Documentation
Everything, explained
How Earmarkr works, what each number means, and how to check the arithmetic yourself.
Getting started
Set up your budget and bring your data across.
- How Earmarkr worksThe method in five minutes — give every dollar a job, budget the money you actually have, and check the arithmetic behind any number.
- Set up your first budgetFrom empty account to a working budget in about twenty minutes.
- Import your budget from YNABBring your accounts, categories, transactions, and every month's budgeted amounts across from YNAB — and check the projected numbers before anything is written.
- Why YNAB loan balances need confirmingA YNAB loan with payment history won't match its register total. Here's why, and how the import asks you to confirm the real balance.
- Connect a bankLink an account so transactions arrive automatically — and what to do when a connection needs attention.
Budgeting
Assign money, and understand every number on the screen.
- Ready to Assign, and how it's calculatedReady to Assign is the cash you have that you haven't given a job yet. Here is the exact arithmetic, with a worked example you can check against your own budget.
- Assign and move moneyGive every dollar a job — assign from Ready to Assign, move money between categories, and use the arithmetic shortcuts in the amount box.
- What happens when you overspendOverspending with cash and overspending on a credit card do different things to your budget, on purpose. Here's the difference and how to fix each one.
- Set category goalsTell Earmarkr what a category needs and how often, and every month it shows what's still to fund.
- Manage categories and groupsAdd, rename, reorder, hide, and delete categories — and what happens to your history when you do.
Credit cards
How card spending moves money, and how to read the ledger.
- How credit cards workWhen you spend on a credit card, Earmarkr moves that money into the card's payment category so the cash to pay the bill is really set aside. Here is the exact mechanic, with the arithmetic shown.
- Pay your credit cardRecord a card payment so the reserve, your checking balance, and the card balance all move correctly.
- Close the gap on a credit cardThe gap is the part of your card balance you haven't set money aside for. Here's how to see exactly what makes it up and fund it.
Transactions
Record, categorize, reconcile, and import.
- Working with transactionsAdd, edit, categorize, and split transactions — and clear the "needs review" badge.
- Scheduled transactionsRecurring bills and income, entered for you when they come due — including anything you missed while you were away.
- Payee rules and auto-categorizationTeach Earmarkr how a payee should be categorized once, and stop hand-categorizing the same shops every month.
- Transfers and paymentsMoving money between your own accounts. Whether a transfer carries a budget category depends entirely on which accounts are on-budget.
- Reconcile an accountMatch Earmarkr against your bank so you can trust every number. Reconciling monthly is the single best habit for keeping a budget accurate.
- Import transactions from a fileBring in OFX, QFX, or CSV files from your bank — statement after statement, with duplicates matched automatically.
Debt
Loans, mortgages, and a funded payoff plan.
- Build a debt payoff planPick snowball or avalanche, set a monthly extra you actually budget, and see your debt-free date — with the extra payment funded as a real budget category.
- Loans and mortgagesAdd a loan's terms to get a payoff projection built from your real payments — including what paying extra actually saves you.
Reports
Understand your spending, net worth, and trends.
- ReportsEight reports over your full history, with a custom date range and CSV or PDF export.
- Spending reportsWhere the money went, who you paid, and whether it's trending up — by category, by payee, over time, and against a rolling average.
- Income, cash flow, and budget vs. actualWhether you earned more than you spent, what moved in and out each period, and how your plan compared with reality.
- Net worthWhat you own minus what you owe, over time — computed from your transactions rather than a frozen snapshot.
- Age of MoneyHow long your money sits before you spend it — the clearest single measure of whether you've stopped living paycheque to paycheque.
Account
Profile, security, plans, and billing.
- Your profile and sign-inChange your email or password, and manage the Google or Microsoft accounts linked to your sign-in.
- Two-factor authenticationA second step at sign-in. An email magic link is on by default; an authenticator app is a stronger optional upgrade.
- Plans and billingSee your plan, when it renews, and how to change or cancel it.
- Support access to your dataA support agent can only see your data through a time-boxed, read-only session that you approve — and every view is audited.
- Delete your accountHow to permanently delete your account and everything in it — and how to change your mind during the grace period.
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