Help & guides

Everything on this page is also inside the app: every feature carries a first-visit note, and the Getting Started card keeps track of what is next.

Getting started

The one idea

Cedar & Coin keeps one shared picture of your household's money, and you keep it current a few minutes a week. Everything on your page is a feature (a card) that reads the same ledger: import a statement or add a few entries, and Overview, Cash Flow, Spending, the Bill Calendar and the Monthly Review all fill in from the same numbers. A layout is just the set of features you have turned on and the order they sit in. Nothing you turn off is deleted.

The number to trust first is Safe to Spend on the Overview: this month's income, minus every bill still coming, minus the savings you promised yourself. When that number is honest, the rest of the app is.

Your first five minutes

A new account opens with a five-step walkthrough. Every step can be skipped and picked up later from the Getting Started card at the top of your page.

Who is here. Your name, whether a partner will use it too, and what you want help with: seeing where the money goes, paying off debt, saving for something big, a wedding, a side business, investments, or an uneven paycheck. The answers only pick a sensible starting layout.
Your starting layout. The essentials, or one of the missions: The Full Ledger, Debt Crusher, Big Goal Saver, Owner Operator, The Portfolio. Each turns on a handful of features; the rest wait in the gallery under Add features in your account menu.
Your first money in. Import a statement, add your last paycheck and three expenses by hand, or explore the sample household first.
Your rhythm. Your paycheck (how much, how often, which day) and up to three bills. These become Recurring items, which is what Safe to Spend and the Bill Calendar read.
Your partner. A link or a code, and one plain sentence about what they will see. Skippable; the Household feature has it whenever you are ready.

Your first month, mapped

The first win is seeing last month laid out by category. The fastest route is a statement: download a CSV (or OFX/QFX, or the PDF statement) from your bank or card and drop it on Statement Import. Cedar maps the columns, guesses a category for each row from your rules and its own dictionary, and flags anything that looks like a duplicate before a single row is saved. Fix a few categories in the preview, tick Save my category fixes as rules, and the next statement needs less of you.

No statement handy? + Income and + Expense in the bar under the header add entries one at a time, and the Getting Started card counts you as mapped at ten transactions.

Bills and your paycheck

Cedar can only tell you what is safe to spend if it knows what is still coming. Under Recurring, add each bill with the day it posts and each paycheck with the day it lands. Every morning at 6 AM the poster writes the ones due that day into your ledger, catching up if a day was missed, and the Bill Calendar shows the month ahead. For a paycheck that arrives every two weeks, enter the monthly average (26 paychecks a year divided by 12); the walkthrough does that arithmetic for you.

Categories and rules

An imported row Cedar could not place is filed as Uncategorized. Click any row in Transactions to fix it, and when you do it in the import preview with the rules box ticked, the fix becomes a rule: the same description gets the same category next time. Ten to fifteen categories is plenty; the built-in list is a good start and you can type a new one into any category field.

Your first Monthly Review

On the 1st, open Monthly Review. It shows what moved against the month before, which budgets held, how the month split between needs, wants and future you, and one lever for next month. Read Cedar's take, print it if you like paper, then Mark reviewed to seal the month. Two people, fifteen minutes, once a month: that is the habit the whole app is built around.

The sample household

Explore the sample household (on the Getting Started card, or in the walkthrough) opens the ledger of Sam and Jordan, a made-up couple with six months of paychecks, groceries, a car loan, three savings buckets, a wedding fund and a small photography side business. A bar across the top says you are in it. Every feature works, but nothing can be saved: any attempt to change something is answered with a reminder, and your own numbers are never read into it. Leave the sample brings your own ledger straight back.

Household and partner

Invite your partner

Under the Household feature, or Settings → Household & partner, Create an invite link. Send the link, or read them the code (it looks like CEDAR-XXXXXX) to type under their own Settings → Household. An invite works once and expires; make a new one if it lapses. Your partner signs up with their own email and password (or Google or Apple), and their first screen walks them through the same five steps, because their ledger is their own.

What your partner sees

Each of you keeps your own ledger. A household member always sees your totals: net worth, and this month's income and spending. Everything past that is your choice, under Settings → Household & partner: Totals only (the default) or Everything, which lets them read your debts, savings, goals, holdings, income and spending, read-only. Change it any time. The Household feature shows the two of you combined; the Monthly Review can switch to a joint view once both ledgers have a month in them.

