Core Concepts
Understanding these core concepts will help you get the most out of CshFlow. Each concept represents a key principle that guides how the app works and why it makes certain calculations.
Key Concepts
Conservative Rounding
CshFlow uses a safety-first approach to all financial calculations:
- Available spending is rounded DOWN (you might have more, never less)
- Committed expenses are rounded UP (you might owe less, never more)
This creates a natural safety buffer that keeps you from overspending.
Learn more about Conservative Rounding
Financial Health Score
Your 0-100 assessment of overall financial wellness:
- 5-component scoring: Emergency fund, debt ratio, savings rate, cash flow, and bills-to-income
- Letter grades: A through F for quick understanding
- Canadian standards: Aligned with FCAC, CMHC, and industry best practices
Learn more about Financial Health Score
Vendor Normalization
How CshFlow transforms messy banking descriptions into clean vendor names:
- Removes common prefixes (VISA DEBIT, E-TRANSFER, etc.)
- Strips location codes and store numbers
- Applies intelligent abbreviation expansion
- Uses configurable mapping rules
Learn more about Vendor Normalization
Recurring Expenses
How CshFlow automatically detects and tracks your subscriptions and regular bills:
- Pattern recognition across transaction history
- Confidence scoring (High, Medium, Low)
- Billing frequency detection (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly)
- Automatic projection into future months
Learn more about Recurring Expenses
Income Detection
How CshFlow identifies your paychecks and other income sources:
- Automatic pattern detection from transaction history
- Support for multiple income sources
- Irregular income handling
- Next income date prediction
Learn more about Income Detection
How These Concepts Work Together
These concepts form the foundation of CshFlow's cash flow forecasting:
- Vendor Normalization cleans up your transactions so patterns can be detected
- Recurring Expense and Income Detection identify your regular cash flow
- Conservative Rounding applies safety buffers to all calculations
- Financial Health Score gives you a holistic view of your financial wellness
Together, they answer the key question: "How much can I safely spend today?"