Maali

Guide

How to get things done in Maali. Search, or browse the topics below.

Type to filter the topics, or ask a full question and press Enter.

Getting started

Is my data private?Where your transactions live and what touches the network.
  • The app, your numbers, and the AI analyst all run on your own computer.
  • Turn off Wi-Fi and everything still works. Nothing is sent to a cloud service.
  • The only times Maali uses the internet are optional and few: a one-time AI model download, a bank connection you choose to set up, and an update check you can switch off that normally runs no more than once in 24 hours.
  • Want to verify? Run a firewall tool, or just turn off your Wi-Fi and keep using it.
Set up Maali for the first timeGo from a blank app to your first transactions.
  1. Maali opens to a short setup screen.
  2. Get your first transactions in: download CSV statements from your bank and drop them in.
  3. Import more than 12 months of history if you can. Maali's trends, forecasts, and Ask get better with a real baseline.
  4. Optionally set up the AI analyst (recommended, it sorts charges and answers questions).
  5. Open the full Settings to add more accounts or pick a color theme.
Open setup →
Add an accountTell Maali which accounts to track.
  1. Open Settings, then the Accounts card.
  2. Type a name, like “Amex Platinum”.
  3. Pick the type: Credit card, Bank account, or Cash.
  4. Tap Add. You can rename or remove it later (removing keeps its past charges, they just stop counting until you add it back).
Open Settings →

Getting your transactions in

Import transactions from a fileUpload a CSV your bank exports.
  1. Open Settings, then the Import transactions card.
  2. Drag in the CSV you downloaded from your bank, or choose the file.
  3. If it looks like an export from a supported budgeting app, Maali offers the guided import so its accounts, categories, and history come over together.
  4. Pick which account it belongs to, then tap Import.
  5. Maali shows how many new charges it added and how many it categorized for you.
  6. For a bank it doesn't recognize, it shows the columns it detected so you can confirm them (or flip which way is spending) before importing.
Open Settings →
Get years of history from your bankBring in as much past data as you can.
  • On your bank's website, export your transactions as a CSV.
  • Pick the widest date range the bank allows, then download each file.
  • Import each one into Maali.
  • Overlapping or re-imported files are safe, Maali skips charges it already has.
Open Settings →
Connect a bank for automatic updatesLink an account once so new charges arrive on their own (SimpleFIN).
  1. Open Settings, then the Bank connections card.
  2. Create an account at SimpleFIN and link your banks there. Your bank login stays on SimpleFIN's site, Maali never sees it.
  3. Paste the setup token SimpleFIN gives you into Maali and tap Connect.
  4. For each account, choose whether its transactions come in and whether its balance counts toward your Wealth.
  5. From then on, new charges sync in on their own and land in Review.
Open Settings →
Auto-import CSVs from a folder (advanced)Point your own export or automation at a folder. Maali imports new CSVs.
  1. Open Settings, then Import transactions, then the Import folder card.
  2. For an account, paste the absolute path to a folder and Save.
  3. Drop CSV exports into that folder (by hand, or with your own script or automation).
  4. Maali imports new files automatically, on open and when you press Sync now. It never logs into your bank.
  5. If the folder was paused while your bank was connected, whatever piled up in it is listed for you to review when you switch it back on, instead of being imported straight away.
Open Settings →
Add a cash expenseRecord spending that never hit a linked account.
  1. Open Cash (under the Spend tab).
  2. Fill in the date, amount, what it was for, and a category, then save.
  3. It counts toward your spending like any other charge.
  4. You can also set up a recurring cash entry (say, a weekly allowance) that posts itself on a schedule.
Open Cash →

