Income Detection
CshFlow automatically identifies your income deposits and determines your pay schedule. This powers the "Until Next Income" spending mode and helps predict when money will arrive.
What Is Income Detection?
Income detection analyzes your banking transactions to find:
- Payroll deposits - Regular salary or wages
- Employment Insurance - EI payments
- Government benefits - Child benefits, tax credits
- Tax refunds - CRA payments
- Other regular income - Pensions, disability, etc.
Once detected, CshFlow:
- Calculates your pay frequency (weekly, bi-weekly, etc.)
- Determines your average payment amount
- Predicts your next payday
- Uses this for "Until Next Income" spending mode
Why It Matters
Powers Key Features
Daily Spending Calculator:
- "Until Next Income" mode needs to know your next payday
- Calculates how many days until money arrives
- Adjusts daily limit based on income schedule
Cash Flow Forecasting:
- Predicts future balance
- Accounts for expected deposits
- Helps plan larger purchases
How Detection Works
CshFlow looks for patterns in your deposits:
- Identifies income deposits - Finds credits that look like payroll or benefits
- Groups by source - Clusters similar deposits together
- Determines frequency - Analyzes intervals between deposits
- Calculates average - Computes typical payment amount
- Predicts next date - Projects when the next deposit will arrive
Supported Frequencies
- Weekly (every 7 days)
- Bi-weekly (every 14 days)
- Semi-monthly (twice per month on specific days)
- Monthly (same day each month)
- Quarterly (every 3 months)
- Annually (once per year)
Confidence Levels
High Confidence
Income is highly reliable when:
- Same interval every time
- Consistent amounts
- Long history of deposits
- No skipped payments
Medium Confidence
Income is somewhat reliable when:
- Amounts fluctuate (tips, overtime, commissions)
- Occasional skipped payments
- Multiple income sources
Low Confidence
Income is unreliable when:
- Irregular frequency
- Highly variable amounts
- Limited history (new job)
Manual Income Patterns
When automatic detection doesn't work or for future income, you can add patterns manually.
When to Add Manually
- New job - No history yet, add expected schedule
- Irregular but expected - Contract work with known payment dates
- Different account - Income goes to a different bank
- Annual income - Bonuses or one-time payments
How to Add
- Go to Settings → Income Patterns
- Click "Add Income Pattern"
- Fill in source name, amount, frequency, and next expected date
- Save
Impact on Daily Spending
"Until Next Income" Mode
Uses detected income to calculate your daily spending limit:
- Determines days until next income
- Subtracts expected expenses
- Divides available balance by days remaining
This helps you pace your spending to last until payday.
Troubleshooting
Income Not Detected
Possible causes:
- Limited transaction history (need at least 3 deposits)
- Irregular deposit schedule
- Non-standard deposit description
Solutions:
- Upload more transaction history
- Add income pattern manually
Wrong Frequency Detected
Possible causes:
- Limited history caused coincidental pattern match
- Holiday processing delays
- Recent schedule change
Solutions:
- Upload more history
- Override with manual income pattern
Next Income Date Wrong
Possible causes:
- Holidays shift payment dates
- Recent schedule change
Solutions:
- Edit income pattern manually
- System will adjust after next deposit
Privacy
- Income detection analyzes only your transactions
- No external API calls
- Your income data is never shared
- Processed entirely in your database
Related Features
- Daily Spending - Uses income detection for "Until Next Income" mode
- Settings - Manage income patterns manually
- Conservative Rounding - Applied to income amounts
Income detection removes the need to manually track payday schedules. CshFlow figures out when you get paid and uses it to keep your daily spending limits accurate.