Two-step sign-in for each person

Settings → Sign-in & security turns on two-step sign-in with any authenticator app and gives you recovery codes. It is per person, so each of you sets up your own. Cedar never asks for a bank password, a card number, or a government ID.

Leaving a household

Settings → Household & partner → Leave. You keep your entire ledger; only the combined view ends. If you were the owner, your partner becomes the owner. On a household plan, the second person's coverage ends when they leave the household (see Plan & billing).

Features, one by one

Every feature can be added, removed, moved and resized from your account menu (your initials, top right). Removing a feature hides it; its numbers stay.

Overview and Safe to Spend

ShowsThis month's income, expenses, net cash flow and savings rate; cash and savings, investments, total debt and net worth; and the gold-ringed Safe to Spend tile. Fed byEverything: the ledger, savings buckets, holdings and debts, plus recurring items for Safe to Spend. First thingClick the Safe to Spend tile. It shows the exact math: income so far, bills still due this month, your planned savings, and what is left. Good to knowNet worth here excludes home equity. Cedar values holdings at their last close or the manual price you set.

Cash Flow (Income vs Expenses)

ShowsSix trailing months of income against spending for the selected view (Combined, or one business or person). Fed byIncome and expense rows. Recurring items count once they have posted. First thingImport a statement. One month of real data draws the first pair of bars. Good to knowThe month selector in the header moves every feature together, so the chart, Spending and the review always agree on which month you are looking at.

Spending by Category

ShowsWhere this month's money went, as a ring with a legend, with a tick mark on each category that has a budget, plus your spending limits. Fed byExpenses; budgets from Edit Budgets in the bar under the header. First thingSet a budget for the three categories that vary most (groceries, dining, fun). Then set one limit: Cedar emails you at 80% and again at the line, weekly limits reset on Monday and monthly ones on the 1st. Good to knowBudgets are per view, so a business can carry its own.

Transactions

ShowsThe register: every dollar in and out, searchable by description, source, category and method, for the selected month or all time. Fed byImports, the card feed, manual entries and the recurring poster. First thingSearch for Uncategorized and fix each row. In the import preview, the fix becomes a rule. Good to knowClick any row to edit or delete it. A business expense gets + write-off here, which is how Tax Write-Offs fills.

Statement Import

ShowsThe live card feed (transactions waiting for your OK), the accounts you have set up and when each last sent a statement, import history, and the drop zone. Fed byCSV, OFX/QFX and PDF statements you drop in; bank alert emails forwarded to your private feed address. First thingDrop last month's statement. Check the date, description and amount columns Cedar picked, tell it whether spending is negative or positive in this file, fix a few categories, and import. Good to knowRows that match something already in the ledger are flagged before import, so importing the same statement twice does not double your month.

Recurring

ShowsEvery bill and paycheck that posts itself, with the day it posts and when it last did; below it, the subscription auditor, which lists subscriptions it spotted in your history and any that crept up in price. Fed byItems you add here (or in the walkthrough) and your transaction history for the auditor. First thingAdd rent, utilities, insurance and your paycheck. Toggle an item off to pause it without deleting it. Good to knowThe poster runs daily at 6 AM and catches up if a day is missed. Recurring items are what Safe to Spend and the Bill Calendar read.

Bill Calendar

ShowsThe selected month as a grid: recurring bills in gold, debt payments in cedar (set a due day on any debt), wedding payments in green. Fed byRecurring items, debts with a due day, wedding vendor payments. First thingSync to Apple / Google gives you a private calendar link. Subscribe once on your phone and the next twelve months of bills sit beside your real life and update on their own. Good to knowTreat the calendar link like a password. You can generate a new one any time; the old one stops working.

Monthly Review

ShowsThe five-minute money date: the month's tiles, what moved against last month, budget verdicts, the needs / wants / future-you split, net worth, and Cedar's written take. Fed byThe whole ledger for the month you pick with the arrows. A joint view appears once your partner's ledger has a month in it and they share it. First thingOn the 1st, walk it together, decide one lever for next month, then Mark reviewed to seal the month. Print / Save PDF makes the paper copy. Good to knowClassify categories is where you tell Cedar which categories are needs, wants or future you. The weekly digest email (Mondays at 6 AM) can be switched off from here.

