1. Set up accounts
Add your checking, savings, cards, loans, and other balances first. You can also save snapshots if you want a starting balance.
Start Here
The app is organized around monthly planning.
The setup is easiest when you follow one clear path: add your accounts, save your recurring transactions, create the month, then keep it updated as real life happens.
2. Save recurring
Store paychecks, bills, subscriptions, payment plans, and card payments as recurring transactions you can reuse every month.
3. Create the month
Start a fresh month or clone the last one, then pull your saved recurring transactions into it from Plan and Edit.
4. Keep it current
Add one-off entries, import activity, update actual amounts, and mark items paid as the month unfolds.
Start here
LinkRecommended first steps
- Add your main checking, savings, card, and debt accounts, and optionally record balance snapshots.
- Save recurring transactions for the incoming and outgoing items you expect.
- Create a new month or clone the most recent one.
- Open Plan and Edit to pull those recurring transactions into the month.
- Add one-off entries manually as the month unfolds.
- Mark items paid, update actuals, and review the month in Budget, Breakdown, Calendar, and Plan and Edit.
Helpful app behaviors
- The dashboard is designed to get you back into the right month quickly.
- Reason-based filters only show values that actually exist in the current month.
- Some recurring-generated entries can automatically mark themselves paid when due.
- Recurring generation actions hide in older months that already look complete.
- Estimated card payments add minimums for active cards first, then use leftover cash to increase those payments when the month has room.
- Each signed-in user only sees their own months, imports, recurring transactions, and accounts.
Overview dashboard
LinkWhat the dashboard is for
The overview dashboard is the main landing surface after sign-in. It highlights the current month, next-step guidance, attention items, year cash flow, account summaries, and quick actions so you can restart from context instead of deciding where to click next.
Current month access
Use the continue card, recent month links, or month jump control when you want to reopen the month most likely to need attention.
Account Activity
Use the Account Activity row to compare charged versus paid-to totals by account, then filter it to the last month, last 3, 6, or 12 months, or all saved months.
Quick actions
Use dashboard shortcuts when you want to create a month, clone the latest setup, open recurring transactions, launch the guided entry wizard, or jump into account tracking.
Accounts & Net Worth
LinkWhat belongs here
Use Accounts & Net Worth for manual checking, savings, brokerage, retirement, cash, asset, and liability balances. You can record point-in-time snapshots, review the latest balance, and keep account context visible without relying on bank syncing.
Snapshot workflow
Add balance snapshots whenever you want a fresh reference point for an account.
Current balance behavior
Current balance is based on the latest snapshot plus paid linked entry activity after that snapshot date.
Overview tie-in
The overview dashboard uses linked account details to show account activity over time, including which accounts are being charged and which ones are receiving deposits or card payments.
Why add accounts early
Linked accounts make month views, recurring setup, account filters, backup restores, and account rollups more accurate.
Connecting recurring transactions to accounts
LinkHow to think about it
- Add recurring transactions for the repeating monthly activity you expect, such as paychecks, bills, subscriptions, payment plans, and card payments.
- Link each recurring item to the account it affects so month views are easier to scan and account tracking stays useful.
- If you prefer, you can still type an account label manually, but linked accounts usually give the cleanest long-term workflow.
- When months, imports, or restores reuse those items later, the app carries that account context forward where it can.
Credit card payments
- Link the card payment recurring item to the card account that is being paid down.
- Also link the checking, cash, or other funding account that will make the payment.
- This lets the app treat the card itself separately from the account that actually sends the money.
Create and clone months
LinkStart fresh
Use this when income, notes, or the overall structure is changing and you want to build the month intentionally after your recurring transactions are ready.
Clone an existing month
Use this when the next month mostly follows the same pattern and you want the app to carry the structure forward.
Move month to month
Once a month is open, use the previous and next month arrows around the month title to move between saved months without hunting through the month list again.
What cloning does
When a month is cloned, entries are copied into the target month, dates are shifted into that month, actual amounts are cleared, statuses reset to planned, and planned amounts prefer the source actual amount when one exists. The target is always the next available month that does not already exist. Many people then use Plan and Edit to pull in any additional recurring transactions that were not part of the cloned structure.
