Getting Started

Start With the Basics

You do not need to model every part of your financial life before BananaBird becomes useful. Start with the Accounts, Assets, and Income sources that matter most to your overall financial picture.

At least one Account, Asset, or Income source needs to exist before you can create your first Snapshot.

Keep the first setup simple. You can always add more Accounts, Assets, Income sources, Expenses, and other detail later.

1. Create Your Accounts

Start by adding the Accounts that make up the core of your financial position. These might include chequing and savings Accounts, credit cards, lines of credit, mortgages, registered investment Accounts, pensions, or other balances you want to track.

Include both Assets and Liabilities where applicable so BananaBird can build a useful picture of your Net Worth.

If an Account represents an investment Account, enable the Investment Account option. This allows BananaBird to include it in investment-specific views and portfolio reporting.

Accounts Guide Investments Guide

2. Add Your Assets

Add non-Account Assets that you want included in your financial picture, such as property, vehicles, or other items with meaningful value.

You do not need to update every Asset every time you take a Snapshot. BananaBird carries the most recent known Asset value forward until you record a newer one.

Assets Guide

3. Add Your Income Sources

Create the Income sources you want to track, such as employment, pensions, rental income, investment income, government benefits, or other recurring sources.

When you create the source, you are defining where the Income comes from. The actual amounts received are recorded later when you create Snapshots.

Income Guide

4. Choose a Snapshot Cadence

Before creating your first Snapshot, decide roughly how often you want to review your finances.

Weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or another schedule can all work. There is no single correct frequency.

If you're unsure where to start, we recommend taking a Snapshot about every two weeks. This is frequent enough to keep you engaged with your finances without requiring constant attention.

Choose a cadence that is useful enough to keep you informed but simple enough that you can maintain it consistently over time.

5. Create Your First Snapshot

Your first Snapshot establishes a baseline: a financial checkpoint showing where things stand on that date.

Account Balances

Enter a balance for every active Account. Each Snapshot records the Account's balance at that specific financial checkpoint.

Enter a balance for every Account. If the balance has not changed, enter the same amount again. If the balance is zero, enter $0.00. Do not leave Account balances blank.

Asset Values

Update an Asset when you have a newer value for it. If you leave an Asset value blank, BananaBird continues using its most recent known value, or its initial value if it has never been updated.

Contributions & Withdrawals

These fields normally represent activity since the previous Snapshot. Leave them blank when there was no activity.

Income

Income amounts normally represent what was received since the previous Snapshot. Leave the amount blank when no Income was received.

Your First Snapshot Is a Baseline

Because there is no previous Snapshot yet, you can simply leave Income and Contributions or Withdrawals blank and use the first Snapshot as your starting point.

You can also include recent activity if you already know it and want it reflected in that first Snapshot.

For example, if your first Snapshot is September 1 and you plan to take Snapshots monthly, you might leave Income and financial flows blank and begin tracking activity from September onward. If you already know what you earned or contributed during August, you can enter those amounts in the September 1 Snapshot instead.

Snapshots Guide

6. Review Your Dashboard

Once your first Snapshot is submitted, review the Dashboard to see the financial picture BananaBird has built from your data.

Your first Snapshot gives you a current baseline. Historical charts, trends, and comparisons become more useful as you add additional Snapshots over time.

The goal is to develop a clear understanding of where you stand, what has changed, and what may deserve a closer look.

Dashboard Guide

7. Check Your Reminder Settings

BananaBird can remind you when it may be time to take another Snapshot or review certain information.

In your Profile reminder settings, you can configure:

• Your Snapshot reminder threshold
• Whether Snapshot reminder emails are sent
• Whether overdue Expense reminders are shown
• The grace period used for overdue Expense reminders
• Whether overdue Asset reminders are shown
• Default delays when snoozing or dismissing reminders

Adjust these settings so BananaBird's reminders match the way you actually intend to use the application.

8. Optional: Give Someone Read-Only Access

If a spouse, family member, or other trusted person may need to review your financial information, BananaBird supports Temporary Users.

Temporary Users use time-limited, read-only links. You can see when access expires, when the link was last used, and remove the access when it is no longer needed.

This is optional and does not need to be part of your initial setup.

Go Deeper When It Is Useful

Once the core workflow is working for you, add more detail only where it provides value.

You may want to explore Expenses, investment reporting, financial concepts, or the tools BananaBird provides for importing, exporting, and managing your data.