Steady Paycheck

ShowsFor income that swings (commission, freelance, a side business): a recommended flat monthly salary, the buffer that absorbs the swings, and how this month compares. Fed byThree or more months of income history. First thingImport older statements so it has history, then turn it on with the salary it suggests. Fat months feed the buffer; lean months draw from it, and Safe to Spend starts using your steady number instead of the raw month. Good to knowIt stays quiet until it has three months to look at.

Savings & Goals (buckets)

ShowsEach savings bucket with its institution, balance, monthly contribution, APY and target, and the date it gets there at the current pace. Fed byBuckets you add with + Savings/Goal. First thingAdd your emergency fund with today's balance and what you move into it each month. Click it later to update the balance. Good to knowA bucket named Wedding fund is what the Wedding Command Center watches. Bucket balances count toward cash and savings on the Overview.

Goals & Rewards

ShowsMilestones with a number, a date, and the reward you earn when you hit it. Fed byGoals you add here; click one to update progress. First thingPick one goal for the next ninety days and attach a real reward. It works better than it sounds. Good to knowGoals are separate from savings buckets: a bucket is where money sits, a goal is a finish line.

Debt

ShowsEvery balance with its APR, minimum, any extra payment, and the payoff order; a due-day detective that spots payment days from your history. Fed byDebts you add with + Debt. First thingEnter each debt with its rate and minimum. Set a due day so the payment lands on the Bill Calendar. Good to knowSAVE pause marks a loan with $0 due while interest accrues (an income-driven student loan, for instance); the simulator leaves it out. ✎ marks a payoff rank you set by hand.

Debt Payoff Simulator

ShowsWhat an extra monthly amount does to every debt's payoff date, under snowball (smallest balance first) or avalanche (highest rate first), with payments rolling over as each debt dies. Fed byThe Debt feature. First thingSlide Extra / month to $100 and read the difference in months and interest. Then decide. Good to knowThe slider changes nothing on its own. To make it real, set an extra payment on the debt itself.

Savings Plans

ShowsThree ways to reach a goal, built from your last three months of real spending: Easy, Medium and Hard, each with the cuts it makes and what it frees per month. Fed byYour spending history; the wedding date, when there is one, sets the horizon. First thingRead the three before applying one. Applying a plan rewrites your monthly budgets to match; Restore previous budgets undoes it. Good to knowProtected categories (rent, insurance, debt, giving, medical, business costs) are never cut.

Money Moves

ShowsAdvice as action items, grouped by category, with a done count. Fed byMoves you add, and ones Cedar suggests in its monthly take. First thingAdd the one thing you keep meaning to do (open the SEP-IRA, cancel the gym, move the deposit). Check it off when life happens. Good to knowClick the text of any move to edit it.

Wedding Command Center

ShowsThe fund, the pace it is filling at, every vendor payment with its due date and paid state, and a crunch warning when the payments ahead outrun the fund. Fed byA savings bucket named Wedding fund and the vendor payments you add here. First thingAdd each vendor payment with its due date. The countdown runs to the last one, and every payment appears on the Bill Calendar in green. Good to knowThe Big Goal Saver layout turns this on for you.

College Funds

ShowsOne fund per child: balance, monthly contribution, expected return, and a projection compounded monthly to the target year. Fed byFunds you add with + Add a child. First thingEnter the balance and the contribution, and use a modest expected return. Good to knowCollege balances show beside investments on the Overview and stay out of your monthly spending. If you use a 529, check your state's tax rules.

Tax Write-Offs

ShowsWhat you marked as a business write-off, totaled by Schedule C line, by month and by quarter; mileage at the IRS rate for the trip date; a home-office line; missing receipts; and possible duplicates. Fed byExpenses marked + write-off in Transactions and tagged to a line; the mileage log; auto-tag rules. First thingPick the business in the entity selector (Schedule C is filed per business), mark last month's business expenses, and set an auto-tag rule for the ones that repeat. Good to knowCedar totals what you marked. It never decides what qualifies, and none of this is tax advice. Export CSV for my CPA gives them the year in one file.

Investments

ShowsYour holdings with units, cost basis and value at the last close (or a price you set), plus Roth IRA contributions against the year's limit. Fed byHoldings you add with + Holding; prices from the Watchlist's refresh. First thingEnter each holding from your brokerage statement. Click one later to update units or cost. Good to knowValue over time, not advice. Nothing here recommends a trade.

