User Guide

Overview

General

As a person masters their craft, their choice of tools become highly suited to the task, are functionally precise, and exhibit the finest quality. Their tools become an extension of themselves and produce the best results. During the journey, the person develops their skills, habits, and knowledge. Together, the person and their tools become unbeatable. Thrivasium provides the financial framework tools to help you visualize and manage your finances to achieve your financial goals. Make it your passion to become really good at creating what you envision!

Thrivasium is a secure modern personal financial manager app that provides the tools to master your finances and gain insight on next steps for your financial growth. Thrivasium works seamlessly across iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. Thrivasium encrypts your data with modern strong encryption algorithms (AES-256) and stores your financial data on your devices, not some third-party server. Thrivasium can easily manage dozens of accounts and thousands of transactions with a silky-smooth user interface.

Goals

If we make a really big goal yet don’t stick to it, we start to lose interest and trust in our ability to succeed may diminish. We start to think that maybe we are the problem: that we must lack motivation or discipline. But what if the issue isn’t us, but the method. Real progress comes from small daily commitments – the micro habits. Just tiny everyday actions that, over time, compound into significant positive change.

The real goal, then, is to develop micro habits to minimize expenses continually and maximize incomes rather than trying to just satisfy monthly financial targets. This new approach opens up financial goals to be more effective and encourages better personal financial habits for growth. And, that is what this is about – your financial habits. As such, Thrivasium app focuses on tracking, observing and gaining insight from your financials with a suite of chart and budget features.

Accounts

In Thrivasium, transactions, categories, payees/payers, charts, and budgets are all organized and grouped by financial accounts. In the app’s main list of institutions and accounts, both are listed alphabetically with accounts grouped by institution. At the bottom of the app’s main list of institutions and accounts, a summary of the accounts by account type can be shown. The setting to show or hide this summary is located in the ‘Configurations’ settings view. On macOS, this view is located within the ‘Settings’ (keyboard shortcut: cmd+,) window. On iOS, configuration options are located from the ‘Settings’ tab.

Create an Account

An account can be created by tapping on the + button located at the top of the left pane and completing four required fields: ‘Account type’, ‘Account name’, ‘Institution’, and ‘Starting balance’.

There are 8 available account types to choose from when creating or editing an account, each with its own set of optional fields:

General: A generic, non-specific account.

Checking: Standard checking account.

Credit Card: Standard credit card account.

Line of Credit: Line of credit account (e.g., HELOC).

Investment: A generic investment account.

Loan: Standard loan account (e.g., vehicle loan, student loan).

Mortgage: Standard mortage account.

Savings: A standard savings account (e.g., savings, CDs, money market accounts).

Edit or Delete Accounts

Existing accounts can be edited or deleted in ‘Manage Accounts’. There is also an option to hide the account from the app’s main list of institutions and accounts. On macOS, the tools to manage accounts are located on the main menu under ‘Manage’. On iOS, the tools to manage accounts are located from the ‘Settings’ tab.

Edit the selected account.

Delete the selected account. Since this action will delete an account and all of its transactions, you will be prompted to confirm.

Institutions

Accounts are grouped under Institutions. Typically, institutions are names of financial institutions (e.g., banks) where accounts exist. However, it is possible to use institution in a more general grouping context (e.g., Yours/Mine/Ours accounts).

Create, Edit Institutions

Institutions can be created, edited or deleted in ‘Manage Institutions’. There is also an option to hide the institution and all of its accounts from the app’s main list of institutions and accounts. On macOS, the tools to manage institutions are located on the main menu under ‘Manage’. On iOS, the tools to manage institutions are located from the ‘Settings’ tab.

Create an institution.

Rename the selected institution.

Delete the selected institution if it has no associated accounts.

Transactions

Transactions for each account are listed in chronological order in the transactions table (right pane on iPad and macOS). A checkbox, located on the left edge of each transaction, can be tapped to switch that transaction from Pending (unchecked) to Posted (checked) and update balances, as needed. At the top of the balance column in the transactions table header is a button that switches between ‘Total Balance’ (includes both Posted and Pending transactions) and ‘Posted Balance’. The display width for the transaction table on the iPad can vary significantly depending on its orientation and whether Thrivasium is one of the apps in a split-screen. As such, there are two buttons at the top of the transaction view to help with displaying the transactions table cleanly: transaction pane width and transaction row width.

Display Options for Transactions

Depending on the device, there are some options for fitting the transaction information and columns to include.

