Set up Perfinova, add accounts, import transactions, update balances, and start understanding your money in about 15 minutes.
Perfinova is a free, local-first personal finance dashboard that lives entirely on your Mac. No bank logins, no cloud account, no subscriptions, and no bank credentials shared with anyone. You import account balances and transaction spreadsheets, and Perfinova helps you organize the rest — categorizing transactions, tracking budgets, monitoring goals, finding recurring payments, and visualizing your financial journey over time.
Net worth with month & year-over-year deltas, income vs. expenses, upcoming payments, recent transactions, and account balances — all at a glance.
Import CSV or Excel files from one account or many accounts at once. Perfinova maps columns, routes transactions to accounts, and catches duplicates automatically.
Auto-categorize transactions using smart rules. Set them up once — every future import is categorized automatically.
Monthly budgets per category with live progress bars. Under-budget categories use calm blue indicators; over-budget categories turn red so problems stand out immediately.
Net worth snapshots, income vs. expenses, monthly spending, category spending, budget variance, and progress reports in clean, printable charts.
Ask plain-English questions about spending, budgets, goals, subscriptions, recurring transactions, and financial progress — answered from your own data.
Perfinova automatically detects recurring charges and shows what's due in the next 30 days — color-coded by urgency.
Update account balances directly from the Accounts page so net worth and goals stay current after statements, payroll, loan payments, or market changes.
Create, name, and save your own reports with live account balances and snapshot history. View, edit, or delete them any time from the Reports tab.
A background agent monitors your finances and surfaces alerts — budget overruns, net worth milestones, savings wins, and goal progress — without you having to ask.
Track holdings with live delayed market prices. See current value, gain/loss, and how your portfolio fits into your overall net worth — updated on demand.
Model your path to debt-free. Enter loan details and an optional extra principal — Perfinova shows months saved, interest avoided, and a full amortization breakdown.
When you open Perfinova for the first time, you'll be guided through a short setup. Here's what to expect.
Download Perfinova from the Mac App Store or from the Perfinova website, then open it from your Applications folder. On first launch, macOS may ask you to confirm that you want to open the app.
After accepting the disclaimer, Perfinova asks whether you want to protect the app with Touch ID or your Mac password. This is entirely optional — you can skip it and go straight to the app. If you enable it, Perfinova will prompt for Touch ID every time you open it.
You can change this preference at any time from the Perfinova menu → Enable Lock Screen or Disable Lock Screen.
Perfinova includes realistic demo data so you can explore the redesigned dashboard, imports, reports, budgets, goals, and Ask AI before touching your real finances. When you're ready to start fresh, go to Settings → Data and choose what fits:
| Action | What it does | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Reset to Demo Data | Wipes your data and reloads the sample transactions, accounts, budgets, goals, balances, and snapshots | Want to re-explore the demo after making changes |
| Clear All Data | Permanently deletes everything — transactions, accounts, budgets, goals, categories, rules | Ready to start with your own real data from a blank slate |
Go to Accounts in the left navigation. You can add accounts one at a time, import them all from a spreadsheet, and update balances inline any time your statements or market values change.
One at a time: Click + Add account, enter the account name, type, and current balance. For debts such as credit cards, mortgages, and loans, use a negative balance.
Bulk import via spreadsheet: Click Import accounts from spreadsheet, then download the template Perfinova provides. Fill it in with your accounts — one row per account — using these four columns:
| Column | What to enter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Account Name | Any name you'll recognise | Bank of America Checking |
| Type | Account type (see accepted values below) | Checking |
| Balance | Current balance — use a negative number for debts | -2500 (credit card) |
| Notes | Optional — anything useful | Employer plan |
Accepted types: Checking · Savings · Credit Card · Brokerage · IRA · Roth IRA · 401(k) · 403(b) · HSA · 529 Plan · Real Estate · Mortgage · Auto Loan · Personal Loan · Equity Comp · Other Asset · Other Liability
Perfinova accepts .csv, .xlsx, or .xls files. Upload the filled template, review the preview, and confirm. Duplicate account names are detected before import, so existing accounts are not accidentally recreated.
