The Cash Flow report shows your income and expenses over time, helping you understand whether you're living within your means and where your money is going each month.
Understanding Cash Flow
Cash flow is the movement of money in and out of your accounts:
- Income — Money coming in (salary, dividends, refunds, etc.)
- Expenses — Money going out (bills, shopping, food, etc.)
- Net Cash Flow — Income minus expenses
Positive cash flow means you're earning more than you spend. Negative cash flow means you're spending more than you earn.
Accessing the Report
- Go to Reports from the main navigation.
- Select Cash Flow from the report options.
Reading the Chart
The bar chart displays income and expenses for each month:
- Green bars represent income
- Red bars represent expenses
- The height of each bar shows the total amount
Chart Styles
Toggle between two chart styles using the chart style button:
Stacked — Income and expense bars are stacked on top of each other, making it easy to see the total money movement for each month.
Grouped — Income and expense bars are shown side by side, making it easier to compare the two amounts directly.
Filtering by Type
Use the filter buttons to focus on what matters:
| Filter | Shows |
|---|---|
| All | Both income and expenses |
| Income | Only income transactions |
| Expenses | Only expense transactions |
This is useful when you want to analyse just your income sources or just your spending patterns.
Savings Rate
When viewing "All" (both income and expenses), the report calculates your savings rate:
Savings Rate = (Income - Expenses) / Income × 100
This percentage shows how much of your income you're keeping. A higher savings rate means more money is being saved or invested.
Healthy Savings Rate
Financial advisors often recommend a savings rate of 20% or more. Use this metric to track your progress toward that goal.
Sankey Diagram
The Sankey diagram provides a visual representation of how money flows through your categories. The width of each flow corresponds to the amount, making it easy to see at a glance where most of your money comes from or goes to.
Income View
Select Income to see how your income sources contribute to your total income:
- Individual income sources (e.g., Interest, Dividends) flow into their parent categories (e.g., Investments)
- Parent categories then flow into Total Income
- The wider the flow, the larger the amount
This view helps you understand which income streams contribute most to your finances.
Expenses View
Select Expenses to see how your spending breaks down:
- Total Expenses flows out to parent expense categories (e.g., Food & Drink, Transportation)
- Parent categories then flow to their subcategories (e.g., Groceries, Restaurants)
- The wider the flow, the more you've spent in that category
This view makes it easy to identify your biggest spending areas and drill down into specific subcategories.
Reading the Diagram
Hover over any flow to see the exact amount. The colour-coded categories make it easy to trace money from source to destination.
Calendar View
Click Calendar to switch to the calendar view. This shows:
- A monthly calendar grid
- Daily totals for income (green) and expenses (red)
- Quick identification of high-spending or high-income days
The calendar view is excellent for:
- Spotting spending spikes
- Identifying when regular income arrives
- Understanding day-by-day money patterns
Click any day to see the transactions for that date.
Table View
Click Table to see a tabular breakdown of your cash flow. The table shows:
- Month and year
- Total income
- Total expenses
- Net cash flow (income minus expenses)
This view provides exact figures for accounting or financial planning purposes.
Filtering Options
Click the Filters button to refine what's included in the report. You can filter by:
- Accounts — Focus on specific accounts like credit cards or your everyday account
- Categories — Include or exclude expense/income categories
- Merchants — Filter by specific shops or service providers
- Tags — Show only transactions with certain tags (e.g., "Business", "Holiday")
- Amounts — Set minimum/maximum amounts to focus on transactions within a range
For detailed information on how filters work, including saving filter configurations, see Filtering Reports.
Downloading Data
Download Chart
Save the chart as a PNG image for reports or presentations.
Download CSV
Export the monthly cash flow data to a spreadsheet for further analysis.
Common Use Cases
Tracking Monthly Budget
Compare your expenses to your income each month to ensure you're staying within budget.
Identifying Seasonal Patterns
Look for months where expenses consistently spike (holidays, insurance renewals, school fees) and plan accordingly.
Measuring Progress
Track your savings rate over time to see if you're improving your financial habits.
Finding Leaks
Use category filters to identify areas where spending is higher than expected.
Understanding Transfers
Internal transfers between your own accounts (e.g., moving money from everyday to savings) are automatically excluded from cash flow calculations. Only transactions marked as income or expenses are included.
Transfer Detection
If a transfer is incorrectly included in your cash flow, edit the transaction and set its type to "Transfer" instead of expense or income.