Money in: income, refunds, transfers

Mark your paychecks as incomeTell Maali which deposits are income so it can track what you earn.
  1. Open Review.
  2. Find a paycheck or other deposit, tap its category, and choose “income”.
  3. Tap the checkmark to confirm.
  4. Maali also spots regular paychecks on its own and pre-files them under “Money in to sort” at the top of Review for you to confirm. Once marked, deposits count as income everywhere.
Open Review →
See money in vs money out this monthYour cash flow for the current month at a glance.
  1. Open Spend for the current month.
  2. Look for the “Cash flow this month” card.
  3. It shows money in so far, money out so far, and the net between them.
  4. The card appears once your usual payday has landed, so it doesn't flash a scary negative before you've been paid.
  5. Money that arrives in the last few days of a month is what you live on next month, so this card counts it toward the next month and says so. Your income totals and reports keep it in the month it arrived.
Open Spend →
How refunds workWhere returns and credits show up.
  • A refund (a return or a credit) lands as money back inside the same category you spent in, so it offsets that category instead of sitting in its own bucket.
  • Your headline spending stays honest: it shows what you charged, and the cash-flow card notes money that came back.
  • Refunds don't count as income, they're just money returned to a category.
Open Spend →
Handle transfers between your own accountsKeep money you move between accounts out of spending and income.
  1. When you move money between your own accounts (say, checking to savings), open Review and set that charge's category to “transfers”.
  2. That keeps it out of both your spending and your income totals.
  3. If both accounts are in Maali, mark both sides as transfers.
  4. See all your transfers anytime under Transfers on the Hidden page. If something landed there by mistake, change its category right on that list to count it as spending.
Open Review →
Ask what your income isGet an honest answer about what you earn.
  1. Open Ask and type “what's my income?”
  2. If you haven't marked income yet, Maali points you at the paycheck it found and asks you to mark it, rather than guessing.
  3. Once income is marked, it answers from your real income and shows a breakdown.
Open Ask →

Categorizing and tidying up

Review new chargesTriage charges as they come in.
  1. Open Review. New charges are grouped by merchant, with anything unusual under “Worth a look”.
  2. Tap the category on the merchant row to set or change it for all that merchant's charges. Expand the group to adjust a single charge on its own.
  3. Tap the checkmark to confirm a merchant (or use “All look right” for the rest).
  4. To hide a charge from your totals, pick “Hide from totals” in its category menu. It stays struck through so you can bring it back by picking a real category.
Open Review →
Fix one charge's categoryChange a single charge without affecting others.
  1. Open the charge from Review, or from a merchant or category list.
  2. Tap its category and pick the right one.
  3. This changes only that charge, and keeps it set even if a rule would say otherwise.
Open Review →
Categorize a whole merchant at onceSet a merchant's category for every charge, past and future.
  1. Open the merchant (or tap a merchant's category on any list).
  2. Choose the category.
  3. Maali writes a rule so every past and future charge from that merchant files there automatically.
Open Merchants →
Automatically tag a merchantAdd a cross-cutting label to this merchant's past and future charges.
  1. Open a charge's tag picker and choose a tag, then choose the merchant option. Or open the merchant page and use the Tag button.
  2. Keep the history checkbox selected if you want the tag added to past charges too.
  3. For a one-off exception, remove the automatic tag from that charge only. On the merchant page each automatic tag is a chip: the x next to it stops the tag for that merchant.
Open Merchants →
Why something is “uncategorized”How Maali sorts charges, and how to fix the leftovers.
  • Maali sorts each charge in this order: anything you set by hand, then your rules, then its built-in starter rules, then your bank's own label, and finally “uncategorized” if none of those knew the merchant.
  • “Uncategorized” just means none of those recognized it yet.
  • Fix it by setting the category once for that merchant, Maali remembers it from then on.
Open Review →
Organize the category menuGroup and reorder categories so they are easier to find.
  1. When you create a category, choose its menu group in the New category dialog.
  2. Open Categories and expand “Organize category menu” below the category list.
  3. Drag categories and groups into place, or use the arrow and “Move to” controls.
  4. Add, rename, or remove groups. Changes save automatically. Groups only change how category menus are arranged. They do not change charges, totals, budgets, or rules.
Organize category menu →
Make charges categorize themselvesRules so a merchant always lands in the right category.
  1. The quickest way to add a rule is to categorize a merchant, that writes one for you.
  2. Open Categories and expand Rules & checks at the bottom to see how charges are being sorted and spot any conflicts.
  3. Rules apply to a merchant's past and future charges.
  4. Rules & checks also flags cleanup work: redundant rules, split or drifting categories. Merchant aliases (unifying spellings of one merchant) live on the Merchants page.
Open Rules & checks →
Merge two names for the same merchantUnify spellings like “AMAZON.COM” and “Amazon”.
  1. Open one of the two merchant names.
  2. Tap Rename, type the name you want to keep, and Preview which charges it affects.
  3. Confirm. Now both names are one merchant, so a single rule covers them.
Open Merchants →
Record only my share of a chargeCount just your part of a split bill.
  1. Open the charge on a merchant or category list.
  2. Set your share, for example $50 of a $100 dinner.
  3. Maali uses your share everywhere it adds up spending. Clear it anytime to restore the full amount.
Open Merchants →
Hide a charge from your totalsRemove a transfer, mistake, or private item without deleting it.
  1. Pick “Hide from totals” in the charge's category menu: on Review, in any transaction list, or on the merchant page. (It's the same option everywhere.)
  2. It moves to the Hidden page and stops counting toward your totals.
  3. Open Hidden to bring it back whenever you want.
Open Hidden →
Duplicate chargesWhy you rarely see them, and what to do if you do.
  • Banks sometimes send the same charge twice, worded slightly differently across updates. Maali folds those together automatically when you import.
  • If you still see what looks like two of the same charge, it's most likely two genuinely separate charges (two coffees the same day, for instance).
  • Search for the merchant to see them side by side and check the details.
Open Search →