Toggles between full width and left/right pane width for transactions.

Selects wide, medium, or narrow display modes for transaction rows on iPads.

Shows selection of optional columns to display and customization options for highlighting transactions (e.g., green bar for credit transactions).

Create or Edit Transactions

A new transaction can be created by tapping on the plus button located at the top of the transactions view. There are several fields for a transaction: Amount, selection of Posted/Pending transaction status, selection of Deposit/Withdrawal or Payment/Charge transaction type, selection or creation of a Payee/Payer, selection or creation of a Category and date (defaults to today). Every transaction includes an optional notes field. If the option for transaction pre-fill has been selected in the ‘Configuration’ in ‘Settings’, then selecting a payee/payer prefills the other fields with entries from the last transaction with the same payee/payer. This reduces the number of manually entered/selected values for a new transaction to just amount and payee/payer. If sub-categories have been enabled in the ‘Configuration’ under ‘Settings’, then a sub-categories field is included with the transaction view.

When an existing transaction is selected, an edit transaction button becomes available at the top of the transactions view.

Create a transaction.

When a transaction is selected, the edit button brings up this transaction’s edit view.

Search Transactions

The list of transactions can be filtered based on matching the contents of the Search field. When the magnifying glass ‘Search’ button is tapped, the list of transactions goes into search mode (i.e., no checkbox or balance entries). The columns (i.e., Payee/Payer, Category, Subcategory (if enabled), Memo, or Amount) to use during a search can be enabled/disabled with the column selection view button located next to the search field. It’s default is Payee/Payer only.

Places transactions list into search mode. Text entered into search field filters which transactions to show.

Show selection of columns to include during the search for transactions containing the search text.

Payees and Payers

Rename, Merge Payees or Payers

On macOS, the tools to manage payees and payers are located on the main menu under ‘Manage’. On iOS, the tools to manage payees and payers are located from the ‘Settings’ tab. Payees and payers are specific to a selected account and are extracted from that account’s transactions. The number of transactions for each payee or payer is included in this view. Payees or payers can be renamed or merged with each other. Tapping the merge button for a selected payee or payer will show the remaining payees or payers, respectively, as possible merge targets. Multiple payees or payers can be selected as targets for the merge. As soon as one target payee or payer is selected, the merge confirmation button becomes available.

Rename a selected payee/payer.

Merge a payee with another payee or merge a payer with another payer.

Reset App and Delete Database

The ability to reset the app and delete the database is located in the ‘Configurations’ settings view. On macOS, this view is located within the ‘Settings’ (keyboard shortcut: cmd+,) window. On iOS, configuration options are located from the ‘Settings’ tab.

Important warning: If the action for app reset and clear database content is enabled, tapped, and confirmed, then all Thrivasium app configurations, app passwords, and all database content on this device will be removed resulting in a fresh start of the app on this device.

Files

Backup and Restore

On macOS, the tools to backup and restore the app’s database content are located on the main menu under ‘Files’. On iOS, the tools to backup and restore the app’s database content are located from the ‘Settings’ tab.

The backup file is encrypted using modern strong encryption algorithms (AES-256) and stored with a filename suffix: ‘.tkbackup’. The folder location to store your backup files is up to you.

The app’s database contents can be restored from any encrypted backup file. Important note: This operation overwrites all of your current database content in the app. If device sync has been enabled, then this restore operation will also sync this restored data on all other devices with device sync enabled.

Export

On macOS, the tool to export the app’s database content is located on the main menu under ‘Files’. On iOS, the tool to export the app’s database content is located from the ‘Settings’ tab.

The app’s financial data can be exported and saved as a csv-formated file to a folder location of your choice. You can select which accounts and associated date range for the export. The details for the exported csv file’s exported data and column formats are described in a blog post on the Thrivasium support website.

Import

On macOS, the tools to import data from other personal finance managers (PFM) are located on the main menu under ‘Files’. On iOS, the tools to import data from other personal finance managers (PFM) are located from the ‘Settings’ tab.

Thrivasium can import financial data from some of the popular personal finance manager apps: Debit & Credit, Money Wiz, and YNAB. More information about their csv-formated file data and column formats is available as posts on the Thrivasium support website. For any imported file, you have the option to overwrite or merge the existing contents in the database.

Importing the exported Thrivasium file back into the app is also included. This option provides a clean approach to importing generic csv-formated files as long as the data and column formats match those detailed in the post on the Thrivasium support website.

