Support

Help Centre

Everything you need to know about Comma.

🚀

Getting Started

What Comma is, how to start, and what you get for free.

6 articles

📊

Your Dashboard

Customise your home screen with draggable widgets.

6 articles

Comma Spark

Your animated financial pulse indicator.

5 articles

📄

Monthly Reports

Automated monthly scorecards with badges and PDF export.

4 articles

🏷️

Smart Categorisation

Automatic transaction categorisation with 2,400+ merchant patterns.

6 articles

🔄

Subscription Intelligence

Detect, track, and optimise recurring subscriptions.

6 articles

🏦

Tax Intelligence

Five tax engines, world comparison, and relocation modelling.

7 articles

❤️

Health Intelligence

Financial health scoring with locale-specific insight cards.

5 articles

📈

FIRE Dashboard

Financial Independence calculator with Monte Carlo simulation.

6 articles

⚠️

Gambling Tracker

Net position tracking, session reconstruction, and harm reduction.

8 articles

🔀

Interactive Planner

Sankey flow diagram with slider-based budget planning.

5 articles

🎯

Goals & Confidence Rings

Savings goals with dual progress/confidence ring visualisation.

6 articles

⛰️

Net Worth & Landscape

Balance sheet tracking with generative terrain visualisation.

5 articles

💰

Multi-Account

Import from multiple banks with transfer detection.

6 articles

💬

AI Chat

BYO-key AI financial advisor with direct browser-to-provider streaming.

5 articles

Command Palette

Quick search and navigation with keyboard shortcuts.

4 articles

📥

Export

Export your data in CSV, Excel, or PDF format.

4 articles

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Encryption & Privacy

AES-256-GCM encryption, zero-knowledge architecture.

6 articles

🏢

Bank Export Guides

Step-by-step CSV export instructions for major banks.

9 articles

💳

Account & Billing

Pricing tiers, payments, and account management.

6 articles

🔍

Search & Transactions

Full-text transaction search with category filtering and recategorisation.

3 articles

💡

Insights & Analytics

Day-of-week patterns, spending trends, heatmaps, and deep dives.

4 articles

🔒

Committed Spending

Fixed expenses like rent, insurance, and utilities.

2 articles

🏠

Property

Property assets, equity tracking, and mortgage balance.

1 articles

⚙️

Settings

Locale, preferences, data management, and account settings.

4 articles

🚀

Getting Started

What Comma is, how to start, and what you get for free.

What is Comma?

Comma is a private finance system — your financial life, finally understood. It turns your bank CSV exports into a visual dashboard with categorised spending, net worth tracking, tax intelligence, FIRE projections, and more. Everything runs in your browser; your data never touches our servers unencrypted.

Comma dashboard overview showing Spark, widgets, and financial summary
How do I get started?

Visit comma.finance and either click "Try demo" to explore with sample data, or upload your bank's CSV file immediately. No account required to start — Comma works entirely in your browser. When you're ready to save your data across sessions, create a free account.

  1. Click "Launch Demo" to explore with sample data, or "Upload CSV" to use your own bank export.
  2. If uploading, download a CSV from your bank's website (Transactions > Export > CSV).
  3. Comma auto-detects your bank format and categorises transactions instantly.
Which banks does Comma support?

Comma supports 35+ bank CSV formats across 5 countries: Australia (CBA, ANZ, NAB, Westpac, Macquarie, BankWest, Up Bank, St.George, BOQ), UK (Monzo, Starling, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds), US (Chase, Bank of America, Capital One, Amex, Discover), Canada (TD, RBC, BMO, Tangerine, Scotiabank, CIBC), New Zealand (ANZ NZ, ASB, BNZ, Westpac NZ, Kiwibank), plus global neobanks Revolut and Wise. If your bank isn't listed, Comma's column mapping tool lets you manually map any CSV format.

Is Comma free?

Comma has a generous free tier that includes the full dashboard, all tabs, smart categorisation, net worth tracking, Comma Spark, and 3 months of transaction history. Pro ($149 AUD one-time) adds 12 months of history, AI chat, goal projections, tax planning tools, and deep dive analytics. Lifetime ($299 AUD one-time) adds unlimited history, household mode, and every future feature. No subscriptions — you pay once.

What is demo mode?

Demo mode loads a realistic sample dataset for your detected locale (AU, UK, US, NZ, or CA) so you can explore every feature without uploading your own data. The demo includes 8 months of transactions, subscriptions, net worth history, and goals. A "Demo data" badge appears on each screen so you always know when you're viewing sample data versus your own.

Why does Comma use CSV files instead of connecting directly to my bank?

Bank API connections (like Plaid or Yodlee) require sharing your banking credentials with a third party, creating a permanent data pipeline that can be breached. Comma's CSV approach means your bank never knows Comma exists, no third party holds your credentials, and you control exactly which data enters the app. The tradeoff is a manual export step every few weeks — but your data stays yours.

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Your Dashboard

Customise your home screen with draggable widgets.

What is the widget canvas?

The dashboard home screen is a customisable canvas of widgets — each one is a live summary card for a different part of your finances (spending pace, savings rate, net worth, goals, subscriptions, and more). You can add, remove, resize, and reorder widgets to build the dashboard that matters to you.

Dashboard widget canvas showing multiple financial summary cards
How do I add or remove widgets?

Click the "Customise dashboard" button (paintbrush icon) in the YOUR DASHBOARD section header. This opens the Widget Gallery where you can toggle any of the 18 available widgets on or off. Changes apply instantly with smooth FLIP transitions.

Can I resize widgets?