Understanding your spending

See where your money went this monthBreak this month down by category and merchant.
  1. Open Spend. The headline is what you've spent this month.
  2. “Where it went” breaks it down by category.
  3. Tap a category to see the merchants behind it, and a merchant to see its charges.
Open Spend →
Am I overspending this month?How to tell, without one big bill throwing it off.
  • On Spend, watch the “vs usual” chips on each category. They compare your pace by today's date against a typical month, so a single one-off bill doesn't read as overspending.
  • Open Compare to see this month against last month or against a typical month.
  • “Occasional” bills (taxes, a car repair) are paced over the year, not the month, so they don't make one month look alarming.
Open Compare →
Compare this month to last month or usualSee how this month stacks up.
  1. Open Compare.
  2. Switch between “vs last month” and “vs typical”.
  3. Part-way through a month, it compares the same span of days so it's a fair match.
Open Compare →

Bills and planning

Set a monthly budgetPut a limit on a category and track against it.
  1. Open Budgets.
  2. Pick a category and enter a monthly limit. Maali shows your typical spend to help you choose a number.
  3. Each month you'll see your spend against the limit, with a progress bar and status.
  4. Where there's enough history, a budget also shows your typical month in that category, so you can tell when a limit is set below what you normally spend.
Open Budgets →
See your subscriptions and recurring chargesEverything that bills you on a schedule.
  1. Open Recurring.
  2. Maali lists charges that repeat (found automatically) plus any you add yourself.
  3. It flags price increases and subscriptions that haven't charged in a while (“maybe gone”), so you can spot what to cancel.
Open Recurring →
Find ways to cut backSee what-if savings from dropping charges.
  1. Open Cost cutter. It opens on the spending you can realistically cut. Turn off “Hide essentials” to also see fixed bills like rent, groceries, and taxes.
  2. Check the merchants or individual charges you'd consider dropping.
  3. The bar shows how much you'd save over a year. Your picks are saved, so you can tick them off as you actually cancel.
Open Cost cutter →
Understand your month-end projectionSee what your on-track number includes and adjust what will not happen.
  1. Tap the “on track for” amount on Today to open The rest of your month.
  2. The page breaks the projection into what you've spent so far and what you typically still spend, category by category.
  3. Annual or seasonal bills like taxes and insurance are added in for the months they usually fall. Already paid one, or know it isn't coming this month? Tap that row and mark it done. Your pace drops to match.
Open the rest of your month →
See what's coming up this monthThe recurring charges likely to land before month-end.
  1. On Today, the “Coming up” card shows the next few recurring charges likely to hit before month-end, with rough dates and amounts.
  2. Tap “See everything coming up” for the complete list in expected-date order.
  3. To review or edit the full recurring inventory, tap “Manage all recurring charges” at the bottom of that page.
Open Coming up this month →
Project the rest of the yearA realistic full-year estimate with a likely range.
  1. Open Forecast.
  2. It shows what you've spent so far, a projected full-year total, and a likely range.
  3. You can pin an annual target on any category (the “Pin” button on its row) to plan against it.
Open Forecast →

