Frequently Asked Questions
Sign-up and System Requirements FAQs
What does Budgetpulse cost?
Budgetpulse is a free, online budgeting service for all users. In the current economic climate, we believe everyone should have access to the best budgeting tools available. We may eventually implement advertising models to help us keep the service free.
What are the system requirements?
If you are reading this page, you probably already have them. Since Budgetpulse is an online service, it can be accessed from anywhere you can get an Internet connection. We recommend using Internet Explorer 7 or 8, Firefox version 3 or later, or Safari to access our system. Other browser varieties may work as well.
How long does it take to activate an account?
How fast can you check your e-mail? Just kidding, when you sign up for an account, you will get an e-mail message with your activation link in it. Click the activation link to confirm your account sign-up and away you go. We do it this way to ensure that real people with real e-mail accounts are signing up.
I love Budgetpulse! How can I tell others?
Thanks, we appreciate it. Please click the "Invite a friend" link to send a message and invite your friends to use the Budgetpulse service.
Security FAQs
If my data is online, is it safe?
Does Budgetpulse require my bank account information?
No, you do not have to provide your personal bank account or credit card information to use our service. You can name your bank accounts as you like in our system, and import financial data provided from your bank without identifying the important account information that you should always safeguard and keep private.
Does Budgetpulse ever share my information?
At Budgetpulse, we take your budget information very seriously. When we use third parties to assist processing your budget details, we require that they comply strictly with our
Privacy Policyand other lawful security measures. We will share information with third parties only in very limited circumstances and only in compliance with a legal process or fraud prevention to protect you.
My Account FAQS
How do I change my profile settings?
Your profile settings can be accessed by clicking "Your Profile". Some of the settings you can customize include your time zone, currency, and more.
Does Budgetpulse support all currencies?
Yes, Budgetpulse is intended to sork for users all over the world. You can personalize your budget by selecting your preferred currency type, display format, time zone, and more.
What is the Net Worth?
Your net worth is the sum total of all your assets and liabilities. In brief, assets include your savings and property, and liabilities are your debts.
How can I delete my account?
We're sorry to see you go. To delete your account, please
send us an e-mail to ask that your account be removed.
Accounts Page FAQs
I want to see the specifics about an account, how do I do that?
You can click the color-coded legend items, or select the account from the My Accounts list on the right side of the page. Either of these options will show you the detailed data available for that account.
I see the Assets and Liabilities lists, but there's nothing in there. What do I do?
All of the data available to you in your Budgetpulse system is entered by you - either by importing it or by typing it in. If your Assets list is empty, that means you probably need to add those items.
Transactions FAQs
I just added a transaction, but I need to change it, can I fix it?
You bet you can! Any transaction is editable by selecting the column data and clicking the pencil icon that displays. You can change the date, description, category, account, and amount - basically the entire transaction is editable.
What is a "recurring" transaction?
Recurring transactions do just that - they occur again. Some recurring transactions occur monthly, some bi-monthly, some weekly ... you get the idea. Recurring transactions can be either expenses or income items too. For example, you might define a recurring income transaction for your twice monthly salary or an expense transaction for the weekly child care costs.
What is a split transaction?
When you split a transaction, you are dividing the transaction into portions that are handled separately. For example, you might split your six-month car insurance costs into 3 payments to be made at different times.
Budget FAQs
How do I adjust my monthly budget items?
To adjust your monthly budget, you can drag the sliders for budgeted items or type a different amount into the text box at the end of the item.
How do I adjust my monthly budget to include or remove items?
We know some items don't belong in your monthly budget all the time, so we've designed maximum flexibility for removing and adding items to your monthly budget. To add items to your monthly budget, click the plus (+) sign next to any items currently in the non budgeted list. This will move that item into your monthly budget. To remove an item from this month's budget, click the minus (-) sign next to budgeted items and they will be relocated to the non budgeted list. This ensures you can add and remove items from the monthly budget at any time to have a complete picture of where your money is coming and going this month.
Charts FAQs
How do I filter the chart to see only a portion of my data?
Using the Duration and Account drop-down lists, you can filter the Expenses or Income charts to see just the information you need right now. You can also export the chart to PDF, as necessary.
Wait, this chart isn't working for me, are there other options?
Absolutely! Not only are additional types of charts listed along the top for display, you can also choose to sort your data into pie charts, bar graphs, and line charts depending on what is most useful to you.
Terminology FAQs
What does Net Worth mean?
Shown in the Accounts page, net worth is essentially the total sum of your assets and liabilities. The net worth of your accounts is the sum total of your checking, savings, and credit card accounts you have set up in the Budgetpulse system.
What are categories and tags?
