Every account with a target should read $0.00 uncategorized before you close. If one doesn't, go back to Budget and log what's missing.
Give every dollar a job before the month starts, then tell the app where each dollar actually went. When those two match, you're done.
Up top, list the real accounts you use. Give each one a role so the app knows what to expect from it.
What was in your budget account before any income arrived this month. Set it on day one and don't touch it again.
Set a Budget for each category until the green bar says every dollar has a job. Income minus budgets should land on zero.
Nothing resets. Whatever a category does not spend rolls into next month's Carried Over, and that money lives in your savings account.
Use the panel on the right all month. Amount, what it was, which category. It defaults to today's date, so most of the time you just type and hit add.
Reconcile to zero, move the shown amount from checking to savings at your bank, then hit close. Funds roll forward, everything else resets, and next month opens.
You can add this to your home screen so it opens like a real app, full screen, no address bar, one tap from wherever you are. Logging a purchase the moment it happens is the whole game, and digging through browser tabs is how people quit.
This only works when the page is opened from a web address. If you're opening the file straight off your computer, there's nothing to install yet.
Everything lives in this browser, on this device. Nowhere else. Clearing your browser data, switching browsers, or moving to a new device starts you over unless you've got a backup. Download one now and then again anytime you've made real changes.
This downloads two files at once: a JSON file, the real backup, this is the only one the app can restore from, and an Excel file, a readable copy of every month, category, and transaction for your own records or a spreadsheet. The Excel file can't be re-imported, keep the JSON file if you only keep one.
Loading…
Carried Over is what the category ended last month with. Total Balance is Carried Over plus this month's Budget minus what you've Spent — the number that answers "how much does this category actually have right now."
It means you have less in your budget account than you started the month with, so there's nothing extra to move. Usually that's because income hasn't been logged yet, or because a paycheck got folded into the starting balance instead of logged as income. Occasionally it just means you outspent your income this month.
It rolls forward as a negative. If Groceries ends at −$80, next month Groceries starts at −$80, so a $500 budget only really gives you $420 to spend. You borrowed from next month and the app makes you pay it back. Fix it before closing by moving budget from a category that has room, or accept it and plan around the smaller number.
No, nothing stops you from closing a month that doesn't balance. But uncategorized money is money you can't see, and it compounds. Five minutes of logging beats a mystery next month.
In this browser, on this device. Clear your browser data or switch devices and it's gone unless you've downloaded a backup first. Use the Back Up Your Data card above, a fresh export takes a few seconds and gives you a file you can restore from on any device. Accounts and automatic sync are on the way.
A budget is the floor, not the ceiling. If you want help with the rest, let's talk.
Book a free 20-minute call