THE COMPARISON

A timetable.
Not a rear-view mirror.

Most budgeting apps collect what has already been charged and draw a picture of yesterday. That is useful. It just doesn’t answer the one question you started counting for: will it last until December?

Ten questions, two answers

The question The usual way FINA
Direction of time UsualLast month, analysed. What’s coming is left to you. FINATwelve months ahead. December is already there on the first of January.
Bank connection UsualAccess to your account so transactions arrive by themselves. FINANone. FINA never sees your account — and so never needs a password for it.
Where your numbers live UsualOn a server that comes with an account. FINAIn one file on your machine. On your desktop, in your own cloud folder, on a stick — your call.
What it costs UsualA subscription. Cancel it and you usually lose access to everything. FINABought once. Your version stays yours, even without renewing — and your file does anyway.
Contracts and loans UsualAn expense like any other, month after month. FINAWith a countdown. A traffic light says how many payments are left — and when you’ll breathe easier.
Everyday money UsualEvery coffee on its own, sorted into categories. FINAOne amount per category and month. Enough to plan with — and you won’t quit after three weeks.
Certain or estimated UsualA number is a number. You can’t tell where it came from. FINAEvery number says so. Ticked, estimated or still open — and an estimate never turns into a fact by accident.
Balance in December UsualNo answer. The chart ends today. FINAIt’s in the forecast. Together with the way there, month by month, as a number and as a picture.
Without the internet UsualMostly nothing — without a connection there is no server. FINAKeeps running. Even the fonts are included; nothing is fetched from anyone else’s server.
Getting started UsualCreate an account, connect the bank, confirm categories. FINAOpen the page, “Start from scratch”. No sign-up, no credit card — try everything, only saving needs the licence.

Who FINA is for

For everyone whose money mostly goes into fixed things: rent, subscriptions, insurance, instalments — plus an amount for everyday life. If you want to know which month gets expensive, when a loan runs out and what is left at the end of the year, this is for you.

If instead you want to record every single purchase and analyse it afterwards, you are better served by a program built for exactly that. FINA is happy to take its numbers as an import — and then counts forward with them.

What FINA is not

  • Not a bank connection. Amounts come from you — or from a CSV import. Nothing is fetched automatically.
  • Not a receipt scanner. No photos, no automatic categorising, no shopping lists.
  • No phone app yet. FINA runs in the browser and as a program for Mac and Windows. Capturing on the go comes with FINA Sync.
  • One book is one year. Next year is the next file — in exchange, every year stays exactly as you closed it.
  • No tax, no portfolio. FINA keeps a household book. Shares, depreciation and tax returns are not its job.
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