Toshl Finance Blog

Filtering Your Financial Data and Making Needles Easier to Find Than Haystacks (iOS)

We have a bunch of filtering options available in Toshl. Let’s take a look at filtering by account in Toshl iOS app.

 

Accounts and time span can be accessed by swiping from the right edge of the screen or tapping the time span in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Like so:

 

Filtering by account

You can enable or disable displaying specific accounts and the entries tied to them. By default ‘All accounts’ are displayed, meaning the app is showing expenses, incomes, budgets, etc. from all accounts.allaccIMG_0114

 

The active setting is shown under time span in the upper right hand corner of the app, so you can quickly asses which accounts are enabled just by glancing. If more than one account is selected but not all, this will be noted as ‘Custom’.custIMG_0116

 

If all are disabled , it will be noted as ‘No accounts’. If only one is enabled, it will display the name of that account e.g. ‘Cash’.noaccIMG_0112cashCCIMG_0110

 

This setting is global and will effect every graph and list in the app – except the budget section. So if you think you are missing some data, check the accounts to make sure.

 

Quick tip:

  • You can also quickly switch accounts or time spans by swiping the account or month left or right. Open the right sidebar, then grab the red button where it says “All accounts” and flick it left or right. That way you can quickly cycle between accounts without setting ON/OFF switches each time.

 

 

Filtering by category, tag and location

 

Filtering by these other criteria is not (yet) available in the mobile apps, but will likely be in the future. Until then, you can use the web app on toshl.com to filter by category, tag or locations.

Check out the tutorial for filtering in the web app.

extag

 

 

There are also detailed filtering options present on the export & reports screen. These are separate just for data exporting and reports, and are basically all other filtering options merged in one screen.

 

That’s it! Check out the filtering, play around with it and always remember to keep an extra bussiness card in your wallet! Just in case you’d need another kind of “filter” altogether. ;)

It’s a good idea to have some extra business cards in any case.

Posted in iOS Tutorials, Tips & Tricks, Tutorials

Filtering Your Financial Data and Making Needles Easier to Find Than Haystacks (Web App)

 

We have a bunch of filtering options available in Toshl Finance, all of which can be accessed by pressing the filtering button in the upper right corner of the web app. It has a little funnel icon on it.

allacc_clo

 

Note that the filtering will overlay the list section, so make sure you close it (with the click on the same button) to see the expense list underneath, once you’re done with the filtering settings.

allac_opn

 

Filtering by account

 

Enable or disable displaying expenses and incomes on specific financial accounts. Accounts filtering is set to ‘All accounts’ by default, meaning the app is showing expenses, incomes, transfers etc. from all of your financial accounts.

allacc_clo

 

The active setting is shown on the button, so you can quickly asses which accounts are enabled just by glancing at it.

cash_MC_clo

 

If all are disabled, only the funnel icon will be displayed and you won’t see any data in graphs, lists, etc.

alldis_clo

This setting is global and will effect every graph and list in the app – except the budget section, budgets filter only by category or tag. So if you think you are missing some data, check the accounts filtering settings to make sure the data is not just filtered-out.

 

Filtering by category, tag and location

 

The filtering options for the three are essentially the same, they just filter your data by a different attribute.

The category, tag and location filters won’t work with Monthly overview and River flow graph.

cat_tag_loc_clo

 

Three types of filtering are available for each attribute:

 

All (categories/tags/locations)

Pretty self-explanatory. All entries will be shown, no matter which category, tag or location are set on the entries.

 

Select (categories/tags/locations)

Only entries which contain one of the selected (categories/tags/locations) will be shown.

 

Exclude (categories/tags/locations)

All entries, except the ones that contain the selected (categories/tags/locations) will be shown.

cat_tag_loc_opn

 

All of these filtering options can be combined and the effects are cumulative. Thusly, the result is an ever finer mesh through which the data is filtered.

 

For example:

Say we want to check how much ‘Cash’ we spent in May in ‘Food and drinks’ category.

First, we will navigate to May in the time span selector on top.

We covered time span in another tutorial: My Financial Month & Time Spans.

 

Second, we will open accounts filtering. We set all accounts to OFF by clicking the topmost switch next to “All accounts” and set only the ‘Cash’ account to ON.

