There are just a few simple steps in order to use Foresight. To start out using Foresight follow these basic steps.
For further details on performing these actions, continue reading down this page.
- Create a new document.
- Enter your recurring transactions.
- Enter your specific transactions.
- Enter your current actual monthly balance in the "Actuals and Estimates" table in the Data view.
- View the results in the "Actuals and Estimates" table and in the Graphs view.
- Add additional transactions as needed like a new car payment.
- Fill in the actual balance at the end of each month in the "Actuals and Estimates" table.
For further details on performing these actions, continue reading down this page.
Views
There are three basic views that Foresight presents including the Data, Recurring and Graphs views. The Data view shows the table form of all your transactions. The Recurring view is used to create and edit recurring transactions. The Graphs view shows your transactions as a series of charts so that you can visualize your cash flow.
To select a view click on the view selector at the bottom of the window as shown below or select one of the menu items "Data View," "Recurring View" or "Graphs View" to switch to a specific view.
To select a view click on the view selector at the bottom of the window as shown below or select one of the menu items "Data View," "Recurring View" or "Graphs View" to switch to a specific view.
Data View
The recurring transaction tables are automatically populated by Foresight based on the recurring transaction entries you create in the Recurring view and you cannot edit the recurring values in the Data view.
The "Actuals and Estimates" table shows you a summary of all the other tables. The table is read only except for the first line (Actual Balance). As you go along in time enter your "end of month" balance from your bank account(s).
Resizing Tables
You may also change the horizontal width of the tables to better fit your display by selecting the menu item "View > Table Size > Large/Small". You can also have Foresight open the document in the specified table size in the preference window.
To keep thing neat, you can collapse or expand tables as needed. To collapse to expand a table click on the disclosure triangle next to the title of the table.
Other Table Controls
To add a new row to the table, click on the "+" button. To delete a row, select it and then click on the "-" button.
You can sort a table by selecting a sort method from the sort popup menu located at the bottom of the table. As soon as you select the sort method, the sort is performed on the table. If you later add rows to the table, you will need to perform the sort again.
When you move the mouse over the cell of a table, the appropriate month and row summation values will be shown at the bottom of the table. This is handy when the summation values are scrolled out of view.
You can sort a table by selecting a sort method from the sort popup menu located at the bottom of the table. As soon as you select the sort method, the sort is performed on the table. If you later add rows to the table, you will need to perform the sort again.
When you move the mouse over the cell of a table, the appropriate month and row summation values will be shown at the bottom of the table. This is handy when the summation values are scrolled out of view.
When you have the mouse over a table's interior, any scroll actions you perform will be localized to that table. To scroll the entire view of tables, your mouse must be outside of the tables or use the main scrollbar.
When editing a cell in one of the tables, you can hit the tab key to advance to the next cell. If you hit the shift-tab key, you move to the previous cell.
Recurring View
You add a recurring transaction by clicking on the "+" button. This will create by default an expense item denoted by an "E" in the color red. Type in the name of the item in the "Item" field. If you want to change it to an income, go down into the "Type" box and click on the "Income" button. The "Description" field is for your own personal notes about the entry.
You can resize recurring transaction list by clicking on the expansion control and dragging it to a new height.
You can sort a the recurring entries by selecting a sort method from from the sort popup menu located at the bottom of the table. As soon as you select assort method, the sort is performed on the table. If you later add rows to the table, you will need to perform the sort again.
Transaction Type
Next you need to select a starting date in the "Type" box. You can also select an end date clicking on the "End" checkbox and filling in the end date. Transactions will be inclusively filled in between the start and end dates. If you don't specify an end date, then that means it will go on indefinitely.
Recurring Transaction
The heart of a recurring transaction is shown in the "Recurring" box. There are three recurring types including regular, variable and specific. The regular type means a set amount is posted at specific intervals like once every three months and the start date is used as the beginning anchor for the transaction. The variable type means a set amount is posted on the months you specify. The specific type allows you to post any amount on any month. To use any one of these types, click the "Active" checkbox for the type and fill in the amount and pattern of occurrence.
