Getting Started with Tally
A step-by-step guide to setting up your account and getting the most out of every feature.
In This Guide
Sign Up & Profile Setup
Create Your Account
Go to app.thetally.io and click Sign Up.
Enter your name, email, and password — or click Sign up with Google for one-click registration.
Check your inbox and click the verification link to activate your account.
Log in. You'll land on a welcome screen that introduces the six areas of Tally: Income, Expenses, Assets, Liabilities, Forecasts, and Budgets. Click Get Started.
Complete Your Profile
The next screen asks for four fields. These power your lifetime forecast — the more accurate they are, the better your projections. All can be changed later from Profile in the sidebar.
Connect Your Accounts
Navigate to Connections in the sidebar. This page is your hub for all data sources. You have four options — use whichever fits your setup.
Plaid (Recommended)
Click Connect Bank Account in the Bank / Credit Card Connections section.
Search for your bank in the Plaid popup and log in with your bank credentials.
Select which accounts to share (checking, savings, credit cards, etc.).
Transactions import automatically. Balances sync daily.
Tip: Connect multiple banks by clicking Connect Another Bank. Use Sync All to refresh all connections at once.
SnapTrade (For Brokerages)
Click Connect Brokerage in the Brokerage Connections section. SnapTrade syncs investment positions with market values, cost basis, and individual holdings. Use Sync Holdings to refresh positions.
Tiller & CSV
If you use Tiller (Google Sheets bank feeds), click Connect Google Account, then select your spreadsheet. For manual imports, click Manual CSV Importat the top of the Connections page.
Link Accounts to Assets & Liabilities
After connecting, Tally discovers your accounts and prompts you to link each one to an Asset or Liability record. This step is critical — it's what connects your live bank balances to your forecast, net worth tracking, and asset performance.
After connecting a bank, an account discovery flow appears showing each discovered account.
For each account, Tally suggests a match based on name and type. You can accept the suggestion, pick a different record, or Create New to add a fresh asset/liability.
You can also skip accounts you don't want to track and come back to link them later from Connections → Manage Accounts.
Why this matters: Unlinked accounts won't show up in your net worth or forecast. If your forecast numbers look off, check that all accounts are linked.
Categorize & Review Transactions
When transactions import, Tally auto-categorizes them through a 3-tier pipeline. All auto-categorized transactions are marked unreviewed — nothing is finalized until you approve it.
How Auto-Categorization Works
Each imported transaction runs through these tiers in order. The first match wins:
If no tier matches, the transaction stays Uncategorized. You can set up category mappings in Settings → Category Mappings to improve Tier 1 matching over time.
The Review Flow
A badge on the Transactions nav item shows how many transactions need review.
Click Transactions in the sidebar. A banner at the top says "X transaction(s) need your review." Click Review Now.
Scan the list. Change any categories that look wrong by clicking the category and selecting a new one from the dropdown.
When you're satisfied, click Approve All to confirm everything at once. Or select specific transactions and use Assign Category for bulk changes.
Tip: The more you review, the smarter Tier 2 (Description History) becomes. After you've categorized a merchant twice, it auto-applies going forward.
Build Your Financial Picture
Each of these feeds directly into your forecast. Add them from their respective pages in the sidebar. The Setup Guide checklist will walk you through each one.
Income
Add all income sources — salary, freelance, dividends, rental, Social Security. For each, specify:
- Annual amount and growth rate
- Type — Earned, Investment, Retirement, Other
- Subtype — W2 Salary, 1099, Qualified Dividends, Capital Gains, etc.
- Tax treatment — Ordinary, Qualified Dividend, Capital Gains, Tax-Free
- Start/end dates — when the income begins and ends
Sidebar → Income → Add Income
Expenses
Add recurring expenses — housing, food, insurance, subscriptions, childcare. For each, specify:
- Annual amount and inflation rate
- Difficulty — Hard (mortgage), Medium (dining), Easy (subscriptions)
- Frequency and date range
Shortcut: Go to Expenses and click Generate from History. The AI analyzes your transactions and suggests recurring expenses automatically.
Sidebar → Expenses → Add Expense
Assets
Track everything you own. 40+ types supported including:
- Retirement — 401(k), IRA, Roth IRA, HSA, 529
- Investment — Brokerage, Stocks, Bonds, Crypto
- Cash — Checking, Savings, Money Market, CDs
- Property — Primary Residence, Investment Property, Vehicle
Set current value, growth rate, and monthly contributions (with optional employer match).