If you’re really into switches, you can also disable all but the ‘Cash’ account one by one. Whatever floats your boat. Thus, we filtered the expenses to show only the ones purchased on ‘Cash’.

cash_opn

 

Third, we click on categories section below, click the tab ‘select categories’, then choose the ‘Food and drinks’ category. We are now seeing only expenses categorised as ‘Food and drinks’ and purchased with ‘Cash’.

cash_FD_opn

 

Say we don’t want to see ‘groceries’, ‘icecream’, ‘beer’ and ‘coffee’. We click on tags, then ‘Exclude tags’ and select the ones mentioned above. We are left with proper meals, paid with cash.

If you change your mind about which tags you would like to filter by, click on one of the tags you selected and is currently displayed in the input field. The tag will then be removed from your filter.

extag

 

Location filters work the same way as categories and locations. Use them to display only the expenses made at certain venues, or exclude certain venues.

 

There are also detailed filtering options present on the export & reports screen. Those filters are separate and filter just the data for exporting and reports.

 

That’s it! Check out the filtering, play around with it and always remember to keep an extra bussiness card in your wallet! Just in case you’d need another kind of “filter” altogether. ;)

It’s a good idea to have some extra business cards in any case.

Posted in Tips & Tricks, Tutorials, Web App Tutorials

How to Add Expenses Straight From Your Lock Screen and Avoid Being Eaten by Wild Boars (iOS)

Do you know that feeling of being chased around a thick forest by a wild boar? You run as quickly as you can, heart pumping at maximum, sweat pouring down your face. But, no matter how hard you try, you still cannot escape the thumping of his small, yet surprisingly swift feet, the sound of his loud breathing as he catches up, to sink his sharp teeth into your…
Well, ok, maybe you don’t know the feeling of that exact situation.
Consider for a second though, that moment when you’re at the grocery store cash register, trying to pack all the food into the bags before the cashier hands you the receipt and gives you the evil eye for being so damn slow. It’s the next closest thing to the wild boar situation.
If you’re a thrill seeker like me, you’ll try to up the game and add the grocery expense to Toshl just after handing the cashier the credit card and before getting the bill back. It’s doable: amount, category, tag, save aaand you’re done. The tricky part is unlocking the phone, finding the Toshl app, tapping on Add expense, then doing the actual adding. There is a solution!

The add entry widget on the Today screen (Notification center).

Screenshot Toshl add expense widget
1. Hold up your iPhone, activate the screen and swipe from the top edge.
2. Tap the big red + button.
3. Toshl opens with Add expense all ready, just waiting for you to enter the amount.
The same also works for incomes and transfers between financial accounts. Just tap the green + button for incomes and the grey + button for transfers.

How to set up the Toshl widget?

 

1. Swipe form the top edge of the screen to open the Today screen.

2. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the Today screen and tap the Edit button.

3. Find Toshl in the list of the apps and tap the green + button next to it, to include it on the Today screen.

4. Use the 3 lines icon on the right to drag it to the top (if your heart so desires).

5. Tap Done.Screenshot edit Today screen in iOS Notification center

Next time you open the Today screen, the 3 Toshl add buttons for expenses, incomes and transfers will be available for quick use.
In case you can’t activate the Today screen while the phone is locked, but would like to, make sure you have that option enabled in the iOS settings.
This feature is available from the version 2.0.6 of the Toshl Finance iOS app onwards.
Toshl monster hunter with dog
Happy grocery hunting!
Posted in iOS Tutorials, Personal finance, Tips & Tricks, Tutorials

Transfers Improved. Repeats, Descriptions and Reminders Added.