Net worth and retirement

Track your net worthAdd what you own and owe to see the full picture.
  1. Open Manage (under the Wealth tab).
  2. Add your holdings and debts to create the list behind your net worth.
  3. Use Record balances for regular check-ins. Enter amounts that changed and leave the rest blank.
  4. Use Actions beside a holding or debt when you need to correct its current saved entry, rename it, or remove it from current balances.
Open Manage →
See your net worth and runway at a glanceThe big picture: trend, allocation, and breathing room.
  • Wealth shows your net worth and how it's changed.
  • “Asset mix” shows how it's split across cash, stocks, your home, and so on.
  • “Breathing room” shows how many months of spending you have banked and how far your investable assets get you toward financial independence.
Open Wealth →
Check if you're on track to retireA long-range projection from your savings.
  1. Make sure your balances are current under Manage.
  2. Open Retirement and pick a safe-withdrawal rate (3.5 / 4 / 4.5%).
  3. It shows the nest egg you'd need, what you've got invested, and how far along you are. Try the Lean or Aggressive scenario to see how spending less in retirement lowers the target.
Open Retirement →

The AI analyst

Ask a question about your moneyPlain-English questions, answered from your own data.
  1. Open Ask.
  2. Type a question like “where can I cut back?” or “am I on track to retire?”
  3. The AI answers from your own numbers, on your machine. The first question after opening can take around 30 seconds while the model warms up.
  4. Ask needs the AI analyst set up (see “Set up the local AI analyst”).
Open Ask →
See what changed (Noticed)The analyst's running list of things worth your attention.
  1. Open Noticed (under the Today tab).
  2. It surfaces things like spending running hot or cold, price changes, and unusual charges.
  3. Tap an item to see what's behind it, and dismiss ones you've handled.
Open Noticed →
Set up the local AI analystGet the on-device model running (it's optional).
  1. Open Settings, then the AI analyst card.
  2. Tap to download and run the built-in model, about 5 GB, one time, and it runs entirely on your computer.
  3. Or connect your own model (like Ollama or a server you run) under the advanced option.
  4. Everything else in Maali works without it.
Open Settings →
Turn the AI commentary on or offSilence (or restore) everything the AI writes.
  1. Open Settings, then the AI analyst card.
  2. Use “Turn on the AI analyst” to turn all AI-written text on or off.
  3. Turning it off doesn't remove the model, it just hides the commentary, Ask, and Noticed.
Open Settings →

Your data and settings

Change the app's appearanceChoose System, Light, or Dark, then pick an accent color.
  1. Open Settings, then the Appearance card.
  2. Choose System to follow your device, or keep Maali in Light or Dark mode.
  3. Pick an accent color: Daylight, Teal, Clay, Plum, or Ink.
Open Settings →
Back up your dataSave a full snapshot you can restore later.
  1. Open Settings, then the Your data card.
  2. Tap to download a backup, one file with every transaction, plus your categories, budgets, accounts, and net worth.
  3. Keep it somewhere safe. This is the file Maali can restore from Settings.
Open Settings →
Restore from a backupBring your data back, or move it to a new computer.
  1. Open Settings, then the Your data card.
  2. Under Restore, choose your backup file and confirm.
  3. Maali replaces its current data with that backup. Changes made after the backup was created are not kept. Maali opens the restored data when it can. If a restart is needed, it tells you.
Open Settings →
Export your transactions to a spreadsheetGet all your charges as a CSV.
  1. Open Settings, then the Your data card.
  2. Tap to download a CSV, all your transactions in a spreadsheet-ready file.
Open Settings →
Delete all your dataPermanently erase everything on this computer.
  1. Open Settings, then Your data.
  2. Tap Delete everything and confirm.
  3. This permanently erases every transaction and all local backups on this computer. Your license stays active. It can't be undone.
Open Settings →

Jump to a page · Today

Todayyour day at a glance→Askquestions in plain English→Noticedwhat changed→

Jump to a page · Spend

Monththis month's spending→Comparehow this month stacks up→Year12-month deep dive→Patternswhere it goes & how it moves→Manualmanual expenses→

Jump to a page · Plan

Recurringsubscriptions & charges→Budgetsset monthly limits→Forecastrest-of-year projection→Cost cutterwhat-if savings→

Jump to a page · Wealth

Overviewnet worth at a glance→Retirementare you on track→Goalssavings goals & progress→Incomemoney coming in→Manageholdings, liabilities & balances→

Jump to a page · Review

Inboxnew charges to check→Categoriesthe category ledger, rules & checks→Merchantsthe merchant directory & aliases→Tagslabels that cut across categories→Hiddennot counted in your totals→