Quick Start Guide

Welcome to FaithFi. This guide walks you through:

1. Choosing a system type
2. Creating categories
3. Setting up accounts

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1. System Types

FaithFi offers three different money management systems. Choose the one that best matches how involved you want to be with your money.

A. Envelope System – For hands-on, detailed budgeting

Modeled after the traditional cash envelope method.

How it works

• Start with the money available in your asset accounts
• “Fund” specific categories with those dollars
• Spend from each category like it’s its own envelope

Best suited for

• Users who want the most precise view of every dollar
• Those who don’t mind a multi-step process and regular check-ins

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B. Monthly Budget – For clear month-to-month planning

A simple, calendar-based budgeting plan.

How it works

• Create a budget for a specific calendar month
• Track actual spending and income against that plan
• At the start of each month, the budget resets

Best suited for

• Users who want straightforward monthly targets
• Those who like to review progress using monthly and multi-month reports

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C. Track Only – For simple awareness and tracking

Designed for easy income and expense tracking without a formal budget.

How it works

• Record and categorize income and expenses within each month
• No budget setup required
• Use reports to review trends over time

Best suited for

• Users who primarily want visibility into their spending
• Those not ready for, or not interested in, full budgeting

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2. Creating Categories

Categories are how you organize and assign your transactions in FaithFi.

What to set up

• Income categories
  • Match your different income sources (e.g., salary, side work, rental income)
• Expense categories
  • Grouped by type, such as:

Categories help you quickly see where money is coming from and where it’s going.

Where categories can be used

Categories can only be assigned to transactions on accounts that are:

• Marked as active, and
• Turned on for your budget

If an account doesn’t meet both of these, its transactions will not use categories.

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3. Setting Up Your Accounts

Accounts are the foundation of your FaithFi setup. You can use:

A. Manual Accounts

• Create accounts yourself
• Manually add and update transactions
• Helpful for cash, smaller institutions, or if you prefer full manual control

B. Connected Accounts (via Plaid)

FaithFi Pro connects to your financial institutions through Plaid.

• Plaid is an industry leader in secure account connectivity
• Your bank credentials:
  • Are never shared with FaithFi
  • Are not stored on FaithFi systems
  • Are securely transmitted between Plaid and your bank

FaithFi receives a read-only feed of:

• Your transaction history
• Your account balances

You can disconnect Plaid-linked accounts at any time.

Which accounts to connect

When you go through the Plaid connection:

• Choose the accounts you actively use and want in your budget
• You do not need to connect closed or inactive accounts

Budgeting accounts

These are automatically treated as budgeting accounts so their transactions can be categorized:

• Depository accounts (e.g., checking and savings)
• Credit cards

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Need Help?

For questions or additional assistance:

Email: support@faithfi.com