For a recurring transaction you can also activate multiple types. Foresight will apply all active types and sum them up for each month between the start and end dates. Since the amounts are cumulative, you are allowed to specify negative values in the amounts field, but if Foresight sees a cumulative negative value for a month, it will be replaced with a zero value (you can't have a negative income or expense). This gives you a lot of flexibility in specifying your recurring transaction.
For a recurring transaction you can also activate multiple types. Foresight will apply all active types and sum them up for each month between the start and end dates. Since the amounts are cumulative, you are allowed to specify negative values in the amounts field, but if Foresight sees a cumulative negative value for a month, it will be replaced with a zero value (you can't have a negative income or expense). This gives you a lot of flexibility in specifying your recurring transaction.
Graphs View
Monthly Balance - This is the month to month balance. When you fill in the actual end of month balance in the Data view, the dot for the monthly will be filled in. If the monthly balance is an estimated amount, the center of the dot will be white.
Quarterly Income and Expense - This chart shows the accumulative quarterly income (green) and expenses (red) as a bar chart. The total yearly income and expenses is also shown in this chart.
Monthly Income and Expense - This is just like the "Quarterly Income and Expense" chart except the incomes and expenses are shown on a monthly basis.
Monthly Cash Flow - This chart show the delta (income minus expenses) cash flow for each month. Positive cash flows will be shown in green and go up from the zero line and negative cash flows will be shown in red and go down from the zero line. Obviously a positive cash flow is a good thing!
Top 10 Incomes - This will show your top ten incomes by amount as a pie chart.
Top 10 Expenses - This will show your top ten expense by amount as a pie chart.
Currency Format
Be careful if you change the number of decimal digits used because if you go to a lower number of digits you will lose the associated digits for existing data. In general this is not a big deal because values after the decimal point are fractional values, but it is prudent to know that you will lose those digits in your values. If you make a mistake, you can undo the last action.
Note, Foresight does not derive the currency format from OS X since if you were to move to a different machine that had a different setting or you happened to change the currency setting in your system preferences, this could potentially mess up Foresight's calculations and cause data loss.
Actuals and Estimates Table
In the Data view the "Actuals and Estimates" table is important since it shows you the summation of all your transaction. The table is read only except for the first line (Actual Balance). As you go along in time enter your "end of month" balance from your bank account(s). Foresight uses the actual balance to correct estimation errors by creating a new starting point for future estimated end of month balances. When you fill in the actual end of month balance in the Data view, the "Monthly Balance" chart will be updated with a solid dot and if the monthly balance is an estimated amount, the center of the dot will be white.
Once you fill in the actual balance, the "Estimated Balance" for that month will be will be drawn in gray and the "Estimation Error" will be calculated. The estimation error is the percent the estimated value was off from the actual value and gives you an indication of the accuracy of your inputs. You will need to decide what is an acceptable estimation error for your situation. If you exceed your threshold of error, then you need to examine your inputs to see if you are leaving things out or recognize that you have volatile set of transactions like unexpected expenses throwing off your estimates.
The "Summation" column show the estimated total income, expenses and cash flow for the year.
Handling Years
To navigate between years select the menu items "Current Year", "Previous Year" or "Next Year." The "Current Year" menu item will take you to the present year while the other menu items will move back or forward one year respectively. You may also directly goto a year by selecting the year through the popup menu at the top of the window.
You can add and delete years to your document by selecting the menu item "Add a Year" or "Delete a Year." You can only add or delete years at the beginning or the end (you can't delete a year in the middle). Once you add a year, you can carry over your specific income and expenses from the previous year entries by selecting the menu item "Populate Year." This will make copies of all the items from the previous year and insert them into the appropriate tables of the currently selected year. Recurring transactions are not affected by this operation since they are automatically calculated by Foresight.
Playing "What If"
Exporting Your Data
