Chapter 1. Introduction
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# Chapter 1. Introduction

Eqonomize! is a tool for keeping track of and monitoring personal finances. This means entering of everyday expenses and incomes – when you buy something, receive salary, pay bills, transfer money between bank accounts, invest in stock, etc. Eqonomize! provides tools for making this process as easy and efficient as possible. You can then effortlessly retrieve information and statistics about your financial situation. You will for example be able to easily identify major leaks, and direct saving efforts to the right areas. You can also monitor performance in relation to a budget and check what your choices might mean for your future wealth.

The purpose of this manual is to describe how to practically use Eqonomize! for those who do not find the graphical user interface self-explanatory, as well as document some less obvious efficiency-enhancing features and explain how Eqonomize! interprets the data you provide.

When using Eqonomize! for the first time you should read Chapter 2, Getting Started.

## Accounting with Eqonomize!

The basics principle behind accounting in Eqonomize! is the idea of money flowing through transactions between accounts as reservoirs. A transaction represents a gain (you receive money), loss (you buy something), or transformation (you withdraw from or deposit in a bank account) of money.

A transaction always means that money is moved from one account to another. An expense (something is bought) can for example mean that you pay with cash from your cash account. The money is then put in an expense account. This account represents the products and services you pay for. It represents the money that you do not have as a result of expenses, and is therefor useful for record keeping.

Incomes is usually put in a bank account and withdrawn from an income account. This means that income accounts will have a negative value, but to avoid confusion, the value of income accounts are shown as positive values.

Different income and expense accounts are used for categorisation, and are therefor more naturally referred to as categories. Other accounts, which represents the money you actually have and often represents real world bank accounts, are simply referred to as accounts.

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Eqonomize! Manual v1.0.0 | Home | Chapter 2. Getting Started