After the financial data has been imported, you can enter the account type and current account balance for each imported account. This additional information anchors the running balances for the imported transactions. This can also be edited in a selected account at any time by adjusting the starting balance.

Load Demo File

On macOS, the tool to load a demo file is located on the main menu under ‘Files’. On iOS, the tool to a demo file located from the ‘Settings’ tab.

When learning about Thrivasium, it can be very helpful to study how Thrivasium shows transactions, charts and budgets using an example data set of accounts, transactions, and categories.

The demo file is available, along with some additional descriptions, on the Thrivasium support website located under tutorials.

This operation merges the demo data with your current database content in the app. If device sync has been enabled, then the demo data will also sync to all other devices with device sync enabled. None of your entered data is modified or removed from loading a demo file.

App Passwords

The app passwords and app pin (Apple watch) are located in the ‘App logins’ settings view. On macOS, this view is located within the ‘Settings’ (keyboard shortcut: cmd+,) window. On iOS, app login passwords and pin code are located from the ‘Settings’ tab. There are no app requirements for length or type of characters for either the primary or secondary app login passwords.

Primary App Login Password

A primary password for app login is optional and can be created, updated, or deleted at any time.

Secondary App Login Password

In addition to the primary password for app login, an optional secondary password for app login can be created, updated, or deleted at any time. A secondary password may be useful for a trusted person to access Thrivasium on this device. Entering either the primary or secondary app login password will gain access to Thrivasium.

App Login Pin (Apple Watch)

If watch sync is enabled, then a pin-code with a selectable length of 4 – 6 digits can be created for app login on your Apple Watch. As with passwords, this optional pin-code can be created, updated, or deleted at any time.

Device Sync

Each device can be individually enabled to sync financial data with other devices within your Apple account. A separate sync password is used to limit which devices have access to synced financial data. The first device to participate in device sync creates the sync password. Thrivasium on other devices can only sync data after the device sync password is entered and verified. Syncing financial data with an Apple Watch is enabled similarily with a device sync pin code. Users can remove device sync on a device. And, device sync can be turned off by a user from any participating device. This is an important security enhancement for Thrivasium (version 3) to provide additional protection for your financial data.

Charts

Charts represent the most useful feature for its ability to analyze transaction data in five useful and insightful charts: Expenses by Category, Incomes by Category, Expenses over Time, Incomes over Time, and Cashflow. On macOS, the Charts menu button is located on the main menu under ‘Analysis’ ((keyboard shortcut: cmd+g). On iOS, the charts menus are located from the ‘Analysis’ tab.

Chart data requires an account to be selected from a pull-down list. In addition, either all categories or a user-selected subset of categories can be used as a filter. For the ‘Cashflow’, ‘Expenses over time’, and ‘Incomes over time’ charts, chart resolution can be set to month, quarter, or year. For the ‘Expenses by category’ and ‘Incomes by category’ charts, data range steps can be set to week, month, quarter, year, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, and all dates. Each chart can be exported and saved as a csv-formated file to a folder location of your choice.

Cashflow

The ‘Cashflow’ chart is a high-level chart that shows expenses (e.g., charges, withdrawls) and incomes (e.g., payments, deposits) for the selected date interval (month, quarter, year). The yellow line represents the difference between expenses and incomes for each date resolution. The white line (enabled by a checkbox) shows the on-going balance over time.

For example, the ‘Cashflow’ chart for a credit card account would show charges per month in red, payments per month in green. The yellow line would show the monthly difference between charges and payments. If the difference is above zero, that means only part of the month’s charges have been paid off. The white line would show the outstanding balance being carried forward, which ideally, should be near zero and not approaching the credit limit.

Expenses Over Time

The ‘Expenses over time’ chart and its accompanying statistics by category table are extremely useful for understanding how your expenses for each category vary by selected date resolution (i.e., month, quarter, year).

Expenses are shown in a stacked bar chart style by categories. For each category, the stats table shows the minimum expense (depending on view width), average expense, and maximum expense by date resolution for the selected year. The previous year and next year buttons will show how those expense stats vary by the selected date resolution.

Incomes Over Time

The ‘Incomes over time’ chart and its accompanying statistics by category table are extremely useful for understanding how your incomes for each category vary by selected date resolution (i.e., month, quarter, year). This can be helpful for incomes that vary by month or are unpredictable.

Incomes are shown in a stacked bar chart style by categories. For each category, the stats table shows the minimum income (depending on view width), average income, and maximum income by date resolution for the selected year. The previous year and next year buttons will show how those income stats vary by the selected date resolution.

