Quickstart Guide

This guide walks you through setting up your Nobleway household ledger from scratch in about 15 minutes.

By the end of this walkthrough, you will have configured your primary accounts, set starting amounts, recorded your first transactions, and asked your first financial question.

Step 1: Sign In and Confirm Your Household

When you first sign up for Nobleway:

1. Sign in using your email address or preferred login provider.
2. Nobleway creates your household workspace (named My Household by default) and your personal profile.
3. You will arrive at Overview (/app).

Step 2: Add Your Primary Cash Account

Before you can record transactions, you need at least one account where funds reside.

1. Navigate to Accounts (/app/accounts) in the sidebar.
2. Click New account.
3. Fill in the basic account details:
   • Name: Enter a recognizable label (for example, Main Checking or Primary Savings).
   • Kind: Select Cash (used for bank accounts, checking accounts, and physical cash).
   • Currency: Select your local currency (e.g. USD, EUR, GBP, INR).
4. Set your starting amount:
   • Opening balance: Enter the current balance of the account (e.g. 3500.00).
   • Opening as of: Choose today's date (or the start of the current month).
5. Click Save account.

Step 3: Add a Credit Card Account (Optional)

If you use a credit card for everyday spending:

1. Click New account on the Accounts page.
2. Enter the card name (e.g. Sapphire Card or Daily Rewards Card).
3. Set Kind to Credit Card.
4. Set the starting amount:
   • Opening balance: Enter the current balance you owe (e.g. 450.00).
   • Opening as of: Set to today's date.
5. Click Save account.

Step 4: Associate Your Account for Balance Visibility

Nobleway protects household privacy by masking account balances unless an account is associated with your person profile.

1. In the sidebar, go to People (/app/people).
2. You will see your default personal profile (named Me or your display name).
3. Click Edit on your person card.
4. Under Associated accounts, ensure the checkboxes for your newly created accounts are checked.
5. Click Save person.

Now, when you visit the Accounts list or Overview, your balances and net worth will be fully visible. For details on how privacy boundaries work between household members, see People & Balance Visibility.

Step 5: Record Your First Transaction

Nobleway offers two primary ways to record transactions: Chat and Manual Entry.

Option A: Use Chat (Recommended)

1. Open Chat (/app/query) in the sidebar.
2. In the chat, type a real everyday transaction, such as:
   ExampleCopy

   Spent 45 on groceries from Main Checking today

3. Press Send (or Enter).
4. Nobleway shows a draft card with the amount, account, and category it found.
5. Review the fields, make any corrections if needed, and click Confirm.

Option B: Use the Manual Form

1. Go to Transactions (/app/transactions) and click New transaction (/app/transactions/new).
2. Select Expense.
3. Choose the date, amount, account (Main Checking), and a category (such as Food & Dining or Groceries).
4. Click Save transaction.

For full details on transaction types, see Recording Transactions.

Step 6: Review Overview

Navigate to Overview (/app):

• Money picture: One strip for the active month covering income, spent, still-committed bills, investing, left after bills, and net worth, from your ledger and confirm-gated recurring rules (not a bank feed).
• Upcoming: The next due commitments from your recurring rules (confirm or skip them on Recurring).
• Monthly money flow: Cash-flow trends across 3, 6, or 12 months.
• Recent activity: The transaction you just created appears in recent transactions.
• Customize: Reorder, resize, or hide Overview sections and Money picture cards; rename titles; set Money picture formulas (presets or chip expressions) and per-widget limits from the Customize panel.

Read more in Overview Money Picture.

Step 7: Ask Your First Question

Chat is the same place you used to record. You can also ask conversational questions about your financial history without manually filtering tables.

1. Stay in Chat (/app/query), or open it from the sidebar.
2. Type a natural question about your spending, such as:
   ExampleCopy

   How much did I spend on groceries this month?

3. Press Send (or Enter).
4. Nobleway shows an answer card with the total and the transactions that make up that number.

Read more about asking your history in Asking Questions.

What’s Next?

• Bring over your past records: Learn how to format and upload your historical bank statements in Importing CSV & Excel.
• Handle debt & card bills: Learn how to record credit card bill settlements in Credit Card Payments and loan EMIs in Loan Payments & EMI.
• Invite your partner or spouse: Learn how to share your household ledger in People & Balance Visibility.