Each widget supports three sizes: Small (S), Medium (M), and Large (L). Open the Widget Gallery via the customise button and adjust the size selector for any widget. Larger sizes show more data — for example, the Cash Flow widget at size L shows a full income-vs-spending area chart, while at size S it shows just the headline number and sparkline.

What are layout presets?

Presets are pre-configured widget arrangements for common use cases. Choose from options like "Overview" (balanced view), "Investor" (net worth and FIRE focused), or "Budgeter" (spending and categories focused). Selecting a preset instantly rearranges your widgets — you can then customise further from there.

How does the dashboard work on mobile?

On mobile, the dashboard switches to a story-mode layout — widgets stack vertically as tappable cards instead of a grid. The Comma Spark hero sits at the top, followed by horizontally scrollable summary cards (categories, goals, subscriptions, net worth). Each card links to its full tab for deeper exploration. A bottom navigation bar provides quick access to Home, Accounts, Spending, Search, and a Menu drawer for all other tabs.

Mobile view of Comma dashboard with story-mode widget cards
What is the "Your Briefing" section?

Your Briefing is a contextual notification area at the top of the dashboard. It shows actionable items like uncategorised transactions, stale CSV uploads, missing net worth snapshots, or goals that need attention. Each briefing item links directly to the relevant screen so you can take action in one tap.

Comma Spark

Your animated financial pulse indicator.

What is Comma Spark?

Comma Spark is your animated financial pulse — a living comma symbol that reflects your current financial state. It sits at the top of your dashboard and in the sidebar, pulsing and changing colour based on your income-vs-spending ratio for the current month. Think of it as a heartbeat monitor for your money.

Comma Spark widget showing the Thriving state with green pulse
What do the five Spark states mean?

Thriving (green, large pulse): surplus is more than 20% of income — you're saving strongly. Healthy (green, moderate pulse): positive surplus between 5-20% of income. Tight (amber, gentle pulse): spending is within 5% of income either way — on the edge. Stressed (red, tilted): spending exceeds income this month. No Data (grey, flat): no transactions uploaded yet — upload data to bring your Spark to life.

How is Spark calculated?

Spark calculates the ratio of (income minus spending) divided by income for the current month. If the ratio is above 0.2 (20%+ surplus), you're Thriving. Between 0.05 and 0.2 is Healthy. Within 5% either way is Tight. Below -0.05 is Stressed. If there's no data at all, it shows the flatline state.

What does the Spark hover card show?

Hovering over Spark reveals a detail card with your monthly income, spending, and net surplus/deficit as exact figures. It also shows the current state label (e.g. "THRIVING"), a contextual message (e.g. "All clear — surplus on track at $6,927/mo"), your surplus streak count, savings rate percentage, and quick-action buttons to view your trend or check goals.

Why did my Spark state change?

Spark recalculates whenever your transaction data updates — uploading a new CSV, the month rolling over, or recategorising transactions can all shift your income/spending ratio across a threshold. Check the Spark hover card to see the exact numbers driving your current state.

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Monthly Reports

Automated monthly scorecards with badges and PDF export.

What is the Monthly Report?

The Monthly Report is an automated scorecard that grades your financial month on a 0-100 composite score. It evaluates savings rate, spending consistency, category distribution, and goal progress, then awards badges for achievements like "Saver" or "Under Budget." Reports generate automatically at month-end from your uploaded data.

How is the composite score calculated?

The composite score (0-100) blends weighted metrics: savings rate (how much you saved vs earned), spending velocity (whether you front-loaded or spread spending), category health (diversity of spending, no single category dominating), and goal progress (movement toward your targets). Each metric contributes to the overall grade — A+ through F.

What are report badges?

Badges are achievements earned each month based on specific criteria — for example, "Surplus Streak" for consecutive months in the green, "Budget Master" for staying under target in all categories, or "Goal Getter" for hitting a savings milestone. Badges appear on your report card and build up over time as a history of financial wins.

Can I export my monthly report as a PDF?

The Monthly Report can be exported as a formatted PDF via the Export tab. The PDF includes your composite score, all badges earned, category breakdowns, and trend charts — useful for sharing with a partner or financial advisor. All PDF generation happens client-side using jsPDF; nothing is sent to a server.

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Smart Categorisation

Automatic transaction categorisation with 2,400+ merchant patterns.

How does auto-categorisation work?

When you import a CSV, each transaction description is matched against locale-specific merchant pattern libraries — over 1,400 patterns across AU, UK, US, CA, NZ, and global merchants. Uber and UberEats are properly separated, BNPL providers (Afterpay, Klarna) are detected, and gambling transactions are flagged automatically. Unmatched transactions appear as "other" for you to categorise with one tap.

Categories tab showing spending breakdown with proportional bars
How many categories does Comma support?

Comma has 60 spending categories covering everything from groceries, dining, and transport to subscriptions, health, insurance, childcare, and gambling. Categories are grouped visually with proportional bars showing relative spending. You can hide categories you don't use via Settings > Categories.

How do I fix a wrong category?

Go to the Search tab, find the transaction, and tap it to change its category. Comma learns from your corrections — once you categorise a merchant, all future transactions from that merchant are automatically assigned the same category. Your custom rules are saved to localStorage and persist across sessions.

Can I create custom categorisation rules?

When you recategorise a transaction in Search, Comma extracts the merchant pattern and creates a rule that applies to all matching transactions — past and future. These user rules take priority over the built-in merchant patterns. Rules are stored locally and applied during CSV processing via the applyUserRules pipeline.

Are merchant patterns different for each country?