We’re constantly improving the Toshl apps, so here’s a little something we’ve improved on lately: we have added new options to transfers between financial accounts.
Toshl_2.0_monster_0046_47
Automatic repeats
The transfers can now be set to repeat automatically, with the same options as with expenses and incomes. They can repeat daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, on weekdays or weekend days. You can even add a custom repeating period. That way, the transfer can repeat every x weeks, every y months… However you like. The repeats can go on forever until you stop them, stop at a certain date, or stop after a set number of repetitions were made.
Reminders
If you’re making the transfer yourself, you’ll probably need to be reminded to do so. You can set up Toshl to remind you before the transfer is due, on the day, or pretty much any time you like. Even if the transfer is done automatically, a reminder on the day might still be useful, so your conscious of the transfer and can make sure your account balance doesn’t dip into negative territory.
Descriptions
Pretty straightforward really. If you’d like to add more information on what this transfer between accounts was about, just add the description for future reference. If not remembering your financial transfers is only a part of a larger memory problem, using reminders in combination with a Ginkgo biloba tree extract might be a more thorough solution. ;)
Screenshot of repeat transaction on iOS
Add a repeating transfer in the Toshl Finance iOS app
Screenshot of add a repeating transaction on web app
Add a repeating transfer in the web app on toshl.com
Posted in Announcements, Personal finance

How to Track Loans, Repay Debts and Deal with Your Friendly Neighbourhood Loanshark (Web App)

Toshl_2.0_monster_0057_58We have almost certainly all been there at some point – borrowing money, launder loaning money, forgetting about loans, etc. Be it a small amount for drinks, because you forgot your wallet, or a bigger sum because you chose to buy something expensive that you obviously really, really, really needed.

So, how to go about tracking and dealing with the dynamics of loaning and borrowing money? Fear not, for Toshl is here for you again, not in the money loaning business though, but in the business of helping to track loans and debts – or simply Hilfespurverleihenborgengeschäft, as the Germans would put it.

 

Track major debt repayments

Let’s say I want to buy a new Ferarri for $3200, but I am just $3100 short for it. What do I do? I go to a guy* I heard you can get a loan from, that hangs out behind the parking garage in the shady part of town every other night (because he has kids). I ask him for a donation towards my cause and after a few laughs, I promise I would pay him back in ten months with $1900 interest. I get the money, and now I have to settle the $5000 debt in ten months, which makes for $500 per month. Because I use Toshl, the best loan app around, I know this will be a piece of cake and I will not get my legs broken in the process.

 

1. Add income marking the received loan

I put the $3100 in Toshl as an income, category ‘Loans’, account ‘Cash’, plus I put ‘Drago’ in the description – which is supposedly the guy’s name and also means ‘expensive’ in some languages. Just so I can be precise when I tell my grandchildren about my first Ferrari.
add_income

 

Ok, we got the money, we got the income from the loan marked, now to go about tracking the debt.

 

2. Add a new account to track the repayment of debt

I make a new account for the debt, called ‘Drago’ and set up the initial balance as ‘-$5000’ which is the total amount of the debt, including the interest.
add_account
account_list

 

3. Add transfers to note the debt repayments

To note the repayments as I return the money to Drago in monthly instalments, I make a transfer of $500 from account ‘Cash’ to account ‘Drago’, date it on the day of the first payment, set it up to repeat every month for ten months and set up reminders for it. Now I will be reminded to take the $500 to him every month, and the ‘Drago’ account will get out of red numbers over the ten months.
add_transaction

trans_not2

That’s it!

 

Track smaller loans to friends

Let’s take a look at another, simpler case. Let’s say I lend $4.99 to a fellow car enthusiast for a little 1:100 plastic Ferrari model.

 

1. Note the loan as an expense

I give him the money, put it in Toshl as expense, category ‘Loans’, account ‘Cash’.

If this is a one-off loan, I can put the guy’s name in description. If I lend to this guy often, I could also put his name in a new tag on the expense. That way I can easily sum up everything he owes me.
add_exp

 

2. Note the loan repayment as an income

When he pays me back after seven and a half months, I just enter it as an income with appropriate tags, etc. This way I can always track borrowing and loaning entries.

Alternatively, I could just erase the loan expense, but that wouldn’t give me any insight on the loan later on.

add_inc2Note the screenshot from the future

Bob’s your uncle! Use whichever method works best for you or be creative and invent your own system. That’s it for now from our secret volcano base, ta ta!

 

*Toshl does not recommend taking loans from random guys behind the parking garage, nor can we provide phone numbers of any specific guys providing such loans. A bank would probably still be a better bet, although their moral compasses might not be in much better shape, compared to the guy behind the parking garage.
Posted in Debt, Tips & Tricks, Tutorials, Web App Tutorials