View continuity
The app keeps your month context steadier now, so moving between Budget, Breakdown, Calendar, and Plan and Edit feels more like switching views inside one workspace.
Add or import entries
LinkPlan and Edit
Use this tab to pull recurring transactions into the month, create manual entries, and manage the month list in one workflow.
Add Entry with Wizard
Use the wizard when you want a guided multi-step flow with progress, review, and recurring-saving options for one-off or newly recurring items.
CSV import
Use import when transaction history already exists outside the app and retyping it would be slower than cleanup after the month structure is in place.
Editing without losing context
Entry editing and recurring editing stay in modal flows so you can correct details, see validation errors inline, and keep your place in the month.
Core entry fields
Common entry fields include date, payee, reason or category, status, planned amount, actual amount, account label, notes, and optional linked account context. Planned amounts help with forecasting while actual amounts capture what really happened. As the month unfolds, update those actuals and mark items paid as they clear.
Recurring transactions
LinkWhat this section is for
Add recurring transactions for the repeating monthly items you expect so you can pull them into a month instead of re-entering them every time. This is where most people save paychecks, bills, subscriptions, payment plans, and card payments before creating the month.
Pay schedules
Recurring income sources such as payroll or regular transfers that you usually set up before creating the month.
Subscriptions
Recurring services such as streaming, mobile plans, and software bills.
Monthly bills
Fixed or variable recurring bills such as rent, utilities, insurance, or other regular charges.
Payment plans
Balances paid down over time, such as installment plans, taxes, or loans with a monthly target.
Credit cards
Store minimum payment, due day, and payoff priority here for cards you pay regularly. Link the card account that is being paid down and the checking or cash account that will make the payment so the generated month entries already match the real flow of money.
Review a month
LinkBudget view
Grouped, full-list, and calendar review modes with totals, filters, and account-aware scanning.
Breakdown view
A chart-focused surface when you want the monthly flow graph, charged-versus-paid-to account activity, and visual budget breakdown without mixing them into the editing workflow.
Calendar view
Best when dates matter most and you want to see how activity is distributed across the month.
Plan and Edit view
Best when you still need to import recurring entries, add one-off items, or edit the month structure directly.
Stay in the same month workflow
Budget, Breakdown, Calendar, and Plan and Edit are meant to feel like one month workspace, so switching views and moving to the next or previous month is easier to keep track of.
Helpful month actions
Clone Month creates the next month from the current structure. Add from recurring pulls in saved paychecks, subscriptions, bills, and payment plans. Estimate Card Payments recomputes planned credit-card payments from the leftover cash that remains visible after the rest of the month is in view. Minimum payments are still added for active cards, and any additional leftover cash increases those estimated payments further. Some recurring entries can also automatically mark themselves paid when they become due.
Layout & theming
LinkThe layout stays focused on the month
- The overview points you toward setup tasks or the month that needs attention next.
- The main month area gives you Budget, Breakdown, Calendar, and Plan and Edit views without making you leave the month.
- Previous and next month arrows make it easier to review nearby months while keeping the same view in focus.
- Accounts, recurring, backup tools, and help stay in the main navigation so the workflow is easy to revisit.
You can switch the app theme
- The app includes built-in color themes if you want a different look and feel.
- Your theme choice is remembered for later visits on the same browser.
- Changing themes affects the interface styling, not your month data or account setup.
Backup & Restore
LinkWhat the backup area supports
- Versioned JSON exports for recurring transactions, months, and account data.
- Optional password encryption for export files.
- Import previews before anything is restored.
- Sample backup downloads so you can inspect the expected structure first.
Account-linkage behavior
- Recurring transaction exports include account names so linkage can be restored across systems.
- Credit card exports include both the card account and the payment account name.
- Month entry exports include account context and source-template linkage metadata when available.
- Restore stays backward compatible with older backup shapes and relinks where possible.
Help & Documentation
LinkIn-app help
The Help page inside the app stays useful for first-run orientation, screen-by-screen reminders, and quick links to the most common next steps.
Release notes and this hosted guide
Product updates now have their own in-app release notes page, and this hosted guide stays useful when you want the broader user documentation outside the repository or something easier to share before sign-in.