Each supported locale (AU, UK, US, CA, NZ) has its own merchant pattern library tuned to local retailers, banks, and services. Australian patterns recognise Woolworths, Coles, and Medicare; UK patterns know Tesco, Sainsbury's, and NHS; US patterns match Walmart, Target, and Kaiser. Global patterns (Apple, Google, Amazon, Netflix) apply everywhere.

Can Comma flag tax-deductible transactions?

With Pro or Lifetime, Comma's tax intelligence automatically flags transactions that may be tax-deductible based on merchant patterns and category — for example, work-related expenses, professional memberships, or health insurance premiums. Flagged transactions appear with a tax badge in Categories and are summarised in the Tax tab.

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Subscription Intelligence

Detect, track, and optimise recurring subscriptions.

How does Comma detect my subscriptions?

Comma scans your transaction history for recurring charges from the same merchant at regular intervals (weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually). It uses frequency analysis and amount clustering to distinguish genuine subscriptions from one-off purchases at the same store. Detection improves with more transaction history — 3+ months gives the best results.

Subscriptions tab showing detected recurring charges with orbit visualisation
What is the Subscription Orbit?

The Subscription Orbit is a visual representation of all your active subscriptions arranged in concentric rings by billing frequency. Monthly subscriptions orbit closest to the centre, quarterly further out, and annual subscriptions on the outer ring. Each subscription is shown as a branded icon node — the visual makes it instant to see how many recurring charges you have and when they're due.

What is Subscription Drift?

Drift detection tracks price changes in your subscriptions over time. When Netflix raises your plan from $15.99 to $17.99, Comma flags it as a drift event with the exact dollar increase and percentage change. This surfaces "stealth" price hikes you might not notice on your bank statement.

What is Overlap Detection?

Overlap Detection identifies subscriptions that serve the same purpose — for example, paying for both Spotify and Apple Music, or both Disney+ and Stan. Comma categorises each subscription by function (music streaming, video streaming, cloud storage, etc.) and flags where you're double-paying. It suggests which one to consider cancelling based on your actual usage patterns.

What is Cost-Per-Use?

Cost-Per-Use divides each subscription's monthly cost by how often you actually use the service (estimated from transaction patterns and engagement signals). A $15/month gym membership you visit 20 times costs $0.75 per use — great value. A $12/month streaming service you haven't used in 6 weeks has an infinite cost-per-use — a cancellation candidate.

What if Comma detects a subscription that isn't one?

Some recurring purchases (like a weekly coffee order) can look like subscriptions. You can dismiss false positives from the Subscriptions tab — dismissed items won't reappear. Comma also distinguishes between true subscriptions (fixed recurring charges) and frequent purchases (variable amounts at the same merchant).

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Tax Intelligence

Five tax engines, world comparison, and relocation modelling.

What tax systems does Comma support?

Comma includes full tax engines for five countries: Australia (progressive brackets, LITO, Medicare levy, HECS-HELP, salary sacrifice, superannuation), United Kingdom (income tax bands, personal allowance, National Insurance, ISA, pension relief), United States (federal brackets, FICA, standard deduction, 401k, HSA), Canada (federal + Ontario provincial, CPP, EI, RRSP, TFSA), and New Zealand (income tax, ACC levy, KiwiSaver). Each engine calculates to the cent using current-year rates.

Tax Intelligence showing bracket visualiser and full breakdown
What is the bracket visualiser?

The bracket visualiser shows your income split across each tax bracket as proportional coloured segments. You can see exactly how much of your income falls in each bracket and the marginal rate applied to each portion. An info tooltip explains that your top bracket rate is not your effective rate — each bracket only applies to income within that range, not your entire salary.

What does the World Salary Map show?

The World Salary Map compares your take-home pay across all five supported countries simultaneously. Enter your gross salary once, and Comma calculates net income, total tax, and effective rate for each country. A PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) toggle adjusts for cost-of-living differences — $100k in Sydney buys less than $100k in Wellington. The "BEST" badge highlights the country where you'd keep the most.

World Salary Map comparing take-home pay across five countries
What is the Relocate solver?

The Relocate tool models moving from your current country to another. It shows side-by-side tax breakdowns for your current location and your target, including the net difference in take-home pay, equivalent gross salary needed to maintain your current lifestyle, and country-specific retirement vehicle comparisons (super vs 401k vs KiwiSaver). Useful for anyone considering an international move.

Tax Relocate tool comparing current and target country tax breakdowns
What tax planning tools are available?

Pro and Lifetime users can model salary sacrifice, pension contributions, 401(k) optimisation, HECS repayment scenarios, and deduction impacts. Each planning tool shows the before/after effect on your take-home pay and effective tax rate. These are interactive sliders — adjust contributions in real time to find your optimal tax position.

Does Comma flag potential tax deductions?

With Pro or Lifetime, Comma scans your categorised transactions for items that commonly qualify as tax deductions — work-related expenses, professional development, union fees, home office costs, and more. Flagged transactions appear with a tax icon in Categories and are summarised in the Tax tab with a one-click export for your accountant.

Is my tax data private?

All tax calculations run entirely in your browser using JavaScript. Your salary, tax breakdown, and planning scenarios are never sent to any server. The tax engines are pure functions that take a gross salary and return a calculation — no network requests, no analytics, no tracking.

❤️

Health Intelligence

Financial health scoring with locale-specific insight cards.

What is Health Intelligence?

Health Intelligence is a rule-based engine that scores your financial health across multiple dimensions — savings rate, debt ratio, spending volatility, category balance, and more. It generates insight cards that explain what each metric means for your situation, using locale-specific context (e.g. Medicare Levy Surcharge thresholds for AU, National Insurance bands for UK).