Sidebar → Assets → Add Asset
Liabilities
Track all debts. 14 types including mortgage, auto loan, credit card, student loan, HELOC. For each:
- Balance, interest rate, monthly payment, term
- Payment strategy — Minimum, fixed amount, pay off ASAP, or total monthly
- Linked asset — connect mortgage to home, auto loan to vehicle
- Extra payments and payoff events
Tally calculates full amortization schedules and projects when each debt will be paid off.
Sidebar → Liabilities → Add Liability
Your Lifetime Forecast
Navigate to Live Forecast in the sidebar. This is the heart of Tally.
The forecast engine takes all your income, expenses, assets, liabilities, tax profile, and Social Security projections — and computes a year-by-year projection from today through your life expectancy. Over 50 data columns are available.
What You'll See
- Year-by-year table — income, expenses, taxes, net worth, and more for every year of your life
- Net Worth chart — visual trajectory of your total and liquid net worth
- Column picker — click the settings icon to choose which of the 50+ columns to display
- Tax breakdown — federal, state, FICA, NIIT, capital gains computed per year
Your Runway Number
The single most important number in Tally: the projected age when your liquid assets run out. It's shown on your dashboard and updates every time your financial data changes. Every decision you model affects this number.
| Age | Income | Expenses | Taxes | Net Worth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | $165,000 | $98,000 | $38,200 | $820,000 |
| 50 | $195,000 | $112,000 | $44,800 | $1,640,000 |
| 60 | $225,000 | $128,000 | $51,200 | $2,450,000 |
| 67 | $92,000 | $135,000 | $18,400 | $2,180,000 |
| 75 | $88,000 | $145,000 | $16,800 | $1,620,000 |
| 85 | $94,000 | $162,000 | $17,600 | $680,000 |
Dashboard & Setup Guide
Your Dashboard
Home in the sidebar shows your dashboard — a customizable grid of financial cards. Click the icon to show or hide cards. Click to refresh all data.
Available cards include:
The Setup Guide
A Setup Guide button appears in the top bar for new accounts. It tracks 13 steps to fully configure your account. Each step links to the relevant page and includes a Learn More guide with detailed instructions.
You don't need to complete everything at once — come back anytime. Items can be dismissed if they don't apply to you.
Sidebar Navigation Reference
Here's what each section of the app does. All are accessible from the left sidebar.
Budgets, Scenarios & More
Once your accounts are connected and financial records are in place, these features help you plan ahead and stay on track.
Budgets
Create an annual budget from Budget in the sidebar. Three ways to start:
- From Forecast — pre-fill from your income and expense projections
- From Prior Year — seed from last year's actual transactions
- Manual — start from scratch
Each line item has monthly override capability for seasonal variation. Track budget vs. actuals throughout the year from Reports.
What-If Scenarios
Navigate to Scenarios to model life changes without altering your real data.
Click New Scenario and give it a name (e.g., "Early Retirement at 55").
Add overrides to specific records — change income amounts, asset growth rates, contribution amounts, or liability payments for specific year ranges.
Click Compare to see your scenario forecast side-by-side with the baseline.
Asset Performance
Navigate to Reports → Asset Performance to see real appreciation for any account, asset, or the full portfolio:
- Pick an interval (YTD, 1Y, 3Y, 5Y, or a custom range)
- See time-weighted return with contributions and withdrawals automatically stripped out
- Compare each asset's actual return against its assumed growth rate
The engine runs live — no monthly ritual required. New transactions are reflected on the next page load.
Reports
Navigate to Reports in the sidebar. Available report types:
- Budget vs. Actuals — line-by-line variance with heatmaps
- P&L Statement — income statement with transaction drill-down
- Expense Report — spending by category with pie charts
- Net Worth History — net worth trend over time
- Year-End Comparison — side-by-side year-over-year
AI Assistant & Advisor
A chat icon floats in the bottom-right corner of every page. Click it to talk to an AI that has access to your financial data. It can:
- Answer questions ("What's my net worth?" "What's my savings rate?")
- Look up assets, liabilities, income, and expenses
- Help create or update financial records through conversation
- Calculate loan amortization schedules
For a deeper analysis, go to AI Advisor in the sidebar for personalized financial advice based on your complete picture.
Categories & Settings
Go to Settings in the sidebar to manage:
- Categories — add custom categories, organize groups, archive unused ones
- Category Mappings — map bank category names to your system categories for better auto-categorization
- Two-Factor Auth — enable TOTP 2FA for extra security
- Email Preferences — control notification emails