BudgetView

Writing down individual transactions is not enough for a full picture on your finances. Graphs and charts are much easier to understand than long lists of numbers. This is what BudgetView has to offer. You can log your income and expenses and the software will illustrate these statistics. It also lets you know when you exceed your planned expenses and by how much.

You only need to specify a destination folder and click a button to install BudgetView on your computer. The process takes only a few seconds to complete and you will be able to launch the software right away, without installing any prerequisite tools or services. The program is compatible with Mac, Windows and Linux platforms and it is not too demanding when it comes to system requirements.

BudgetView's features are organized in separate sections, which can be accessed via navigation buttons, in the upper left corner of the interface. The Budget section is where you can analyze, plan and adjust your monthly budget. This section consists of multiple panels, with predefined expense entries, called envelopes. You can find fixed expenses, like water, electricity or phone bills, variable expenses, such as fuel, food, leisure and so on. You can also find income and saving panels, on which you can specify how much money you receive each month and how much you have saved in one or more bank accounts.

You can add a specific amount of money to individual envelopes, for each month or for the entire year. All you have to do is click a hyperlink, next to an envelope, and type an amount on a small window, on which you can select a specific month or apply the amount to all months. When you add expenses, the software will tell you how much money you have left. It will also tell you if your expenses are increasing or decreasing, how much you need to save to reach your planned savings and more.

Bank accounts and transactions are defined in a separate section. BudgetView allows you to import transactions from OFX, QIF and CSV files, but the most interesting part is that you may import your transactions from your bank's web site. The program comes with a rich library of predefined addresses, for numerous banks, and you can add your own banks as well. You can also insert and categorize transactions manually, in a different section. You just need to select an account and fill in a few input fields, for a date, label and amount.

The software provides you with detailed statistics and easy to understand charts, for all transactions, including your regular expenses. You can find an analysis of your budget's evolution in a different section. Besides that, the main page, located on the program's interface, consists of a dashboard, with more graphs which illustrate the evolution of your bank accounts and project related transactions.