Health Intelligence tab showing ECG trace and insight cards
What is the ECG trace?

The ECG trace is an animated line that mimics a heartbeat monitor, visualising your financial "pulse" across health dimensions. Each peak represents a scored metric — the height and colour indicate how healthy that dimension is. Green peaks are strong areas, amber peaks need attention, and red peaks flag concerns. The animation plays on tab entry to draw your eye to the overall health pattern.

ECG trace animation showing financial health pulse across dimensions
What are health insight cards?

Insight cards are contextual explanations generated by a rule-based engine (not AI) that analyse your transaction data against financial benchmarks. There are 19 card templates covering topics like emergency fund adequacy, spending-to-income ratio, subscription burden, category concentration, and savings trajectory. Each card shows a score, a plain-English explanation, and an action you can take.

Are health cards different for each country?

Comma generates 12 locale-specific card types tailored to each country's financial system. Australian users see cards about Medicare Levy Surcharge thresholds and Lifetime Health Cover loading. UK users see National Insurance band analysis. US users see HSA and 401(k) contribution guidance. Each card references local rules, thresholds, and terminology relevant to your jurisdiction.

Does Health Intelligence use AI?

No. Health Intelligence is entirely rule-based — a deterministic engine that applies financial benchmarks and thresholds to your data. Every insight card is generated by a template with specific trigger conditions, not by a language model. This means results are reproducible, explainable, and don't require sending your data to any external service.

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FIRE Dashboard

Financial Independence calculator with Monte Carlo simulation.

What is the FIRE dashboard?

FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) is a movement focused on saving aggressively to reach a portfolio that sustains your living expenses indefinitely. Comma's FIRE dashboard calculates when you could reach financial independence based on your current savings rate, investment returns, and spending — with four different FIRE variants to choose from.

FIRE dashboard showing projection chart and Monte Carlo simulation
What are the four FIRE variants?

Regular FIRE: replace 100% of current spending with investment income. Lean FIRE: a frugal version targeting 60-80% of current spending. Fat FIRE: a comfortable version targeting 120-150% of spending. Coast FIRE: save enough by a certain age that compound growth alone carries you to retirement, even if you stop contributing. Each variant shows a different FI number and timeline.

What is Monte Carlo simulation?

Monte Carlo runs thousands of randomised market return scenarios to estimate the probability of your FIRE plan succeeding. Instead of assuming a fixed 7% annual return, it simulates realistic market volatility — some years up 25%, others down 15%. The result is a probability distribution: "You have a 78% chance of reaching FI by age 52." This is far more realistic than a single straight-line projection.

What is the Safe Withdrawal Rate?

The Safe Withdrawal Rate (SWR) is the percentage of your portfolio you can withdraw annually without running out of money over a 30+ year retirement. The classic "4% rule" suggests withdrawing 4% per year. Comma lets you adjust the SWR between 3% and 5% to see how it affects your FI number and timeline — a lower rate is more conservative but requires a larger portfolio.

Does FIRE account for inflation?

An inflation toggle adjusts all projections to show values in today's purchasing power. With inflation on, your FI number is higher (because future dollars buy less) and your timeline extends. With it off, you see nominal values. The toggle helps you understand the real cost of financial independence versus the headline number.

Does FIRE account for my country's retirement system?

FIRE projections include locale-specific retirement vehicles: Australian superannuation (11.5% employer contribution, preservation age), UK workplace pension (auto-enrolment, state pension age), US 401(k) (employer match, contribution limits), Canadian RRSP, and NZ KiwiSaver. These are factored into your Coast FIRE calculation and overall FI timeline.

⚠️

Gambling Tracker

Net position tracking, session reconstruction, and harm reduction.

What is the Gambling Tracker?

The Gambling Tracker analyses your transaction history to surface gambling-related spending in a dedicated, judgement-free dashboard. It shows your net gambling position (total deposits minus withdrawals), reconstructs individual sessions, detects chasing behaviour, and provides a calendar heatmap of gambling frequency. The feature is opt-in, hidden by default, and completely free — no tier gating.

Gambling Tracker showing net position, sessions, and harm reduction resources
What is my net gambling position?

Your net position is the total of all deposits to gambling merchants minus all withdrawals (winnings). Comma auto-detects gambling transactions from merchant patterns (TAB, Sportsbet, Ladbrokes, PokerStars, etc.) across all supported banks. The number is presented clearly as a cumulative total — most people are surprised by the figure when they see all gambling spending aggregated.

How does session reconstruction work?

Comma groups gambling transactions into sessions based on timing — deposits and withdrawals that occur within a short window are clustered into a single "session." Each session shows deposits in, withdrawals out, net result, and duration. This reveals patterns like session length increasing over time or losses triggering immediate follow-up deposits.

What is chase detection?

Chase detection identifies patterns where a losing session is immediately followed by another deposit — a common behaviour in problem gambling. Comma flags these "chase events" on the session timeline and tracks their frequency over time. This is a data-driven observation, not a judgement — the goal is awareness.

What does the calendar heatmap show?

The gambling calendar heatmap shows frequency and intensity of gambling activity by day, similar to GitHub's contribution graph. Darker cells mean higher spending that day. The visual makes patterns obvious — you can instantly see if gambling clusters on weekends, payday, or during specific periods.

Gambling calendar heatmap showing spending frequency by day
What is the Real-Cost Ticker?

