Plutus can give you a high-level view of your wealth without requiring transaction detail, or help you manage day-to-day spending while keeping your net worth in view.

During onboarding, you choose what you want to focus on first. This changes your starting view and setup checklist; it does not limit which parts of Plutus you can use. Net worth and budgeting remain available whichever option you choose.

Before you begin

It helps to have:

  • a list of the main accounts, assets, and debts you want to track;
  • access to your bank or provider’s sign-in and verification method for connections; and
  • a recent CSV export if you intend to import transactions yourself.

You do not need to add everything at once. Start with the accounts that have the greatest effect on the financial picture you want to see.

Choose your starting view

After creating your account, Plutus presents two options.

Net worth overview

Choose Net worth overview when you want to see your overall position across accounts, assets, and liabilities without tracking individual transactions.

This is a good fit when you:

  • care primarily about the high-level value of what you own and owe;
  • want to track property, investments, pensions, businesses, or other significant assets;
  • prefer to update balances or valuations rather than categorise spending; or
  • do not need a monthly budget.

Plutus takes you to Net Worth after setup. Categories are not created because they are not required for balance and valuation tracking.

Budget and track net worth

Choose Budget and track net worth when you want to manage day-to-day spending and plan ahead while keeping your overall net worth in view.

This is a good fit when you want to:

  • understand where your money goes;
  • organise income and spending;
  • plan monthly category amounts;
  • stay ahead of regular bills and income; and
  • see the effect of your accounts and debts on net worth.

Plutus takes you to Cashflow after setup and creates a detailed category structure for budgeting. You can rename, reorganise, add, or archive categories later.

What Plutus creates for you

Once you select a starting view, Plutus completes the initial setup automatically.

It creates a portfolio named Main. A portfolio groups the accounts, assets, debts, transactions, budgets, and reports that belong to one financial picture. Most people can begin with Main and only create another portfolio when they need a genuinely separate view.

Plutus also chooses Main’s reporting currency from your sign-up location or browser region when possible. If the detected currency is unavailable, Plutus uses GBP. The selected currency appears in the completion message after setup.

For Budget and track net worth, Plutus additionally creates the detailed categories used by transactions and budgets. Net worth overview does not create categories.

Check your Main portfolio currency

The portfolio currency controls how Main’s totals, charts, and converted asset and debt values are displayed. It does not rewrite an account’s native currency or its value history.

To review or change it:

  1. Open the portfolio menu in the sidebar.
  2. Open Currency.
  3. Select the reporting currency you want Main to use.

If you later create another portfolio, it can use a different reporting currency. Always check which portfolio is selected before adding an account or interpreting a total.

Set up a net-worth overview

Net worth is the value of your tracked assets minus your tracked liabilities. The quickest way to make the figure useful is to add the largest parts of your financial position first.

1. Add your main assets

Open Assets and add items such as:

  • cash and savings;
  • investments, pensions, and brokerage accounts;
  • property;
  • business interests;
  • vehicles, precious metals, or collectables; and
  • other assets with a meaningful value.

Connect a supported bank or provider when you want balances or holdings to update automatically. Add a manual asset when a connection is unavailable or when you prefer to maintain the value yourself.

For a manual account that should contribute to net worth without producing transactions, leave Track transactions for budgeting turned off. This tracking choice cannot be changed after the account is created.

2. Add your debts

Open Debts and add significant liabilities such as:

  • mortgages;
  • personal, vehicle, or student loans;
  • credit-card balances; and
  • other amounts you owe.

Enter a positive balance owed when requested; Plutus stores the debt so that it reduces net worth. Leave Track transactions for budgeting off when you only want to maintain the balance.

3. Review the result

Open Net Worth and check that:

  • your largest assets and debts are represented;
  • debts reduce rather than increase the total;
  • each item belongs to Main and uses the correct native currency;
  • connected and manual versions of the same account have not both been added; and
  • the overall figure looks consistent with the position you expect.

Approximate manual values are fine for an initial overview. You can refine them and add smaller items later. See Add and manage accounts for more detail.

Set up budgeting and net worth

Budgeting relies on transaction-level information. Begin with the accounts where income arrives, money is spent, or transfers take place.

1. Add your everyday accounts

Start with your main current account, regularly used credit cards, spending accounts, and any savings account you want to include in your plan.

Connect a bank when you want supported balances and transactions to update automatically. Use a CSV import when a connection is unavailable or you want to bring in your own history.

For a manual account that should feed your budget, turn on Track transactions for budgeting when creating it. Updates are then recorded as transactions and included in budgets.

Read Connect and manage a bank or Import transactions from CSV for detailed instructions.

2. Review recent transactions

Open Transactions after the first import or synchronisation. A recent month is usually enough to confirm that the starting data is useful.

Check that:

  • money in and money out use the expected signs;
  • activity appears once and belongs to the correct account;
  • income and spending use sensible categories; and
  • transfers between your own accounts are not counted as income or spending.

Plutus has already created detailed categories for this starting view. Adjust them as your needs become clearer rather than trying to perfect the structure before reviewing real activity.

3. Create your first budget

Open Budget and begin with the categories that matter most:

  1. plan regular income;
  2. assign committed costs such as housing, utilities, and debt payments;
  3. add essential and flexible spending; and
  4. review the amount that remains unallocated.

Your first budget is a starting point, not a test. Compare it with real activity and adjust future periods as you learn what is realistic. Read Budgets, rollover and targets for more detail.

4. Add the rest of your net worth

The budgeting option also includes the full net-worth experience. Add property, investments, pensions, mortgages, and other assets or debts that do not belong in your day-to-day budget with Track transactions for budgeting turned off.

This keeps your net-worth picture complete without filling your transaction list and budget with activity you do not want to manage there.

5. Explore cashflow and recurring activity

Use Cashflow for an overview of money in and out, and Cashflow → Insights to explore spending by category, payee, tag, or account.

Recurring items can help you anticipate salary, rent, subscriptions, insurance, and loan payments. Start with the largest commitments and add smaller items later. See Manage recurring items.

Change your focus later

Both starting views leave net worth and budgeting available.

If you began with Net worth overview and later open Budget, Plutus shows Ready to start budgeting? Select Start budgeting to add the same detailed category structure used by the budgeting onboarding path. Your existing assets, debts, and Main portfolio stay in place.

If you began with Budget and track net worth, you can use Net Worth immediately and keep balance-only assets or debts outside your budget by leaving transaction tracking off when you create them.

Invite someone you trust

To share access with a partner, family member, or another trusted person, open Settings → Account → Members & access. Members work with the same portfolios and financial data, so only invite people who should have that access.

Read Members & access before sending an invitation.

Common problems

  • If the reporting currency is unexpected, change it from Currency in the portfolio menu before adding more data.
  • If net worth looks doubled, check for both a connected account and a manual copy.
  • If cashflow looks too high, check whether transfers between your accounts are counted as income or spending.
  • If a bank connection stops during authorisation, return to Plutus and restart it from Settings → Data → Connections.
  • If a CSV does not import, check the date and amount mappings before trying again.

Next steps