank transactions and balances into the Sheet every day, so you don’t have to type them in yourself. Ultimate Envelopes works without it, but it works best with it.
1. Install the Tiller Money Feeds add-on
In your Sheet, go to Extensions → Ultimate Envelopes → Setup Tools → Install Tiller Money Feeds, then click Install Add-on Directly.
Tiller has a free 30-day trial. After that it’s a paid Tiller subscription, billed by Tiller — not by Ultimate Envelopes.
2. Launch Tiller and link your Sheet
- Go to Extensions → Tiller Money Feeds → Launch
- Click Link Sheet
Need help with bank connections or Tiller’s feeds? Tiller is a separate service — contact Tiller support directly.
How Transactions Affect Your Envelopes
Every transaction needs a category. The category’s Type decides what happens:
| Type | Example | Available to Fund | Envelope balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income | Paycheck | Goes up | No change |
| Expense | Groceries | Goes down | Goes down |
| Transfer | Credit card payment | No change | No change |
Uncategorized transactions don’t count toward anything yet — check the Envelopes tab to see how many still need a category.
Funding Your Envelopes for the First Time
Funding means giving each envelope its share of the money you have. You’ll do this every payday, and the first time takes about five minutes.
Before you start, categorize your transactions and set your starting balance.
1. See how much you have to fund
Open the Payday tab. The top of the tab shows how much money is still left to allocate.
2. Enter how much goes into each envelope
Below that is a list of all your envelopes. For each one, type an amount in the Fund Amount column. The helper columns show how much you’ve already funded this month and how much is still needed to reach the budget.
Shortcut: pick a funding template (e.g. Paycheck 1) from the Select Template dropdown to fill in every amount at once. Click Yes when it asks to fill the envelopes now.
3. Set the funding date
The Funding Date is when the money shows up in your envelopes. Leave it as today, or set it to the 1st of next month to fund next month early.
4. Fund your envelopes
From the Select Action dropdown, choose Fund Envelopes. When you see Envelopes Have Been Filled, click OK.
That’s it — your envelopes are funded. Each amount is recorded on the Funding Transactions sheet.
Made a mistake before funding? Choose Clear Values from Select Action to start over.
Categories Sheet Columns
Ultimate Envelopes uses Tiller’s standard Categories sheet, plus a few extra columns of its own. Each row on this sheet is one envelope.
Funding Account
The bank account where this envelope’s money actually sits.
Example: Groceries money lives in Checking, while your annual car insurance money lives in Savings.
Hide From Funding
Hides the category from the Envelopes and Payday tabs while keeping it available everywhere else.
Example: Hide Income and Investment categories if you don’t budget them as envelopes.
Favorite
Mark the handful of envelopes you check all the time. Pick View by Favorite on the Envelopes tab to see just those.
Sweep
Lets this envelope be swept — its leftover balance is cleared out so you can put that money toward other envelopes.
Sweeping only changes balances in the Sheet. It doesn’t move any real money between bank accounts.
Savings Target
A goal amount for the envelope. Envelopes with a target show a money-bag icon and their progress on the Envelopes tab.
Example: Saving $2,000 for a car insurance bill? Enter 2000.
Funding Templates (4 columns)
Preset amounts for funding many envelopes at once from the Payday tab. Name them whatever fits how you’re paid — Paycheck 1, Paycheck 2, Monthly, and so on.
Monthly Budget Columns
How much you plan to put into each envelope that month — not how much you plan to spend.
Use Extensions → Ultimate Envelopes → Budget Tools to update budgets, bulk-edit envelopes, or add a new envelope without editing the sheet directly.
Funding Transactions Sheet
Every time you fund, transfer, or sweep an envelope, a row is added here. Envelope balances are calculated from this sheet, so it’s a full history of when and why each envelope changed.
The Date column is the funding date — the day the money becomes available in the envelope. Set it in the future to fund next month’s envelopes early. Using the Payday tab is the easiest way to do this.
Editing or deleting rows here changes your envelope balances. Use the Payday tab instead whenever you can.
Behind-the-Scenes Sheets
Envelope Calculations, Account Calculations, and Sheet References hold the formulas that power everything else. They’re usually hidden.
Don’t edit these sheets. If something looks off, try Extensions → Ultimate Envelopes → Admin Tools → Refresh Formulas first, then email support.