Categories act as identifiers of types of expenses
and you can create multiple categories useful to your own budgeting purposes. Each of your categories can also be divided into tags. Categories and tags act as parent-child identifiers of transaction items. Tags are the sub categories, or child items of categories, and you can define multiple levels of tags. For example, you may define a category called "insurance" and sub categories, or tags, such as "home", "life", "car", and "boat" which are all child identifiers of insurance transactions.
Budgetpulse Usage FAQs
Do I have to create tags for every transaction?
No, tags are optional identifiers as sub categories and may help you further define your budget, but it's entirely up to you. You may find, however, that dividing the categories into smaller bits will help you track the overall category of transactions.
What kinds of data can I import into Budgetpulse?
You can import data from Quicken or MS Money (.qfx, .ofx, or .qif formats), versions 2007 or later into Budgetpulse using the Tools or Accounts page. You can also import from a comma-separated value (.CSV), or Excel) format after you download the Budgetpulse template from the Tools page.
What if I have other questions?
Please check the help system for more information, or contact us at support(at)budgetpulse(dot)com for additional questions.
What if I have suggestions for improvements to Budgetpulse?
We welcome user's comments and suggestions. Please feel free to send your suggestions to support(at)budgetpulse(dot)com and thanks for your support!
Savings Goals FAQs
General
How can my friends and family contribute to my savings goals?
There are several options available to Budgetpulse user to collect contributions:
You can collect contribution online through:
Or, if you would like to collect contributions, but not utilize an online payment system, you can request givers to “Pledge now and pay later”. Unlike Online Payment options, receivers (goal owners) are responsible for collecting cash or check payments in person or through mail.
BudgetPulse does not charge members
any fees to open or maintain a savings goal. PayPal and Amazon charges
a transaction fee each time monies are transferred into your saving
goal. Apart from the PayPal or Amazon’s transaction fees, there are
no additional fees charged to the goal\’s owner.
View all PayPal fees |
View all Amazon Payments
PayPal and Amazon allow online transactions to occur instantly and securely.
With PayPal or Amazon, individuals and businesses can send and receive
payments via the Internet. BudgetPulse has integrated its functionality
with PayPal and Amazon's popular services to provide the most efficient
and effective means to collect money for your savings goals. For more
information on PayPal and to sign up, please
click here and for more information on Amazon, please
click here.
If you have PayPal business account to collect funds, contributors can pay using their credit/debit cards and PayPal account. If you have PayPal personal account to collect funds, contributors can pay using their PayPal account. If the contributor does not have PayPal account, s/he can’t contribute to your goal. For information please visit www.paypal.com
What is the difference between Amazon business account and personal account?
With Amazon personal account, you can only make payments. If you've enhanced your Amazon personal account by verify your e-mail address, you will be able to send and receive payments. Amazon business accounts are similar to personal accounts, but have the added ability of being able to receive unlimited credit card payments. For more information, please visit
https://payments.amazon.com/sdui/sdui/about?nodeId=5964 for Amazon’s account information.
If the status is Pledge it means that you didn’t receive money yet and should claim that amount from the sender. If the status is Paid it means that you already received that money from the sender.
How Pledge now and Pay later works?
If a giver decides to “pledge now and pay later”, s/he needs to send cash or check to the goal owner.
Contributors
Are there any restrictions on the amount I can contribute to a savings goal?
Savings goal provide gift givers and receivers an enormous amount of freedom. Restrictions on contribution amount per transaction are based on your PayPal or Amazon settings. However, there are no limitations on the number of contributions made by a guest.
How do I contribute money to my friend’s savings goal?
On Budget Pulse’s home page, click the ‘Contribute to Friend’ button on top right. Provide your friend’s email address and submit. You will be redirected to your friend’s public savings goals page where you can select your payment mode. You can easily contribute money using PayPal or Amazon.
I would like to contribute my friends goal, but don’t want to use PayPal or Amazon? Is there any other way?
If you would like to contribute to your friend’s goal, but not utilize an online payment system, you can “Pledge now and pay later”. Unlike Online Payment options, receivers (goal owners) are responsible for collecting cash or check payments in person or through mail.
I have contributed some money to my friend’s goal. I can’t see that transaction on BudgetPulse summary view. What to do?
Contact your friend and ask him/her to check BudgetPulse. There can be multiple reasons why your contribution does not appear in contribution summary.
Why do I need a transaction key when I try to pledge contribution to my friend’s goal?
This ensures security for the goal owner so only people who have the transaction key can view and contribute to their goal.
How to generate a transaction key for my pledge?
Visit Public Savings Goal page, click on the Generate Key button. Enter your email address and click submit button. Transaction key will be sent to your e-mail address.
I have accidently deleted the mail which contains the transaction key. How can I regenerate one?