After you add accounts and import transactions, Perfinova can help you avoid starting from a blank page. Go to Budgets and use Suggest from history to generate starter budget amounts from your actual spending patterns.
Then go to Goals and use the AI goal suggestions to create a first set of practical targets, such as an emergency fund, retirement boost, education savings, debt payoff, or cash reserve. You can edit every suggestion before using it.
| Account type | Examples | Counts toward |
|---|---|---|
| Checking / Savings | Bank of America, Chase, Navy Federal | Assets (positive) |
| Credit Card | Chase Sapphire, Apple Card, Amex | Liabilities (negative balance) |
| Brokerage | Robinhood, Fidelity, Schwab | Assets |
| Retirement | 401(k), IRA, Roth IRA | Assets |
| HSA / 529 | WEX HSA, Fidelity 529 | Assets |
| Mortgage / Loan | Home loan, auto loan, student loan | Liabilities (negative) |
| Real Estate | Primary residence, investment property | Assets |
Perfinova works with CSV and Excel exports from banks, credit cards, brokerages, and other financial institutions. There is no direct bank connection — you download the file from your bank's website and import it. This is intentional: your credentials never touch Perfinova.
Log into your bank, credit card, or brokerage website, go to the transaction history page, and look for an Export or Download option. Choose CSV or Excel format. Most banks let you pick a date range — start with the past 12 months for a good baseline.
In Perfinova, go to Transactions and click Import Transactions, or go to Imports from the sidebar. Choose one or more CSV/Excel files. Perfinova will preview the rows, detect the date range, and ask you to confirm the details before import.
Tell Perfinova which column is the date, which is the description, which is the amount, and, when available, which column contains the account. If your bank uses separate debit/credit columns, map both. Perfinova shows a live preview so you can verify before importing.
Once you save a mapping, Perfinova remembers it — the next import from the same institution moves faster.
If your spreadsheet includes an Account column, Perfinova matches each row to the right account automatically. If an account name in the file does not match an account you have created, Perfinova pauses and asks you to choose the matching account or skip those rows before continuing.
If the spreadsheet has no account column, Perfinova asks which account the file belongs to. If you upload several single-account files at once, Perfinova can ask for each file so every transaction lands in the correct place.
Perfinova shows how many rows it found, whether all rows are valid, and whether any account choices still need your attention. Click Import to bring them in. Duplicate detection runs automatically, so re-importing the same file is safe.
The redesigned Dashboard is your home base. It updates as you import transactions and update account balances, giving you a fast read on net worth, monthly income, expenses, upcoming payments, recent activity, and account balances.
Total assets minus total liabilities. Shows month and year change pills based on daily snapshots, plus a small chart so you can see momentum at a glance.
All income transactions for the current month, with a comparison to last month so you can spot changes quickly.
All non-transfer expenses for the current month. Transfers (like credit card payments) are excluded so they don't inflate your expense total.
Recurring charges detected automatically from your transaction history. Color-coded: Expected now Due today Due in X days.
Your 6 most recent transactions across all accounts, with category and account shown inline. Click All → to open the full Transactions page.
All active accounts grouped by type — investments, cash, loans, real estate, HSA, and 529 plans — with color-coded dots. Negative balances appear in red.
Progress bars showing planned vs. actual for your top budget categories this month. Under-budget categories use calm blue indicators; over-budget categories turn red.
Each savings goal with a progress bar, target amount, and projected completion date based on your current trajectory.
The categories where you spent the most this month, with a color-coded progress bar for each. A quick visual of where your money went.
The Transactions page is where you import, add, review, edit, filter, and categorize transactions. It is the core of Perfinova's cash-flow model — income, expenses, budgets, recurring transactions, and reports all draw from it.