The Real-Cost Ticker converts your net gambling losses into tangible equivalents — for example, "Your losses would have covered 14 months of Netflix" or "equivalent to 3 return flights to Bali." The ticker scrolls through different comparisons to put the abstract dollar figure into concrete perspective.

Can anyone see my gambling data?

Gambling data receives the same encryption as all other Comma data — AES-256-GCM with your password as the key. The Gambling tab is opt-in (enabled via Settings) and doesn't appear in the sidebar unless you choose to show it. No gambling data is ever transmitted, analysed externally, or visible to anyone but you.

Where can I get help with gambling?

The Gambling Tracker includes helpline numbers for every supported country directly in the tab: Gambling Help Online (AU: 1800 858 858), GamCare (UK: 0808 802 0133), NCPG Helpline (US: 1-800-522-4700), Gambling Helpline (NZ: 0800 654 655), and ConnexOntario (CA: 1-866-531-2600). These are always visible at the bottom of the Gambling tab.

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Interactive Planner

Sankey flow diagram with slider-based budget planning.

What is the Interactive Planner?

The Planner visualises your monthly money flow as a Sankey diagram — income flows in from the left, splits into committed expenses, variable spending, and savings, then flows out to specific categories on the right. Sliders let you adjust each category in real time and see how changes affect your surplus or deficit instantly.

Interactive Planner showing Sankey flow diagram with income splitting into expenses
How do I read the Sankey diagram?

The width of each flow band is proportional to the dollar amount. Your total income enters on the left as a single wide band. It then splits into committed costs (rent, utilities, insurance), variable spending (groceries, dining, transport), and surplus (savings). The thicker a band, the more money flows there. Green flows indicate savings, amber flows are variable spending, and the overall balance is clear at a glance.

Full-page Sankey diagram showing income flowing into expense categories
How do the sliders work?

Each spending category has a slider that adjusts the planned monthly amount. When you have uploaded data, sliders are seeded with your actual average spending in each category. Drag any slider to model "what if" scenarios — reducing dining from $400 to $200 instantly updates the Sankey, waterfall chart, and surplus projection.

What are scenario cards?

Scenario cards are pre-built "what if" adjustments — like "Cut subscriptions by 50%" or "Increase income by $500." Tapping a scenario card applies the adjustments to your sliders and shows the before/after impact on your monthly surplus. You can stack multiple scenarios to model complex budget changes.

What are the waterfall bars?

The waterfall chart below the Sankey shows each category as a bar stepping down from your total income — like a staircase descending from gross income to net surplus. Green bars are positive (income), red bars are deductions (spending), and the final bar shows what remains. It's a different way to see the same data as the Sankey — some people find the waterfall more intuitive for understanding where money goes.

🎯

Goals & Confidence Rings

Savings goals with dual progress/confidence ring visualisation.

What are the dual confidence rings?

Each goal displays two concentric rings. The inner ring shows actual progress — how much you've saved toward the target (e.g. $12,000 of $60,000 = 20%). The outer ring shows confidence — the statistical probability of reaching the goal by your target date based on your current savings trajectory. A goal might be only 20% funded but have 85% confidence if you're saving fast enough.

Goals tab showing dual confidence rings and savings progress
How is confidence calculated?

Confidence uses a CDF (Cumulative Distribution Function) that models the probability of reaching your goal by the target date given your actual savings rate, its variance month-to-month, and time remaining. High variance (inconsistent savings) lowers confidence even if your average rate is on track. The calculation runs on every data update so the probability adjusts as your behaviour changes.

What do the ring colours mean?

Green (>70% confidence): you're on track — current trajectory is likely to hit the target. Amber (40-70%): achievable but at risk — savings may need to increase or timeline extend. Red (<40%): unlikely at current rate — consider adjusting the target amount, timeline, or monthly contribution. The colours update dynamically as you save and as time passes.

How do I add a goal?

Click "Add goal" on the Goals tab. Give it a name, emoji, target amount, and target date. You can optionally link it to a savings account so progress tracks automatically from your uploaded bank data. Comma includes goal templates for common targets — house deposit, emergency fund, holiday, car — with suggested amounts based on your locale.

What goal templates are available?

Templates provide pre-configured goals with locale-appropriate amounts and timelines. Examples include House Deposit ($60,000 AUD / $50,000 USD), Emergency Fund (3-6 months of expenses calculated from your data), Holiday Fund, New Car, Wedding, and Education. Each template seeds the goal form with a suggested emoji, amount, and timeframe you can customise.

Can I see a projection of when I'll reach my goal?

Pro and Lifetime users see a projection chart on each goal showing the expected savings trajectory over time — a solid line for actual progress and a dashed line for the projected path. The projection accounts for your savings rate variance, not just the average, so the confidence band widens over longer time horizons.

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Net Worth & Landscape

Balance sheet tracking with generative terrain visualisation.

What does the Net Worth tab show?

The Net Worth tab is your personal balance sheet — assets minus liabilities equals net worth. It tracks property, shares/investments, superannuation/retirement accounts, savings, vehicles, and other assets against mortgages, loans, credit cards, and other debts. You can save monthly snapshots to build a timeline of your wealth trajectory.

Net Worth tab showing balance sheet with assets and liabilities
What are net worth snapshots?

A snapshot captures your total assets, liabilities, and net worth at a point in time. Save one each month to build a timeline chart showing how your wealth grows (or shrinks) over time. Free users can store up to 3 snapshots; Pro and Lifetime users get an unlimited timeline with a trend chart.

What is the GrowingLandscape?