Market Watchlist

ShowsCharts for the positions you own and the tickers you follow, with ↻ Prices pulling the latest closes into every ticker. Fed byTickers you add with + Watch Ticker, and your holdings. First thingAdd the two or three tickers you actually own, refresh prices, and let the Overview value your investments. Good to knowA ticker you follow but do not own counts for nothing in your net worth. Market history proves nothing about the future.

Chart Studio

ShowsAny chart you build: pick a type, a range, and any mix of expense and income categories. Fed byThe ledger. First thingChart groceries against dining out over the last six months. Most households learn something from that one. Good to knowThe Combined view and the per-business views each draw their own chart.

Household

ShowsHousehold net worth and combined debt, and a row per member with net worth, income and spending for the month, with view where a member shares detail. Fed byBoth ledgers, through each person's sharing choice. First thingInvite your partner. Until then it says Just you so far and offers the invite. Good to knowTwo people per household. Each keeps their own ledger and their own sign-in.

Importing, feeds and receipts

Statement files

CSV from any bank or card works: Cedar reads the header, proposes which columns are the date, description and amount, and asks whether spending is negative or positive in this file. OFX and QFX need no mapping. PDF statements are read line by line and turned into the same preview. Every import is tied to an account (the source strip on the import feature), so Cedar can tell you which account has not sent a statement lately.

The live card feed

Your bank already offers free transaction alert emails. Connect your cards on Statement Import gives you a private feed address; point your bank's alerts at it and each swipe shows up in the feed within minutes, waiting for your OK. Nothing enters the ledger until you approve it. Treat the address like a password: anyone who has it could send fake alerts into your review inbox (never your ledger). Generate a new one any time.

Receipts

Any expense can carry a receipt (a photo, a PDF, or a HEIC straight from an iPhone). Tax Write-Offs lists deductible expenses that lack one. Receipts are stored privately with your account; Tax Write-Offs offers to clear out old ones.

Bills on your calendar

Sync to Apple / Google on the Bill Calendar gives you a private subscription link. Apple Calendar, Google Calendar and Outlook all refresh it on their own for the next twelve months.

Ask Cedar and privacy

What it can see. Ask Cedar answers from your real numbers. Each question carries a summary of your balances, debts, goals, holdings and recent expenses, with account numbers and emails from statements masked first. It reads only this household's data and will not talk about anything else.

Where it runs. Settings → Ask Cedar & privacy has three choices: Cloudflare only (the default; the model runs on the same infrastructure that hosts Cedar), External AI (sharper answers through Anthropic's commercial API, which does not train on your requests), or Off, where nothing is ever sent to a model and the ledger works fully without it.

Questions that work well. What changed this month? What did we spend on groceries last month? When is our next bill due? How long to pay off the card at $300 a month? Are we over budget anywhere? What is our savings rate this year? The answer opens in a window you can drag anywhere and keep open while you look at your numbers.

Your data. Settings → Your data exports every table as one JSON file, any time. Deleting your account removes it and every row tied to it; there is no undo, so export first.

Settings and billing

Settings lives in your account menu (your initials, top right).

Profile: your name, light or dark, and your sharing choice. Household & partner: invites, what your partner sees, leaving. Businesses & people: the entities your ledger files under (a side business, a child, a rental); add as many as you need, rename or merge them. Your page: layouts and which features are on. Ask Cedar & privacy: where AI runs, or off. Sign-in & security: password, Google and Apple sign-in, two-step sign-in and recovery codes, signing out everywhere. Connections: optional bank connections (Plaid, in beta); statement import and the card feed work without it. Your data: export and delete.

Plan & billing

During the invite-only beta, Cedar & Coin is free while we build, and every account will get notice by email before billing begins. When it does: every new account starts with a 30-day free trial with full access and no card; a single plan covers one person at $6.99 a month or $59 a year; a household plan covers two people who share a household at $9.99 a month or $89 a year. Payment runs on Stripe's hosted pages and Cedar never sees your card. Cancel any time under Settings → Plan & billing; access runs to the end of what you paid for. A yearly plan is refunded in full if you ask within 14 days of the charge. If a plan ends, your ledger stays, read-only, with sign-in, export and deletion still available. The Terms have the full wording.

Video guides

Short videos that mirror the sections above, one per step and one per feature, are being recorded. Until they are here, every feature carries a first-visit note with a link back to this page, and the sample household is the fastest way to see a feature working with real-looking numbers.

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