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Account Management

Account Management

Chamber's account management feature helps you track all your financial accounts in one place, monitor balance changes over time, and calculate your net worth.

Table of Contents

Account Types

Chamber supports five types of accounts:

Type Description Examples
Bank Traditional bank accounts Savings account, Checking account, Fixed deposit
Investment Investment accounts Stocks, Mutual funds, ETFs, Crypto
Wallet Digital wallets PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, Google Pay
Cash Physical cash Wallet cash, Emergency cash, Petty cash
Other Miscellaneous Gift cards, Store credits, IOUs

Adding an Account

  1. Navigate to Accounts in the sidebar
  2. Click "Add Account"
  3. Fill in the details:

Required Fields:

  • Name - A descriptive name (e.g., "SBI Savings", "Stock Portfolio")
  • Type - Select from the five account types
  • Current Balance - The current balance in this account

Optional Fields:

  • Currency - Defaults to your settings, but can be different per account
  1. Click "Save"

Tip: Create accounts for all your financial holdings to get an accurate net worth calculation.

Updating Account Balances

Keeping account balances current is important for accurate net worth tracking.

Manual Update

  1. Go to Accounts
  2. Click on the account you want to update
  3. Click "Update Balance"
  4. Enter:
    • New Balance - The current balance
    • Date - When this balance is from (defaults to today)
    • Note - Optional note (e.g., "Monthly update", "After deposit")
  5. Click "Save"

Why Track Balance History?

Each balance update creates a historical record. This allows you to:

  • See balance trends over time
  • View graphs of your financial growth
  • Track investment performance
  • Monitor spending from specific accounts

Best Practices

  • Bank accounts: Update weekly or after major transactions
  • Investments: Update monthly or when significant changes occur
  • Cash: Update as needed (weekly or monthly)
  • Wallets: Update when balances change significantly

Viewing Balance History

  1. Go to Accounts
  2. Click on any account
  3. View the "Balance History" section

Each entry shows:

  • Date - When the balance was recorded
  • Balance - The balance at that time
  • Change - Difference from previous entry
  • Note - Any notes you added

Balance History Graph

The graph on the main Dashboard and Accounts page shows:

  • X-axis - Time (months)
  • Y-axis - Balance
  • Lines - Different account types (Bank, Investment, etc.)
  • Stacked Area - Combined view of all accounts

Tip: Hover over the graph to see exact values for specific dates.

Deleting Balance History Entries

If you made a mistake:

  1. Open the account
  2. Find the incorrect history entry
  3. Click the delete icon
  4. Confirm deletion

Note: Deleting a history entry does not delete the account or affect other entries.

Editing an Account

  1. Go to Accounts
  2. Find the account you want to edit
  3. Click "Edit" or the edit icon
  4. Update:
    • Name
    • Type (rarely needed)
    • Current balance (creates a new history entry)
  5. Click "Save"

Note: Changing the current balance creates a new history entry with today's date.

Deleting an Account

Warning: Deleting an account is permanent and affects your data.

When you delete an account:

  • All balance history is deleted
  • The account no longer appears in net worth calculations
  • Associated expenses are NOT deleted (but payment method references may become orphaned)

Steps:

  1. Go to Accounts
  2. Find the account
  3. Click "Delete"
  4. Confirm deletion

Alternative: If you no longer use an account but want to keep history, you can deactivate it (if available) rather than delete.

Understanding the Dashboard

Stats Cards

The Accounts page displays summary cards:

Card Description
Net Worth Total of all account balances
Bank Balance Sum of all Bank-type accounts
Investments Sum of all Investment-type accounts
Wallet Sum of all Wallet-type accounts
Cash Sum of all Cash-type accounts

Account List

Shows all your accounts with:

  • Account name and type
  • Current balance
  • Last updated date
  • Edit/Delete actions

Net Worth Calculation

Your net worth is calculated as:

Net Worth = Sum of all account balances

This includes:

  • ✅ Bank accounts
  • ✅ Investments
  • ✅ Digital wallets
  • ✅ Cash
  • ✅ Other accounts

Net Worth Dashboard Widget

The main Dashboard shows:

  • Current Net Worth - Total across all accounts
  • Trend - How net worth has changed over time
  • Graph - Visual representation of net worth history

Factors Affecting Net Worth

Your net worth changes when:

  • You update any account balance
  • You add or delete accounts
  • Investment values fluctuate (update manually)

Note: Expenses don't directly reduce net worth in Chamber - they reduce the account balance when you update it.

Best Practices

  1. Add all accounts - Include every financial account for accurate net worth
  2. Update regularly - Weekly for bank accounts, monthly for investments
  3. Be consistent - Use clear, descriptive names
  4. Track investments separately - Don't mix with bank accounts
  5. Review trends - Check the graph monthly to see your progress
  6. Archive inactive accounts - Rather than deleting, keep for historical records

Integration with Other Features

Expense Tracking

When adding expenses:

  • Select the account used as the "Payment Method"
  • This helps track spending by account
  • Note: You must update account balances manually after expenses

Loan Tracking

Loans you've given are tracked separately and not included in net worth calculations until repaid.

Related Features

Questions? See the FAQ or Troubleshooting Guide.