The GrowingLandscape is a generative terrain visualisation at the bottom of the Net Worth tab that evolves based on your savings level. It renders one of five biomes: Desert (very low savings), Grassland (below average), Forest (average), Mountain (above average), and Peaks (excellent). The thresholds are income-based so they adjust to your personal situation. Each biome has ambient animations — swaying trees, drifting clouds, or falling snow.

GrowingLandscape terrain visualisation reflecting savings level
What account types can I track?

Comma supports 8 account types for net worth: Property (home, investment properties), Shares/Investments (brokerage accounts), Super/Retirement (401k, pension, KiwiSaver), Savings (bank accounts), Vehicles, Other Assets, Mortgages/Loans, and Credit Card Debt. Each type has its own input field on the balance sheet.

How are landscape biome thresholds determined?

Biome thresholds are calculated relative to your annual income, not absolute dollar amounts. This means someone earning $60,000 with $30,000 saved sees the same biome as someone earning $200,000 with $100,000 saved — both have roughly 6 months of income saved. The thresholds account for locale-specific cost-of-living benchmarks.

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Multi-Account

Import from multiple banks with transfer detection.

Can I import from multiple banks?

Upload CSVs from as many banks and accounts as you want — Comma detects the bank format for each file independently. Your credit card CSV from CBA, savings account from Up Bank, and PayPal export can all coexist. Each file is tagged with its detected bank format and stored separately.

Credit Card tab showing multi-account management
How does Comma handle transfers between my own accounts?

When you upload CSVs from multiple accounts, Comma's transfer detection engine identifies matching inflows and outflows that represent internal transfers — like moving $500 from your savings to your credit card. Detected transfers are flagged and excluded from spending totals so they don't inflate your expenses. The algorithm matches on amount, date proximity, and merchant patterns.

How is double-counting prevented?

Transfer detection and transaction deduplication work together. If the same transaction appears in two CSV files (e.g. a transfer visible in both the sending and receiving account), Comma identifies the pair and counts it once. The deduplication uses amount matching, date proximity, and description analysis to find pairs with high confidence.

What is the Account Manager?

The Account Manager (accessible from Settings) shows all uploaded files, their detected bank format, row count, date range, and processing status. You can rename accounts, delete individual uploads, and see a coverage timeline showing which date ranges your data covers. This helps identify gaps — if your CBA data ends in November but your Up Bank data starts in January, you'll see the missing month.

What does the Credit Card tab show?

The Credit Card tab tracks your credit card balance, interest accrual, and payoff timeline. It includes an Interest Clock that visualises how much interest accumulates daily, a Payoff Runway showing how long until the balance reaches zero at your current payment rate, and a Statement Replay that animates your monthly statement as a timeline of charges and payments.

What does the Savings tab show?

The Savings tab tracks your savings progress with a growing landscape visualisation, a streak ring showing consecutive months of positive savings, and a Future You Timeline that projects your savings into the future based on your actual rate. It also shows savings rate benchmarks for your country — the average Australian saves 12%, while the average American saves 8%.

Savings tab showing landscape, streak ring, and savings rate
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AI Chat

BYO-key AI financial advisor with direct browser-to-provider streaming.

What is AI Chat?

AI Chat is a financial advisor that understands your data. It uses your own API key to stream responses directly from your browser to the AI provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google) — Comma's servers are never in the middle. Ask questions like "What's my biggest spending category?" or "How can I save $500 more per month?" and get answers grounded in your actual transaction data.

Why do I need my own API key?

BYO (Bring Your Own) key means your conversations go directly from your browser to the AI provider. Comma never sees your prompts, your responses, or your financial context. This is a deliberate privacy architecture — no proxy server, no data logging, no middleman. You pay the AI provider directly at their rates (typically a few cents per conversation).

Which AI providers are supported?

Comma supports three providers: Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI (GPT-4), and Google (Gemini). Each provider has slightly different strengths — Claude excels at nuanced financial analysis, GPT-4 is strong on calculations, and Gemini offers competitive pricing. You can switch providers at any time from Settings > AI.

Does Comma see my AI conversations?

No. AI Chat uses a direct browser-to-provider architecture — your API key, prompts, and responses travel directly between your browser and the AI provider's API. Comma's servers are not involved in any way. The financial context sent to the AI is built locally from your transaction data and never leaves your device except to the provider you chose.

Can I use voice input?

AI Chat supports voice input via your browser's built-in speech recognition (Web Speech API). Click the microphone icon and speak your question — it's transcribed locally and sent as text to the AI provider. Voice input works best in Chrome and Edge. No audio is recorded or transmitted to Comma.

Command Palette

Quick search and navigation with keyboard shortcuts.

How do I open the Command Palette?

Press Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on Mac) from anywhere in the app. You can also click the search icon in the top navigation bar. The palette opens as a modal overlay with a search input — start typing to filter results instantly.

Command Palette showing search results with fuzzy matching
What are scoped search prefixes?

The Command Palette supports scoped prefixes to narrow results: ">" for actions (toggle dark mode, export data), "/" for pages (navigate to any tab), and "@" for merchants (find transactions by merchant name). Type the prefix then your query — for example, ">export" shows export-related actions, "/tax" jumps to the Tax tab.

Does the search support fuzzy matching?

The Command Palette uses fuzzy matching — you don't need exact names. Typing "netw" matches "Net Worth," "subs" matches "Subscriptions," and "cat" matches "Categories." Results are ranked by relevance with the best match highlighted at the top.

What is Smart Summary?

When you search for a tab in the Command Palette, the result preview shows a Smart Summary — a one-line contextual snippet pulled from your data. For example, searching "tax" shows "Effective rate 24% — you keep 76% of every dollar" and searching "goals" shows your top goal's progress. These summaries help you decide whether to navigate before clicking.