Click Import Transactions to bring in CSV or Excel files from your financial institutions. Use the Quick Add box when you need to enter daily activity fast — for example, coffee 5 chase, salary 3980 robinhood checking, or transfer 1500 from checking to chase united.
Use the Search box to find any transaction by description or merchant name. Filter by Account, Category, or date range. You can also show uncategorized transactions when you want to clean up your data.
Click the category pill on any row to open a quick edit dropdown. Select any category — or type to search. Changes save instantly. Color-coded categories make it easy to scan at a glance.
Click the ⋯ menu on any transaction and choose Split. Enter the amounts and categories for each portion — they must sum to the original total. The original transaction is marked as split and excluded from budgets; the child transactions carry the categories.
Click the ✏️ Edit button to open the full edit form. You can change the description, amount, date, account, category, notes, and whether the transaction is excluded from budget reports.
Tick Exclude from budget in the edit form for one-time large purchases (a car, a medical bill) that you don't want skewing your monthly budget progress bars. The transaction still appears in your transaction history and net worth.
Categories describe what a transaction is. Rules are optional automations that tell Perfinova how to categorize future transactions based on merchant name, description, or amount. Imported transactions can be categorized even if you have no rules; rules simply reduce the repetitive cleanup over time.
Go to Settings → Categories. Categories come with a name, a type (income, expense, or transfer), and a color used in charts and dropdowns. Click + Add category to create your own.
Go to Settings → Rules → New rule. Set a condition — for example, "Description contains Starbucks" — and choose the category to assign (e.g. Dining). Rules can match on description, merchant name, or amount range. Click Save rule.
Click Apply rules to categorize all uncategorized transactions. Use Apply (overwrite) to re-run rules across all transactions, even those already categorized — useful after reorganizing your category list.
After the first setup, future imports are categorized using your saved rules. You can still change any category manually afterward, and you can keep the Rules page empty if imported categories already look right.
Perfinova ships with a full set of categories. You can rename, recolor, or delete any of them.
Expenses
| Groceries | Dining |
| Gas | Automotive |
| Healthcare | Home |
| Subscriptions | Entertainment |
| Shopping | Travel |
| Education | Kids Activities |
| Mortgage | Rent |
| Insurance | Utilities |
Income & Transfers
| Salary | Freelance |
| Investment Income | Rental Income |
| Refunds | Other Income |
| Transfers (for account-to-account moves) | |
Budgets give you a monthly spending plan per category. Goals track progress toward specific targets and can link directly to your account balances so they stay current as you update accounts.
Go to Budgets, select the month, and click + New budget. Choose a category and enter your planned monthly amount. A progress bar appears under each category showing Planned → Actual → Remaining. Blue means you are within plan; red means you are over budget.
Click Suggest from history to auto-fill planned amounts based on your recent average spending per category. You can adjust any amount inline by clicking the number in the Planned column and typing a new value.
Click Copy last month to duplicate the previous month's planned amounts into the current month. Useful when your budget is stable from month to month.
Go to Goals → New goal. Enter a name, target amount, and target date. You can optionally write a description to remind yourself what the goal is for.
Select one or more accounts to link to the goal. Perfinova will sum the balances of those accounts as the current amount — updating live whenever you update account balances. Goals with linked accounts show a ⚡ live badge.
Each goal shows a progress bar, the current vs. target amount, time remaining, and a suggested monthly contribution to hit the target on time. The Dashboard also shows your top goals at a glance.
The Investments section lets you track individual holdings with live delayed market prices. Add a position once and Perfinova keeps the value current — no manual updates needed.
Go to Investments in the left navigation. Click + Add holding and enter the ticker symbol (e.g. AAPL, VOO), number of shares, and your purchase price per share. Perfinova calculates your cost basis immediately.
Click Refresh Prices to fetch the latest delayed market quotes for all your holdings at once. Perfinova updates current value and gain/loss in dollars and percentage for each position.
