Set up Finance

What you'll set up

This guide walks you through the basics in about ten minutes. Afterwards you'll have:

1. your accounts with their current balance,
2. a first recorded payment,
3. your fixed income and expenses as recurring payments,
4. transfers between your accounts,
5. and you'll know where your numbers are.

1. Your first account

Every payment belongs to an account, so this is where you start.

1. 1

   Open Finance

   Open Finance in the main navigation (or press G then F). As long as you have no account, the page asks you to add one.

2. 2

   Add an account

   Click “Add Bank Account” in the sidebar's account picker and fill in the form:

   • Name, and optionally description, color and icon – so you recognize the account at a glance.
   • Currency: everything you book on the account uses it. Once something has been booked, it is fixed.
   • Opening balance: the amount on the account at the start of the opening day, today by default. From then on your payments keep the balance up to date.
   • “Default account for the selected currency”: this account is preselected in new forms.
3. 3

   Add more accounts

   Click “Create account” and add your savings, cash and accounts in other currencies the same way. “All accounts” in the account picker then shows the balances per currency.

2. Your first payment

Record an income or an expense, for example your last grocery run.

1. 1

   Open the form

   Switch to “Payments” in the sidebar, then to the “List” view, and click “Add Single Cash Flow”. N is faster.

2. 2

   Income or expense

   Keep “Single” selected and choose “Expense” or “Income”. Enter the amount without a sign.

3. 3

   Fill in the fields

   Enter name, amount, bank account and date. Under “Configuration” add tags and a contact – if one is missing, create it right there.

4. 4

   Save

   Click “Create”. The payment appears in the list; click it to edit it.

   Tip Even faster on the go: quick capture (O then C) adds a payment from anywhere without opening Finance.

3. Fixed payments as recurring payments

Set up rent, insurance, subscriptions and regular income once as recurring payments. Self-Engine creates the individual payments from them.

1. 1

   Switch sections

   Choose “Recurring” in the sidebar and click “Add cashflow”.

2. 2

   Fill in the template

   Choose “Expense” or “Income” and enter name, amount and bank account, and optionally tags and contact.

3. 3

   Choose the rhythm

   Under “Date & Recurrence” choose the interval (monthly, for example), the start date and, if it ends, the last execution. Then “Create”.

4. 4

   Check the result

   If the start date is in the past, the due payments appear after the next sync. Click the template: “Payments” lists them, “Course” shows projections.

4. Pause instead of deleting

When something changes, the actions are in the template's menu in the sidebar:

• “Pause from next payment” stops right away; “Schedule pause” sets which payment is the first to be skipped and optionally when it continues.
• “Resume” continues the template. Skipped payments are not booked afterwards.
• “Archive” puts away a template you no longer need. All existing payments stay.
• “Book early” books the next payment today if it arrived early – it is then not created again on its date.

5. Move money between accounts

Moving money from your current account to savings is not an expense but a transfer.

1. 1

   Open a transfer

   In Payments → List, choose “Transfer money” from the create menu. This works once you have two accounts.

2. 2

   Choose the accounts

   Choose “From account” and “To account”; “Swap accounts” reverses the direction. Add name and date.

3. 3

   Enter the amount

   With the same currency you enter one amount. With different currencies, enter “Debit” and “Credit” as your bank booked them – there is no automatic exchange rate.

6. Organize with tags and contacts

Tags and contacts make your payments analyzable. You manage them via “Adjust finance settings” at the bottom of the sidebar, or create them right in the form.

• Tags are your categories: groceries, rent, insurance, leisure. For a clean analysis, give every payment one category tag.
• Contacts are the other side: employers, landlords, clients, shops – as a person or a company.
• In the list you filter by tags, contacts and source. With several tags you choose whether “any tag” or “all tags” must match.

7. Read your numbers

Now you can see where your money goes.

1. 1

   Choose an account

   Pick an account or “All accounts” in the sidebar. The sidebar shows net for this and last month and the last six months as a chart.

2. 2

   Open the Overview

   Payments → “Overview” shows net, income, expenses, the comparison with last month, a chart per month and the breakdown by tag, contact and account.

3. 3

   Check your fixed costs

   The Recurring overview shows what you regularly earn and spend per month, what is still due this year and which payments come next.

What's next?

If you earn money with work you track in Projects, this is how it connects to Finance:

Good habits

• Record payments promptly, while you still know the exact amount and date.
• Always book money between your own accounts as a transfer, never as income and expense.
• Use a few fixed tags – that keeps the breakdown by tag meaningful.
• Set up every regular payment as a recurring payment, and pause it rather than deleting it.
• Once a month, compare your balances with the bank and take a look at the Overview.