Apps

User Guide

Introduction

Total Cashflow helps you forecast future balances of your bank accounts, credit cards and loan accounts by projecting fixed, recurring transactions many months (or years) into the future. This is particularly useful if your accounts have a mixture of transaction recurrence intervals, such as bi-weekly salary with monthly bill payments.

Once you've entered details of your recurring transactions, there's little maintenance to worry about. If your account has only fixed, recurring transactions - such as a loan account - you may never need to update it. For more active accounts (credit cards and checking / current accounts) you could update the starting balance each time you receive a statement or visit your online banking site. You can override any future forecast transaction, or add one-time transactions for any future date.

Accounts

The Accounts view lists your accounts and today's forecast balance. You can add, edit and delete accounts here. Tapping an account will take you to the Account Summary view.

Account Summary

The Account Summary view shows you the account name, starting balance and several forecast balances - Today, Minimum and Maximum. The Minimum and Maximum values represent the lowest and highest balances over the entire forecast period, and the dates they occur on. Simply tap a balance to jump to the relevant transaction in the Forecast view.

Tap the Start Balance to change the starting balance and effective date for the account. For some accounts (such as fixed-payment loans, mortgages etc) you might never need to change this. For more active accounts, update the balance and effective date as often as you need. When you update the starting balance, the effective date will default to today.

Tap the account name to rename the account or set a warning balance. Negative balances are shown in a different color (red) in the Forecast and Graph views. If a warning balance is set, balances below that amount will appear in orange. This is useful if you want to maintain a "cushion" balance in your accounts - the Graph view will show an orange line when it dips below the warning balance.

Forecast

The Forecast view shows all recurring transactions from the Starting Balance effective date. Initially it will show the first 25 transactions after today's date. Simply tap "More" at the bottom of the list to forecast further into the future.

Sometimes a payment might leave your account earlier or later than scheduled. If the amount has already been paid, but the forecast still shows it pending, simply tap to disable it. The balance will adjust accordingly and the app will remember your selection. Likewise if a payment is late, but the forecast shows it as paid (grey color), just tap to enable it. The forecast will include transactions from the previous 7 days (which may be before the start balance effective date) to allow for such overrides.

You can override the amount of any forecast transaction by tapping its accessory arrow (on the right-hand side). Enter the new amount and it will create an override for that transaction. You can edit it, or delete the override entirely (causing the transaction to revert to its usual recurring amount).

To create a one-time transaction, tap the '+' button at the top of the view. Here you can enter a name, description, amount, account and transfer account. You can edit, enable / disable or delete one-time transactions in the same way as recurring tranaactions.

Graph (Version 1.1 onwards)

The Graph view shows the balance for an account over an entire forecast period. To extend the forecast, go to the Forecast view and tap "More" at the bottom of the list until it reaches the desired date. Return to the Graph view to see the balance over the extended period.

Recurring Transactions

Create a Recurring Transaction for each recurring income or expense you have. Specify a name, amount, starting date, account and recurrence interval. For transfers between accounts (for example, a payment to a credit card account from your checking account), create a Recurring Transaction for your checking / current account and select your credit card account as the Transfer account. Return to the Account Summary, Forecast or Graph views to see how your balances are affected.

Common Tasks

Planning Future Purchases

Total Cashflow is a great tool for forecasting payments for a future loan, mortgage or car lease. Create a recurring transaction for the payment amount, fill in the first and last payment dates and see how it affects your balance. Make adjustments to figure out what you can afford.

Planning for Change

You might have a recurring bill that increases annually (such as health insurance). Simply create another recurring transaction to represent the increased payment and set its start date appropriately, and adjust the end date of the original transaction. You'll immediately see how it affects your finances in the future.

Planning for Uncertainty

Total Cashflow is only as accurate as you need it to be. If you plan to pay a minimum amount per month onto your credit card, set that up as a recurring transaction. Once you decide how much you want to pay this month, just override the forecast amount. You can always edit or delete the override later.

Getting Out of Debt

Total Cashflow can help you get out of debt, and figure out how long it will take. Enter a recurring transaction between your checking / current and loan / credit account for the minimum amount you intend to pay each month. Extend the forecast period (tap "More" at the bottom of the Forecast page) and then look at the Balance Graphs for your accounts. If you can afford to pay extra in a few months, override that month's payment (or create a one-time transaction for the additional amount). You'll instantly see the effect on your checking / current balance, loan balance and when the loan will be repaid.