diff --git a/src/components/budget/BudgetTable.render.test.tsx b/src/components/budget/BudgetTable.render.test.tsx
index d943c06..f747d00 100644
--- a/src/components/budget/BudgetTable.render.test.tsx
+++ b/src/components/budget/BudgetTable.render.test.tsx
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 // subtotal-position preference is read from a stubbed localStorage. What is
 // pinned is where the one highlight lands: "Expand all" or this month's cell
 // of the first editable row shown.
-import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach, afterEach } from "vitest";
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeAll, afterAll, beforeEach, afterEach } from "vitest";
 import { renderToStaticMarkup } from "react-dom/server";
 import type { BudgetYearRow } from "../../shared/types";
 import type { CollapseAccessors } from "../../utils/collapsibleRows";
@@ -172,9 +172,23 @@ describe("BudgetTable — the getting-started card's target (#400)", () => {
     expect(count(html, HIGHLIGHT)).toBe(1);
   });
 
-  it("the cell follows the clock's month", () => {
-    vi.setSystemTime(new Date(2026, DECEMBER, 31, 23, 0));
-    expect(ringedMonth(rowOf(render(FLAT, true), "Divers"))).toBe(DECEMBER);
+  describe("in a timezone west of Greenwich", () => {
+    // Under TZ=UTC (the CI runner), 23:00 on December 31 is December both in
+    // local time and in UTC, so a month read in UTC would pass unnoticed. The
+    // zone is pinned as in useImportWizard.test.ts (#356).
+    const originalTz = process.env.TZ;
+    beforeAll(() => {
+      process.env.TZ = "America/Toronto";
+    });
+    afterAll(() => {
+      if (originalTz === undefined) delete process.env.TZ;
+      else process.env.TZ = originalTz;
+    });
+
+    it("the cell follows the clock's month", () => {
+      vi.setSystemTime(new Date(2026, DECEMBER, 31, 23, 0));
+      expect(ringedMonth(rowOf(render(FLAT, true), "Divers"))).toBe(DECEMBER);
+    });
   });
 
   it("subtotals at the bottom: still the first editable row shown", () => {
diff --git a/src/pages/BudgetPage.tsx b/src/pages/BudgetPage.tsx
index 764017d..2a2feac 100644
--- a/src/pages/BudgetPage.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/BudgetPage.tsx
@@ -43,8 +43,13 @@ export default function BudgetPage() {
 
   // The getting-started card follows the grid (#400). Its target is
   // highlighted only while the card is on screen: a ring needs the card that
-  // explains it.
-  const cardModel = budgetCardModel({ target: gridTarget }, onboarding.checklist);
+  // explains it. The grid's last report does not outlive the grid: the rows
+  // can land before the transaction count (both reads queue behind the DB
+  // lock), so the grid may report, then give way to the empty state.
+  const cardModel = budgetCardModel(
+    { target: isEmptyProfile ? null : gridTarget },
+    onboarding.checklist,
+  );
   const highlight =
     cardModel.target !== null && showsStepCard(onboarding.mode, onboarding.cardPage, pathname);
 
diff --git a/src/pages/BudgetPage.wiring.test.ts b/src/pages/BudgetPage.wiring.test.ts
index 6023293..fd3b1e3 100644
--- a/src/pages/BudgetPage.wiring.test.ts
+++ b/src/pages/BudgetPage.wiring.test.ts
@@ -183,4 +183,29 @@ describe("BudgetPage — the grid's target and the card (#400)", () => {
   it("hands the grid the same callback at every render, so the grid does not report at every render", () => {
     expect(render().report).toBe(render().report);
   });
+
+  it("a profile without transactions: the grid's last report does not outlive the grid", () => {
+    // Steps 3 to 5 skipped: the budget step is next on a profile without any
+    // transaction. The rows can land before the count (both reads queue
+    // behind db.ts's lock): the grid mounts, reports "Expand all", then gives
+    // way to the empty state (review of #400).
+    const counters = { ...BUDGET_LEFT, imports: 0, manualCategorized: 0, transactions: 0 };
+    const checklist = computeChecklist(counters, {
+      importFolderSet: true,
+      budgetAllowed: true,
+      skipped: ["source", "import", "manualCategory"],
+    });
+    harness.onboarding = path(counters, { checklist, nextStep: nextStep(checklist) });
+    const budget = harness.budget as { state: BudgetState };
+    budget.state = { ...budget.state, totalInDb: null };
+    render().report("expandAll");
+    expect(render().model.text?.key).toBe("onboarding.card.budget.collapsed");
+
+    budget.state = { ...budget.state, totalInDb: 0 };
+    harness.cursor = 0;
+    const page = BudgetPage() as AnyElement;
+    expect(find(page, (el) => el.type === BudgetTable)).toHaveLength(0);
+    const [card] = find(page, (el) => el.type === OnboardingStepCard);
+    expect(card.props.model).toEqual({ text: null, done: false, target: null });
+  });
 });