When you start using Toshl for the first time, it’s good to set up a few basic things so things can run smoothly and quickly in the future. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to do this in the Toshl web app, which works best on tablet and desktop/laptop computers. You can do all the same things in our iOS mobile app as well, but the buttons might be positioned a bit differently.
Without further ado, here’s what you should do:
1. Add your financial accounts and balances
When you sign up on Toshl, a Cash account is added in advance. You can see your accounts by clicking the “Accounts” button on the top right in the web app.
Open your wallet, count what’s inside. Then click “Edit” below the accounts, and “Edit” again right next to the cash account. In the inital balance field, enter the amount that you counted in your wallet. Keep in mind that the inital balance amount will be added to the current balance, it won’t just replace it. Although if you started with balance 0 on the account, that’s all the same.
When you’ve entered the initial balance of the account click “Save”.
If cash is all you use and that’s all you mean to track in Toshl, you’re all done. But most likely you have at least a bank account and a credit card or two to add as well.
Click “Add account” to add another financial account. You can name the accounts however you like, but for most the name of the bank where the account is at or the name of the credit card will be most suitable. Remember to check what the current balance on that account is and enter it as your initial balance. Just like you did with the Cash account.
There you go. All set.
Now when you add an expense or an income to Toshl, you can choose to which account should this entry go. Expenses will be deducted from your balance, incomes will of course be added. Balances on accounts are “all time”, meaning that they will always show the current balance, no matter which time span you have chosen to display.
Quick tips:
– When you draw cash at an ATM, add this as a transfer from your bank account (or credit card) to your cash account.
– When you need to pay your credit card bill, add this as a transfer from your bank account to your credit card account. Most likely the credit card balance should be 0 just after you’ve paid.
2. Check your categories and tags
We have already added the most widely used categories and tags that should cover most of your spending and earnings. Naturally we all have our own stuff going on, so you might need to add a few. Go to the Expenses or Incomes section and click the “Edit categories” button.
This will take you to the Edit categories & tags screen.
Take a look around click on the categories to see the tags, see if you’re missing anything and add them if you are.
3. Add your salary and other incomes (repeating incomes)
Most people have some sort of regular income. It’s best to enter them in advance and set them to repeat automatically so you don’t have to enter them manually each month or every few weeks.
Go to the Incomes section. Click the green + button on the bottom right.
Now enter the information about your salary: amount, the category “Salary”, if you like you can also add tags. Choose the financial account this salary usually comes to and the date of the month you get the salary on. Important: If you wish to add past salaries, you can set the date in one of the past months. Keep in mind that the past salaries will also be added to your financial accounts.
Now click “Show more” below.
You should set the salary to repeat automatically. You can set that with the dropdown menu next to the “R in a circle” icon. Set your salary to repeat in the period that you are paid. Be that monthly, weekly or whichever period you want. You can choose the “Custom repeat” and set it to repeat in any period you like e.g. every 2 weeks, every 17 days.
If your paycheck varies, you can later edit each individual repeat to enter the correct amount. If that happens a lot set up a reminder (the little bell icon) to remind you to do that with a notification when the next pay-check arrives.
Save and you’re done. The salary will show up automatically in each period. Hopefully, just like the real one.
4. Add your regular bills (repeating expenses)
You should also add the bills that you know will be coming each month to make things more predictable, quicker and financial planning easier. Add things like electricity, internet bills, rent, gym memberships… all the regular expenses you have in your life.
Go to the Expenses or Monthly overview section and click the red + button on the bottom right.
Enter all the relevant information like the usual amount, category, tags (optional) and the date in the month that you usually pay the bill on.
Now click “Show more” below.
Click the repeat options dropdown next to the “R in a cricle” icon. Select one of the predefined repeating periods like, weekly, monthly or add a custom period like every 4 weeks, every 3 months etc.
If you would like to be reminded to pay those bills when they arrive you can also set up a reminder so the notifications will remind you when the bills arrive. It’s also useful if the amount of the bill varies and you need to modify it in each period. You can set up the reminders on the day it’s due, before, or any time you like. Up to 4 reminders per expense.
5. Look around Toshl, enter expenses on the go
Now that you’ve entered your expected incomes and expenses, the graphs around Toshl should look a bit differently. Explore them a bit and see how they can help you with monitoring your finances. Then as time passes, remember to enter the expenses and incomes on the fly to keep the balances on your accounts accurate. If you’re having trouble remembering to enter the expenses, set up a daily reminder in Settings / Notifications. You’ll get the hang of it in no time.