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Export

Export your data in CSV, Excel, or PDF format.

What export formats are available?

Comma exports in three formats: CSV (universal spreadsheet compatibility), XLSX (Excel with formatted headers and multiple sheets), and PDF (formatted reports with charts). All exports are generated entirely in your browser — no server processing, no data transmission. The raw transaction data never leaves your device during export.

Export tab showing available export options
What data can I export?

You can export transactions (with Comma's categories applied), category summaries (monthly totals by category), net worth snapshots (timeline of assets and liabilities), goal progress, subscription list, and a full data backup. Each export type has its own section in the Export tab with format options.

How do I export data for my accountant?

Use Export > Transactions with the "Include tax flags" option to generate a spreadsheet with all transactions that Comma has flagged as potentially tax-deductible. The export includes date, merchant, amount, category, and tax flag columns. Your accountant can filter by the tax flag column to focus on deduction-eligible items.

Can I back up all my Comma data?

Export > Full Backup creates a JSON file containing all your uploaded CSVs, custom categorisation rules, net worth snapshots, goals, preferences, and settings. This backup can be re-imported to restore your complete Comma state on a new device or browser. The backup file is not encrypted — treat it with the same care as your bank statements.

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Encryption & Privacy

AES-256-GCM encryption, zero-knowledge architecture.

How is my data encrypted?

Comma uses AES-256-GCM encryption via the Web Crypto API — the same standard used by governments and banks. Your password is used to derive a 256-bit encryption key via PBKDF2 with 600,000 iterations and a random 32-byte salt. The key is generated in your browser and never transmitted. All data is encrypted before it leaves your device for cloud sync.

What happens if I forget my password?

Your password IS the encryption key — there is no password reset, no recovery email, no backdoor. This is by design. If you forget your password, the encrypted data on our servers is mathematically unreadable. Your local browser data (localStorage) remains accessible until you clear it, but cloud-synced data cannot be recovered without the correct password.

What happens if Comma's servers are breached?

An attacker would obtain only encrypted ciphertext — random-looking binary data that is computationally infeasible to decrypt without your password. Each user's data is encrypted with a unique key derived from their individual password and a random salt. There are no master keys, no admin decryption capabilities, and no way for Comma staff to read your data. A breach of our servers reveals nothing about your finances.

Is CSV import more private than bank API connections?

Significantly. Bank API connections (Plaid, Yodlee, MX) create a persistent pipeline: the aggregator holds your bank credentials, receives your transactions in real time, and stores them on their servers indefinitely. CSV import gives you complete control — you download the file from your bank, upload it to Comma in your browser, and the data is processed locally. Your bank never knows Comma exists, and no third party holds your credentials.

How do I delete all my data?

Go to Settings > Account > Delete Account. This permanently removes your encrypted data from Comma's servers, your Supabase auth record, and your Stripe billing history. Local browser data (localStorage) is also cleared. The deletion is irreversible — once confirmed, we have no copy of your data to restore.

What processing happens in my browser vs on a server?

Everything computational happens in your browser: CSV parsing, bank detection, merchant categorisation, tax calculations, FIRE simulations, Monte Carlo, chart rendering, PDF generation, and encryption. The only server interaction is (a) Supabase auth for account management, (b) storing/retrieving encrypted blobs for cloud sync, and (c) Stripe for payments. No server ever sees your plaintext financial data.

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Bank Export Guides

Step-by-step CSV export instructions for major banks.

How do I export from Commonwealth Bank (CBA)?

Log in to NetBank > select your account > click "Export" or "Download transactions" > choose CSV format > select your date range (up to 2 years) > click Download. Upload the downloaded .csv file to Comma. CBA files are auto-detected — no column mapping needed.

How do I export from ANZ?

Log in to ANZ Internet Banking > Your Accounts > select the account > Transactions > Export > choose CSV > set date range > Download. ANZ exports include date, amount, and description columns. Comma detects the ANZ format automatically.

How do I export from NAB?

Log in to NAB Internet Banking > Accounts > select account > Transaction history > Export > CSV format > choose dates > Download. NAB CSVs are detected automatically by Comma.

How do I export from Westpac?

Log in to Westpac Online Banking > Accounts > select account > Search & export > Export transactions > CSV > set dates > Export. Westpac and St.George use similar formats — both are auto-detected.

How do I export from Up Bank?

In the Up app, go to Activity > tap the "..." menu > Export > choose CSV > select date range > Share/Save the file. Up Bank's CSV format includes detailed merchant data and is fully auto-detected by Comma with rich category matching.

How do I export from Monzo?

In the Monzo app or web, go to your account > tap "Export" in the summary or account settings > choose CSV > select date range. Monzo exports two formats (with and without enriched data) — Comma detects both automatically.

How do I export from Chase (US)?

Log in to chase.com > select account > Account activity > Download account activity > choose "CSV" format > set date range > Download. Chase exports checking and credit card statements in different formats — Comma detects both.

My bank isn't listed. Can I still use Comma?

Almost certainly. If your bank offers CSV export (most do), upload the file and Comma will attempt auto-detection. If the format isn't recognised, a Column Mapping Modal appears where you manually tell Comma which columns are Date, Amount, and Description. Your mapping is saved by header hash so you only do it once per bank format.

My bank only offers PDF statements. Can I use those?

Comma requires CSV files — PDF statements can't be reliably parsed because every bank formats them differently. Most banks offer CSV export through their online banking portal even if the default download is PDF. Check your bank's "Export," "Download," or "Transaction history" section and look for a CSV or Excel option.