Expenses By Category

The ‘Expenses by category’ chart and its accompanying expense summaries by payees is extremely useful for understanding how your money is being spent. A horizontal bar chart shows the total expense or percentage for each category. You can select to show either amounts or percentages for the categories.

Selecting a category shows a payee summary table with number of transactions, total amounts and percentages for each payee in that category.

If subcategories have been enabled, then you have a choice to view the payee summary table at the top-category level, or view the ‘Expenses by sub-category’ chart. Selecting a sub-category from the sub-category chart shows a payee summary table with number of transactions, total amounts and percentages for each payee in that sub-category.

For example, assume ‘Food’ is one of your top-categories with ‘Groceries’ and ‘Eating Out’ as sub-categories. If month is selected as the data interval, tapping on ‘Food’ can show the payee stats for ‘Food’ or the sub-category breakdown for Groceries and Eating Out. Selecting a sub-category, such as ‘Groceries’, will show its payee summaries. Using the previous and next date interval buttons will show how those expenses vary by the date interval (in this exampe, by month).

Incomes By Category

The ‘Incomes by category’ chart and its accompanying income summaries by payees is extremely useful for understanding how your money is being spent. A horizontal bar chart shows the total income or percentage for each category. You can select to show either amounts or percentages for the categories.

Selecting a category shows a payee summary table with number of transactions, total amounts and percentages for each payee in that category.

If subcategories have been enabled, then you have a choice to view the payee summary table at the top-category level, or view the ‘Incomes by sub-category’ chart. Selecting a sub-category from the sub-category chart shows a payee summary table with number of transactions, total amounts and percentages for each payee in that sub-category.

Budgets

Setup Budgets

To create or update a budget for an account, select the account from the pull-down list.

Budgets can be created with one of three possible time spans: 1 month, 3 months, 12 months.

1 month: Budget entries are the same amount for each month. This budget repeats every month.

3 months: Budget entries allow different amounts for each of the three months. This budget repeats every three months from its initial month.

12 months: Budget entries allow different amounts for each of the twelve months. This budget repeats every twelve months from its initial month. This budget time span supports expenses that may occur only a few times a year or vary by season.

In the left column, the budget categories are grouped by Income (e.g., Payments, Deposits) and Expenses (e.g., Charges, Withdrawals). Under each grouping, categories are listed in alphabetical order. If sub-categories are enabled, then the sub-categories will also be listed in alphabetical order under their top-category.

To help with determining budget values for each category, up to a full twelve months of prior actuals, shown as three months of actuals at a time, can be used for reference. If no transactions occur in a month for a category, then the corresponding actuals value is blank. The three columns for actuals can be shown or hidden by the user. Hiding actuals reduces the scrollable width of the view for small devices.

Budget values can be entered for each category in the ‘Budgets’ column. As values are entered, their percentages and subtotals are updated immediately. If a budget time span of 3 months or 12 months is selected, a copy button will replicate the current month budget values to the next month in the budget, avoiding the need to re-enter same values in subsequent budget months.

You can include or exclude any category in the budget process by checking/unchecking the checkbox for that category.

Copies all of the current month’s budget values to the next month in the budget.

Track Budgets

Once a budget is setup for an account, that account will be listed in the accounts pull-down menu on ‘Track Budgets’.

In the left column, categories are listed by Income (e.g., Payments, Deposits) and Expenses (e.g., Charges, Withdrawals) using the same groupings as in ‘Setup Budgets’. Those categories that were excluded from setting up the budget are shown as greyed out text with no numbers. The remaining columns shows the saved budget, actuals for the current month, difference between these two amounts, and a visualization of the percentage of actuals to budget. The ‘% of Budget’ column can be shown or hidden by the user. Hiding this column reduces the scrollable width of the view for small devices.

Changing the selected month will compare budget against the selected month (i.e, prior to current month). If a 1 month budget was used, then the budget amounts will remain constant when compared to the current partial month’s actuals and up to the previous 11 months. If a 3 month or 12 month budget was used, then the budget months will also change along with the actuals month, referenced to the current month.

If actual expenses for a category, or its subtotals, is slightly over the budgeted amount by less than 5%, then the difference is highlighted with an orange background. If actual expenses for a category, or its subtotals, is over its budget by 10%, then the difference is highlighted with a red background. The distinction between the two color levels is that a small over budget in one category (i.e., orange background color) can be compensated by budget performance from other categories. How you handle categories with red background performance may require more effort.