Investment holdings feed directly into the balance of the linked brokerage or retirement account. When you refresh prices, your net worth on the Dashboard updates to reflect the new market value automatically.
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Ticker | Stock, ETF, or fund symbol |
| Shares | Number of units held |
| Purchase Price | Your average cost per share |
| Cost Basis | Shares × purchase price — what you paid in total |
| Current Price | Latest delayed market quote |
| Current Value | Shares × current price |
| Gain / Loss | Current value minus cost basis, in dollars and percent |
The Debt Planner lets you model any loan — mortgage, auto, student, personal — and see exactly what paying a little extra each month buys you in time saved and interest avoided.
Go to Debt Planner in the left navigation. Enter your loan balance, annual interest rate, and loan term in years. Perfinova calculates your standard monthly payment and total interest paid over the life of the loan.
Enter an amount you could add to each monthly payment. Perfinova immediately shows how many months earlier you'd pay off the loan and how much interest you'd save — side by side with the baseline scenario.
Scroll down to see a full breakdown showing how each payment splits between principal and interest over time, and exactly when the loan is paid off under each scenario.
| Output | What it means |
|---|---|
| Monthly Payment | Standard payment required by the loan terms |
| Payoff Date | Month and year the loan reaches zero balance |
| Total Interest | Total interest paid over the life of the loan |
| Months Saved | How much sooner you pay off by adding extra principal |
| Interest Saved | Total interest avoided by paying extra each month |
Reports give you a visual history of your financial journey with calm blue/red status language across Dashboard and Budgets. Ask AI lets you skip the charts and ask questions in plain English.
Daily, monthly, and yearly snapshot views showing how your net worth has changed over time. Current account balances feed the latest snapshot.
Monthly bar chart comparing income and expenses side by side for the past year. Spot high-spend months and income gaps instantly.
See spending by month or by category so you can quickly spot what changed, what grew, and what deserves attention.
Compare planned vs. actual spending per category across any month. Spot where you over- or under-spent at a glance with blue and red variance indicators.
A dedicated view showing net worth trajectory, asset and liability trends, and income vs. expense history over time — with KPI cards for key milestones and growth percentages.
Create and save your own reports with live account balances and snapshot history. Name them anything, edit them any time, and delete ones you no longer need.
Go to Ask AI in the navigation and type any question about your finances. You can ask about spending, budgets, goals, subscriptions, recurring payments, recent activity, or progress over time.
"How much did I spend on dining last month?" or "What's my average monthly grocery bill?"
"What recurring payments do I have this week?" or "Which subscriptions are active right now?"
"Am I on track for my emergency fund?" or "How many months of runway do I have at my current burn rate?"
"How much has my net worth grown this year?" or "Which category drove the most expense growth?"
In addition to Ask AI — where you ask and Perfinova answers — a background agent monitors your finances continuously and surfaces observations on its own. You don't need to ask anything; Perfinova will flag things worth your attention.
Notified when a category is trending over budget mid-month, giving you time to adjust before the month ends.
The agent flags meaningful net worth changes — significant month-over-month growth or a notable drop — so you never miss a turning point.
When you come in under budget for the month or make strong progress on a goal, Perfinova surfaces it as a positive signal.
Notified when a goal is nearly complete or when you're falling behind your projected pace, so you can decide whether to increase contributions.
Perfinova is built around a single principle: your financial data belongs to you. Your accounts, balances, transactions, budgets, goals, rules, imports, and snapshots are stored locally on your Mac.
Your data is stored in your Mac's Application Support folder as a local SQLite database. Perfinova keeps demo data and personal/production data separate so you can explore without mixing sample data into your real finances.
Perfinova can create local backups of your database and includes reset tools for demo data and personal data. If you use iCloud Drive for your own files, you can also keep copies of backups there.
Perfinova does not require bank-link subscriptions or monthly financial-data aggregation services. You control the files you import and the data you keep.