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title User Guide

Expense Expert is a desktop app for keeping track of your expenses, and managing your budget, optimized for use via a Command Line Interface (CLI) while still having the benefits of a Graphical User Interface (GUI). If you can type fast, Expense Expert can get your expense management done faster than traditional GUI apps.

  • Table of Contents {:toc}

Quick start

  1. Ensure you have Java 11 or above installed in your Computer.

  2. Download the latest ExpenseExpert.jar from here.

  3. Copy the file to the folder you want to use as the home folder for your Expense Expert.

  4. Double-click the file to start the app. The GUI similar to the below should appear in a few seconds. Note how the app contains some sample data.
    Ui

  5. Type the command in the command box and press Enter to execute it. e.g. typing help and pressing Enter will open the help window.
    Some example commands you can try:

    • list : Lists all the expenses you have recorded.

    • add d/Lunch at VivoCity a/12.95 c/Food t/2022-03-12 : Adds a new expense of a/12.95 for Lunch at Vivocity to your list of expenses

    • delete 3 : Deletes the 3rd expense shown in the current list.

    • exit : Exits the app for you.

  6. Refer to the Features below for details of each command.

Features

ℹ️ Notes about the command format:

  • Words in UPPER_CASE are the parameters to be supplied by the user.
    e.g. in d/DESCRIPTION, DESCRIPTION is a parameter which can be used as d/Dinner at ECP.

  • Items in square brackets are optional.
    e.g d/DESCRIPTION [c/CATEGORY] can be used as d/Dinner at ECP c/Food or as d/Dinner at ECP.

  • Items in brackets means at least one of the components must be present.

  • e.g. (ft/DATE) (c/CATEGORY) can be used as ft/2022-03, ft/2022-03 c/Transport or c/Transport.

  • Parameters can be in any order.
    e.g. if the command specifies d/DESCRIPTION a/AMOUNT, a/AMOUNT d/DESCRIPTION is also acceptable.

  • If a parameter is expected only once in the command but is instead specified multiple times, only the last occurrence of the parameter will be taken.
    e.g. if you specify a/12.99 a/13.50, only a/13.50 will be taken.

  • Extraneous parameters for commands that do not take in parameters (such as help, list and exit) will be ignored.
    e.g. if the command specifies help 123, it will be interpreted as help.

Viewing help : help

Shows a message explaining how to access the help page.

Help

Format: help

Adding an expense : add

Adds an expense to the list. Description and expense category provided must be in alphanumerical format, amount can only be positive number up to 2 decimal places and expense date must be in yyyy-MM-dd format. Expense category must be from a list of user-defined categories.

Format: add d/DESCRIPTION a/AMOUNT c/EXPENSE_CATEGORY t/EXPENSE_DATE

Examples:

  • add d/Dinner at Privé a/35 c/Extra expense t/2022-03-22
  • add d/Groceries a/50 c/Essentials t/2022-03-23

Deleting an expense : delete

Deletes the expense specified by the index from the list. Run list before executing the command to identify the index of the expense.

Format: delete INDEX

Examples:

  • delete 1

Editing an expense : edit

Edits an existing expense in the list. You need to specify the index of the expense from the list and only the syntax of the fields you want to change together with the value you want to change to. You can specify one or more fields. Run list before executing the command to identify the index of the expense.

Format: edit INDEX [d/DESCIPTION] [a/AMOUNT] [c/EXPENSE_CATEGORY] [t/EXPENSE_DATE]

Examples:

  • edit 1 a/40
  • edit 2 d/Groceries from Fairprice a/80

Listing all expenses : list

Shows a list of all expenses recorded in Expense Expert.

Format: list

Filtering expense(s): filter

Filter expenses with the date provided. At least one of the fields in brackets need to be present. Date format must be provided in yyyy-MM-dd format or in yyyy-MM format. If date provided is in yyyy-MM format, the displayed will include all the results of that month.

Format: filter (ft/DATE) (c/CATEGORY)

Examples:

  • filter ft/2022-03-12
  • filter ft/2022-03
  • filter c/Transport
  • filter ft/2022-03 c/Transport

Finding expenses: find

Find expenses with the stated keyword(s) in descriptors. If more than one keyword is provided, return list of expenses with expense description that matches any of the keywords provided.

Format: find KEYWORD(S)

Examples:

  • find Cafe
  • find Cafe Grab

Setting a monthly Budget: budget

Set a budget for the month.

Format: budget b/BUDGET

Examples:

  • budget b/500

Adding an Expense Category: addCat

Adds a user-defined expense category which can be used to categorise expenses.

Format: addCat c/EXPENSE_CATEGORY

Examples:

  • addCat c/transport

Listing all Expense Categories: listCat

Shows a list of all expenses recorded in Expense Expert.

Format: listCat

Adding a person who owes you money: person

Add a person with a given name who owes you a specific amount.

Format: person n/PERSON_NAME a/PERSON_AMOUNT

Examples:

  • person n/Alex a/100

Removing a person who had paid the owes money: paid

Removes a person at a given index who has paid the money they have owed.

Format: paid INDEX

Examples:

  • paid 1

Exiting the program : clear

Deletes all expenses from Expense Expert.

Format: clear

Exiting the program : exit

Exits the program.

Format: exit

Saving the data

Expense Expert data are saved in the hard disk automatically after any command that changes the data. There is no need to save manually.

Editing the data file

Expense Expert data are saved as a JSON file [JAR file location]/data/expenseexpert.json. Advanced users are welcome to update data directly by editing that data file.

❗ **Caution:** If your changes to the data file makes its format invalid, Expense Expert will discard all data and start with an empty data file at the next run.

Archiving data files [coming in v2.0]

Details coming soon ...

FAQ

Q: How can I transfer my data to another Computer?
A: Install the app in the other computer and overwrite the empty data file it creates with the file that contains the data of your previous Expense Expert home folder.

Command summary

Action Format, Examples
Help help
Add add d/DESCRIPTION a/AMOUNT [c/EXPENSE_CATEGORY] t/EXPENSE_DATE
Example: add d/Lunch at VivoCity a/12.95 c/Food t/2022-03-20
Delete delete INDEX
Example: delete 3
Edit edit INDEX [d/DESCRIPTION] [a/AMOUNT] [c/EXPENSE_CATEGORY] [t/EXPENSE_DATE]
Example:edit 2 d/Lunch at Harbourfront Centre a/6.50
List list
Filter filter (ft/FILTER_DATE) (c/CATEGORY)
Example: filter ft/2022-03 c/Transport
Find find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]
Example: find Cafe Grab Basketball
Budget budget b/BUDGET
Example: budget b/1000
AddCat addCat c/EXPENSE_CATEGORY
Example: addCat c/transport
ListCat listCat
Person person n/PERSON_NAME a/PERSON_AMOUNT
Example: person n/Alex a/50
Paid paid INDEX
Example: paid 1
Clear clear
Exit exit