How to Use the Application
The Savings Balance Tracker is a tool designed to help you visualize your financial account balances over time. Here's a step-by-step guide:
- Load Your Balance Data:
- Click the "Choose Balance CSV File" button.
- Select the CSV file from your computer that contains your account balances.
- The application will automatically process the data and display a chart, summary, and data table.
- Load Currency Conversion Data (Optional):
- If your accounts are in different currencies, you can provide a currency conversion file.
- Click the "Choose Currency CSV File" button and select your conversion rates file.
- The app will use these rates to convert all balances to a single currency (EUR by default) for the chart and summary calculations.
- Filter Your Data:
- Use the "Filter Options" section to narrow down your view.
- Accounts: Check or uncheck account names to show or hide them from the chart and table.
- Date Range: Select a start and end date to focus on a specific period.
- Click "Apply Filters" to update the view. You can also reset filters or select/deselect all accounts.
- Explore the Visualizations:
- Chart: The chart shows the evolution of your account balances over time.
- Summary: The summary cards provide a quick overview of the number of accounts, the latest total balance, and the currently displayed date range.
- Data Table: The table shows the raw data for the filtered period, with color-coding to match the accounts in the chart.
Balance CSV File Format
Your balance data must be in a CSV file with a specific structure. The file must use a semicolon (;) as the delimiter.
The required columns are:
Account name or account: The name of the financial account.date: The date of the balance record in YYYY-MM-DD format.balance: The numerical balance of the account.currency: The three-letter currency code (e.g., EUR, USD, GBP).
Example:
Account name;date;balance;currency
Checking Account;2024-01-15;5234.50;EUR
Savings Account;2024-01-15;12500.00;EUR
Investment Portfolio;2024-01-15;8750.25;USD
Currency CSV File Format
The currency conversion file is optional. It is used to convert different currencies into a single base currency for unified reporting. This file must also use a semicolon (;) as the delimiter.
The required columns are:
from or source: The source currency code.to or target: The target currency code.rate or value: The conversion rate (how many 'to' units you get for one 'from' unit).
Example:
from;to;rate
USD;EUR;0.92
GBP;EUR;1.16
In this example, 1 USD is converted to 0.92 EUR, and 1 GBP is converted to 1.16 EUR.