Understand income, spending and cash movements

Cashflow combines reviewed GBP bank transactions with canonical Income and loan allocations. Compare actual income and spending, optional monthly budgets and future Income plans, with explicit coverage and separate capital/transfers.

Start with your actuals

Open Cashflow → Cashflow. Include accounts in Spending → Accounts & AI, then review transaction classifications and match receipts in Income. Cashflow uses those same records; it does not create a second income or expense. Only GBP is supported initially.

Choose the household, one person's own accounts or a company. Company finances stay separate. Joint costs remain shared and are not divided using contribution amounts. Narrow the view to one account or month where helpful.

Income received is in-pocket bank cash, not gross taxable income. Loan and EOT capital are separate from interest. Refunds reduce spending; loan interest and fees are spending while principal is a separate cash movement.

Understand missing information

A recent sync does not prove a full month's history. The average monthly spending tile uses only closed months with complete reviewed coverage across all selected accounts, and no pending classifications or allocation mismatches.

Unmatched receipts recorded in Income, Loans or Dividends appear separately. They might already be represented by a bank credit, so Cashflow does not add them again. Match them in Income. A source allocation which no longer agrees with its bank credit is excluded until reviewed.

Select a monthly actual figure to inspect its transactions. Review original transaction opens the original Spending panel, with linked records directing you to their source manager when necessary. Corrections flow through to Cashflow.

Set the planning assumptions

Use Plan assumptions to enter monthly budgets for each included account. Blank means unknown. Enter zero only when you actually expect no spending. Apply a regular amount to all 12 months, then amend seasonal or annual bills. Budget card purchases on the card, not the current account that settles it. Do not include loan principal or savings transfers in spending budgets.

Choose the receiving account for each planned Income stream. The selector permits the owner's account or a joint personal account; company streams stay within that company's accounts. This only places the forecast, not a transaction match. Update income amounts and their monthly timing in Income, not here.

Missing budget months, receiving accounts or net-income estimates leave forecast gaps. Cashflow never fills them with demo figures. Returned capital is removed from planned loan income and allocated proportionally to planned cash timing; this is an indicative assumption, not a guaranteed loan schedule.

Saving assumptions keeps a versioned history. It changes no bank balances, Income plans, financial receipts or standing orders.

Read the charts and cash bridge

Actuals use solid bars and lines. Full-year outlook adds faded forecast bars and dashed lines for future whole months; the current month remains actual-to-date. Actual tiles do not change when you switch chart mode.

The cumulative chart shows income less spending, not wealth or a bank balance. It compares recorded results with the current plan baseline, not an immutable original plan. Separate tax payments and capital/savings movements can still change what is available.

The cash bridge adds returned principal, subtracts loan capital and includes savings movements and transfers across the chosen account boundary. Card spending is replaced by the paying bank's settlement when calculating bank cash movement. The result is not a bank reconciliation: excluded, unreviewed or missing entries can change it, and there is no assumed opening balance or runway.

Planning years use calendar months from 1 April through 31 March, not the legal tax-year date boundary. Tax breakdowns stay in Income. Known payroll net amounts are preferable where automatic estimates omit NI, pension or other deductions.