Budgeting
You can refer to an account's own quantity, or one of its subaccounts', without repeating the number.
Two functions read a quantity that is already on the account, so a day count is entered once rather than kept in step by hand.
| Function | Returns | | ------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- | | `ACCOUNT_QTY` | the current account's quantity | | `SUBACCOUNT_QTY(2)` | the quantity of the account's second subaccount |
`SUBACCOUNT_QTY` takes the subaccount's **position**, counting from 1 — not its name.
The fringes timebase. A daily fringe limit is evaluated over a number of work days, and that number is usually a quantity already on the account:
Now the day count follows the engagement instead of being retyped whenever it changes.
Where the engagement is split into phases and only one attracts the limit, point at that subaccount instead:
The timebase field accepts **only these two**. Anything else is rejected with a message naming the token it would not take — the field is deliberately narrow because the limit calculation only makes sense against a day count.
An actor paid per shoot day but working longer once rehearsals and fittings are counted. The days that attract the limit are not the days on the account, and pinning the timebase to the right quantity is what makes the [fringe](/kb/article/apply-fringes-and-supplements) correct.
Because `SUBACCOUNT_QTY` counts positions, **reordering subaccounts changes what it points at.** If a formula depends on one, reorder deliberately.
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