Recording a transaction in Cashfulness: expenses, income and transfers
In short
Transactions live in the "Register", in the sidebar. Every new transaction asks you three questions: when, what type it is, and which two accounts the money moves between. The app writes the double entry: every dollar leaves one account and arrives in another, and total Debit always equals total Credit. For everyday expenses there's a shortcut on the home page.
This page goes with lesson 3 of the free video course "Cashfulness step by step". The steps are in the same order as the video, and the button names are the ones you'll see in the app.
Watch the lesson
The form's three questions
In the "Register", press "New transaction". "New Transaction" opens:
- "Date": with the "Today", "Yesterday" and "Two days ago" buttons, or the calendar.
- "Type": "Income", "Expense", "Transfer" or "Other".
- The two accounts: the labels change with the type, so you always know what goes where.
| Type | First account | Second account |
|---|---|---|
| "Expense" | "Source Account": where the money leaves from | "Expense Account": what it's for |
| "Income" | "Income Account": where it comes from | "Receiving Account": where it goes in |
| "Transfer" | "From Account" | "To Account" |
An expense
A $45 supermarket shop paid by debit card: "Date" "Today", "Type" "Expense", a "Description", the "Amount". In "Source Account" choose the checking account, in "Expense Account" the supermarket. Type the first few letters and the app suggests the accounts. Then "Save Transaction".
The supermarket isn't a label stuck on the expense: it's an account, in the expenses family. Your salary is an income account. So every dollar has a place it leaves from and a place it arrives at.
Some income
Your salary: "Type" "Income". The first account is the "Income Account", where the money comes from, for example Anna's salary; the second is the "Receiving Account", your checking account. The rest is the same.
A transfer
Money moving between two accounts of your own: in the app it's a "Transfer". The classic example is a cashpoint withdrawal, from your checking account ("From Account") to cash ("To Account"). You haven't spent anything, and your net worth doesn't change. You record the expenses when you spend the cash.
Where you see Debit and Credit
In the "Register", click on a transaction: the row opens and shows a small table with the Account, Debit and Credit columns, and the total. For the supermarket shop:
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarket | $45.00 | |
| Checking account | $45.00 | |
| Total | $45.00 | $45.00 |
The supermarket receives, so it's on the Debit side; the checking account gives, so it's on the Credit side. The why, step by step, is in the course "Double-entry bookkeeping, step by step".
When there are more than two accounts
A mortgage payment touches three accounts: part of it is capital, debt going down, and part is interest, a cost. For these cases choose "Type" "Other": the form switches to "Ledger rows" and shows "Total Debit" and "Total Credit" at the bottom. Use "Add row" to add the lines you need.
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Mortgage interest | $150.00 | |
| Mortgage | $500.00 | |
| Checking account | $650.00 | |
| Total | $650.00 | $650.00 |
When the two totals match you'll read "Debit = Credit · balanced". Until they do, the app won't save, and it tells you how much is missing and on which side.
The quickest way
On the home page there's the "What did you spend on today?" bar. Type two letters, the app suggests similar expenses you've already made, you pick one and "Confirm transaction" opens: check "Amount", "Pay with" and the date, and press "Save". If the expense is new, below the bar there's "Create transaction from scratch".
Two helpers for receipts
- "Stay here for the next one", at the bottom of the form: after saving, the window stays open, clears itself and keeps the account that paid.
- "Clone", in the row's menu in the Register: opens the form already filled in, with today's date. Check it and save.
Common mistakes
- Recording a cash withdrawal as an expense. It's a transfer: the expenses come when you spend the cash.
- Swapping the two accounts on income. The first is the income account, where the money comes from; the second is the account it goes into.
- Putting the whole mortgage payment under costs. Only the interest is a cost; the capital part reduces the debt.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to understand Debit and Credit to record an expense?
No. You choose the type, enter the amount and pick the two accounts: the app decides which side each line goes on. If you want to see it, open the transaction in the Register and you'll find the table with Debit and Credit.
Is a cashpoint withdrawal an expense?
No. It's a transfer from your checking account to cash: your net worth doesn't change. You record the expenses when you spend that cash.
Why won't the app let me save?
In the "Other" form, the entry can't be saved until total Debit equals total Credit, and the app tells you how much is missing and on which side.
The next lesson
Lesson 4 · Taking a fix: reading the home page. Your net worth, the money you have available and the panels that tell you how you're doing, at a glance.
In the manual
The Register chapter of the user manual has more step-by-step examples: a credit card purchase, paying the card statement, a transfer, a cash withdrawal.
Vittorio Giusti is an economist and psychologist, and he built Cashfulness.