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Account & Billing

Pricing tiers, payments, and account management.

What are the differences between Free, Pro, and Lifetime?

Free: full dashboard, all tabs, 3 months of history, smart categorisation, net worth tracking, Comma Spark, 3 net worth snapshots. Pro (one-time payment): 12 months of history, AI chat, goal projections, tax planning tools, trend & deep dive analytics, unlimited snapshots. Lifetime (one-time payment): unlimited history, household mode, every current and future feature. No subscriptions — both paid tiers are one-time purchases.

How much does Comma cost?

Pro: $149 AUD / £75 GBP / $95 USD / $119 NZD / $119 CAD (one-time). Lifetime: $299 AUD / £149 GBP / $189 USD / $239 NZD / $239 CAD (one-time). Prices are localised — you're charged in your local currency. No monthly or annual subscriptions.

What is the refund policy?

Comma offers a 30-day refund policy. If you're not satisfied with your purchase, contact hello@comma.finance within 30 days for a full refund, no questions asked.

How are payments processed?

Payments are processed by Stripe, which acts as the Merchant of Record. Comma never sees or stores your credit card details — Stripe handles the entire payment flow via an embedded checkout form. Your card details go directly to Stripe's PCI-compliant infrastructure.

How do I delete my account?

Go to Settings > Account > Delete Account. This permanently removes your auth record, all encrypted data from Comma's servers, and clears your local browser storage. If you have a paid tier, your Stripe customer record is also cleaned up. This action is irreversible.

Why doesn't Comma charge a monthly subscription?

Comma's architecture means server costs are minimal — all computation happens in your browser, and the only server usage is storing small encrypted blobs. This lets us offer one-time pricing instead of extracting monthly fees. You pay once, you own it. No surprise charges, no fee increases, no "your trial has expired" nag screens.

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Insights & Analytics

Day-of-week patterns, spending trends, heatmaps, and deep dives.

What does the Insights tab show?

The Insights tab reveals spending patterns you might not notice manually — day-of-week analysis (do you spend more on Fridays?), budget vs actual comparisons, and contextual insights generated by Comma's rule-based engine. Each insight links to the relevant tab for deeper exploration.

Insights tab showing day-of-week spending patterns
What does the Trend tab show?

The Trend tab shows your income, spending, and net surplus/deficit over time as an area chart. Stat cards at the top show your current period net, recent average, and direction of change. It's the best single screen for answering "am I getting better or worse at saving?"

Trend tab showing income vs spending over time
What is the spending heatmap?

The Spending Heatmap tab shows a calendar-style grid where each cell represents a day, coloured by spending intensity. Darker cells mean higher spending. The visual makes weekly and monthly patterns obvious — you might discover you consistently overspend on Fridays or that the first week of each month is your heaviest.

Spending Heatmap tab showing daily spending intensity on a calendar grid
What is Deep Dive?

The Deep Dive tab provides advanced analytics: Spending Velocity (daily spend rate with projection), Hours to Earn (how many work hours each purchase costs), Compound Impact (how small daily savings grow with investment returns over 10-30 years), and a Financial Scorecard grading you across multiple dimensions.

Deep Dive tab showing velocity, hours-to-earn, and compound impact
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Committed Spending

Fixed expenses like rent, insurance, and utilities.

What is committed spending?

Committed spending is your fixed, non-negotiable monthly expenses — rent or mortgage payments, insurance premiums, utility bills, loan repayments, and other costs that don't change much month to month. The Committed tab separates these from variable spending so you can see how much of your income is locked in before you make any discretionary spending decisions.

Committed tab showing fixed monthly expenses breakdown
What's the difference between committed and variable spending?

Committed costs are fixed obligations you can't easily change month to month (rent, insurance, subscriptions). Variable spending is discretionary — groceries, dining, entertainment, shopping. The Planner tab uses this distinction to show which expenses are adjustable via sliders and which are locked in.

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Property

Property assets, equity tracking, and mortgage balance.

What does the Property tab show?

The Property tab displays your property assets with estimated value, mortgage balance, and equity position. It shows loan-to-value ratio, equity percentage, and how your property equity contributes to your overall net worth. Currently uses manually entered values — planned enhancement for automated property valuation.

Property tab showing equity, mortgage balance, and LVR
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Settings

Locale, preferences, data management, and account settings.

How do I change my country/locale?

Go to Settings > Preferences > Locale. Changing your locale updates currency formatting, tax engines, merchant patterns, health cards, benchmarks, and demo data to match your country. Supported locales are Australia, United Kingdom, United States, New Zealand, and Canada.

Settings tab showing preferences and account options
How do I enable or disable the Gambling tab?

Go to Settings > Preferences and toggle "Show Gambling tab." When disabled, the Gambling tab is hidden from the sidebar and menu. Gambling transaction data still exists in your categorised transactions — the toggle only controls whether the dedicated analysis tab is visible.

Can I hide spending categories I don't use?

Go to Settings > Categories to toggle visibility for any of the 60 spending categories. Hidden categories don't appear in the Categories tab breakdown or chart legends, but their transactions are still categorised and counted in totals. This keeps the UI clean if you have categories with zero or negligible spending.

Where is my data stored?

Comma stores data in two places: your browser's localStorage (immediate, no account needed) and optionally Supabase cloud (encrypted, requires account). localStorage holds your uploaded CSVs, parsed data, preferences, and custom rules. Cloud sync stores an AES-256-GCM encrypted copy for cross-device access. You can use Comma entirely offline with just localStorage — cloud sync is optional.

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