Generate a new transaction key again
What if I want my donation returned?
We do not handle any money that is donated to a goal. If you would like to have your money returned to you, you have to discuss it with the owner of the goal.
Goal Owners
Do I have to be a PayPal or Amazon customer to use BudgetPulse?
You do not need to be a PayPal or Amazon customer in order to contribute to a BudgetPulse user’s savings goal. However, the only way to receive funds online from BudgetPulse is through PayPal or Amazon. Therefore, BudgetPulse users may require PayPal or Amazon accounts to receive real money.
Does it cost money to create or manage savings goals?
BudgetPulse does not charge members any fees to open or maintain a savings goal. PayPal and Amazon charges a transaction fee each time monies are transferred into your savings goal. Apart from the PayPal or Amazon’s transaction fees, there are no additional fees charged to the goal’s owner.
View all PayPal fees |
View all Amazon Payments
When your guests contribute money to your savings goal, BudgetPulse.com automatically directs them to your PayPal or Amazon account. Please note that to receive money through PayPal’s or Amazon’s system, your PayPal or Amazon account must be verified. If you have not yet received a verification e-mail from PayPal or Amazon, you can have it resent to you. To take money out of your saving fund, you must access your PayPal or Amazon account. Simply go to PayPal.com or Amazon.com, login to your account, and take out the amount (half or all, if you choose).
What happens if I don’t collect my target amount of money?
If you do not reach your target amount, you can either claim the funds that have been raised, or you can start a new goal and try to collect more money.
Can I use both pay pal and Amazon to collect funds?
Yes, you can use both PayPal and Amazon to collect funds
Some of my contributors want to send the payment thro checks and wire transfers. How to record those contributions?
Ask your contributors to “Pledge now and pay later” so that a contribution is recorded in the contribution summary page of the goal.
My friend pledged some amount, but sent a check of different amount? How to edit his contribution amount in my contribution summary view?
Go to Contribution summary page of the goal, click on the pencil icon present next to the contribution amount, change the amount and save it.
Can I change the e-mail address (es) associated with my Savings goal?
To change the PayPal or Amazon email associated with your savings goal, simply login to your account, go to the ‘Manage Goals’ view under 'Goals' tab/page. Locate the savings goal you wish to edit and select the 'Edit' link. On the following page, select either 'PayPal’ or ‘Amazon’ option; update your email address and click the 'Submit & Done' button.
I can’t see a contribution made by my friend using PayPal or Amazon in contribution summary or any other area of BudgetPulse. Why?
If you can’t see some of the transactions send through PayPal or Amazon, please check the following issues:
- Your profile currency and payment currency might be different. In this case, you can see those transactions under “Pending Transaction” section of contribution summary page.
- If you can’t see your transactions there, Check your PayPal or Amazon account. Sometime transactions are flagged as “Unclaimed” in PayPal. To accept these payments, you have to verify your account with PayPal. Refer PayPal support or Amazon support for more info.
If you can’t see any of the contributions send thro PayPal or Amazon, please check the following issues:
- Your profile currency and payment currency might be different. In this case, you can see those transactions under “Pending Transaction” view of contribution summary page.
- >Check your PayPal or Amazon email address which was used while creating your public savings goal. Valid PayPal or Amazon email address should be used with the goal.
Please check with PayPal support.
Accidently I have used wrong Amazon email address to collect the contribution. What will happen to my contributions?
Please check with Amazon Support
How can my guests (friends and family) contribute towards a big item on my savings goals?
If you'd like to offer your guests partial payment contribution, please set up a savings goal on your account. You can give it a name (College Saving or Dream Car Fund) and add notes so that your guests will know exactly what you've designated your special fund for.
How do I monitor the progress of my savings goal?
You can check the progress of your savings goals by logging in to your account and viewing your Goal page.
How do I know when a guest has contributed money to my savings goal?
To view the contribution details of your savings goal(s), login to your account and go to the ‘Manage Goals’ view under 'Goals' tab/page. Locate the savings goal you wish to see and select the 'Contribution summary' link. If someone has contributed to your savings goal, you will see the name, email, date and amount of the contribution.
Can I delete my Savings goal?
Yes. To delete your savings goal, login to your account; go to the ‘Manage Goals’ view under 'Goals' tab/page. Locate the savings goal you wish to delete and select the 'Delete' link.
How to change the status of the fund from Pledge to Paid?
Go to the contribution summary page of the savings goal. Click on the pencil icon present next to the Pledge status; change the status to Paid and save it.
What is pending contribution?
If your profile currency is different from PayPal or Amazon account currency then contributions made to the goal are displayed under Pending contribution section of Contribution summary page.
Pending contributions need your input in converting them into your profile currency
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