Table of Contents

1. Introduction to FastTrack
2. Why You Should Use FastTrack
3. Purpose of this guide
4. How to understand this guide
   1. Icons
5. Quick Start and Installation
6. GUI Walkthrough
7. Features
   1. Command Syntax
   2. Category Features
   3. Expense Features
      1. One-Time Expenses
      2. Recurring Expenses
   4. General Features
   5. Expense Statistics Feature
8. Saving the data
9. Editing the data file (For Advanced Users)
10. Frequently Asked Questions

Introduction to FastTrack

FastTrack is an easy-to-use financial management desktop application designed for NUS SoC undergraduate students who are living on a tight budget.

With a combination of a Command Line Interface (CLI) and Graphical User Interface (GUI), our app provides a user-friendly and efficient way to track your expenses and manage your finances.

FastTrack prioritizes speed and efficiency to save your precious time and money, so you have more resources to spend on the important things in life.

Why you should use FastTrack

FastTrack is an expense tracking app that helps computing students keep track of their expenses by providing a simple and convenient command-line interface. Here are some reasons why you should consider using FastTrack:

1. Simplicity: FastTrack provides a simple and easy-to-use command-line interface that allows you to quickly add and track your expenses. This makes it ideal for computing students who prefer to use the command line to work with data.
   
   
2. Speed: FastTrack prioritizes speed and efficiency. With its command-line interface and all commands being a simple and one-line, it skips the hassle of clicking through screens like other expense tracking apps. The entire interface is shown in one screen.
   
   
3. Convenience: FastTrack can be used on any platform, including Windows, Mac, and Linux, making it convenient for computing students to track their expenses regardless of the platform they are using.
   
   
4. Customizable: FastTrack is highly customizable, allowing you to tailor it to your specific needs. You can add categories, set budgets, add recurring expenses, and even see statistics on your expenses.
   
   
5. Security: FastTrack is a locally hosted app that allows you to keep your expenses and financial information private. It does not require any personal information or financial details to use, ensuring that your information remains secure.
   
   
6. Free and Open Source: FastTrack is a free and open-source app, meaning that it is available for download and use by anyone.

Purpose of this Guide

This User Guide provides information on how to use FastTrack. It includes:

• Installation and setup of app
• Detailing features of the app
• Usage of app and its commands
• Tips, tricks and warnings on usage of commands
• Troubleshooting tips
• Answering Frequently Asked Questions

Understanding this guide

Icons

Throughout FastTrack’s user guide, you may encounter unfamiliar symbols. This is a quick overview of what these symbols mean and what to look out for.

Icon	Meaning
	Warning
	Information
	Tip

Warning Box

Information Box

Info: This provides additional useful information that may help you with using FastTrack’s features.

Tip Box

Quick start and Installation

1. Ensure you have Java 11 or above installed in your Computer.

2. Download the latest fastTrack.jar here.

3. Drag the file into a folder you want to use as the home folder for FastTrack.

4. Double-click the FastTrack JAR file to run the application.

   A Graphical User Interface (pictured below) will appear. Note how the app contains some sample data.
   

1. Type a command in the command box and press Enter to execute it. e.g. typing help and pressing Enter will open the help window.
   Some example commands you can try:

   • list : Lists all expenses

   • clear : Clears the sample data

   • add c/groceries n/milk p/4.50 d/14/2/23 : Adds an expense named milk to the expenses list with a price of $4.50 and a date of 14/02/2023

   • delete 3 : Deletes the 3rd expense shown in the current list

   • exit : Exits the app

2. Refer to the Features below for details of each command.

Graphical User Interface (GUI) Walkthrough

The following diagrams highlight the different sections of the Graphical User Interface (GUI) of FastTrack.

The main display. It displays all added expenses on the left, showing each expense’s price, category and date added.

The Category display. It shows all currently added Categories for expenses. This display is shown only after using the command to list categories.

The Recurring Expense display. It shows all currently added Recurring Expenses. This display is shown only after using the command to list recurring expenses.

Features

The features of FastTrack can be divided into 4 groups, Category Features, Expense Features, General Features and Expense Statistics Feature. With these 4 groups in mind, remembering the different commands becomes extremely convenient, as each group contains mainly 4 types of operations - add, delete, edit and list!

Commands

Other Notable Features

Command Syntax

First-time users may have difficulty understanding the syntax described in the command instructions.

If you are new to using a Command Line Interface (CLI), we recommend reading this brief section before using FastTrack. Understanding the CLI will help you enter commands more efficiently, which can save you time in the long run.

In simple terms, the Command Line Interface (CLI) is a way to interact with FastTrack by typing in commands using just one line of text. This means you can add expenses quickly and easily.

Here is a quick guide on how to read the syntax mentioned in the User Guide for using FastTrack’s commands.

command tag1/ PARAMETER_1 tag2/ PARAMETER_2 [tag3/ PARAMETER_3]

For example, the command format for add:

add c/CATEGORY_NAME n/ITEM_NAME p/PRICE [d/DATE]

• add is the command name.
• c/, n/, p/, d/ are tag/s to denote fields of category, name, price and date respectively.
• CATEGORY_NAME, ITEM_NAME, PRICE, DATE are PARAMETERS to be supplied to the aforementioned tag/s.
• [d/DATE] indicates that the field for the date is optional.

Don’t worry if it takes a bit of time to get used to the commands. Once you’re familiar with the commands, you’ll be able to add expenses quickly and easily.

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Category Features

FastTrack makes it easy for you to keep track of your spending by organizing expenses into categories. A category is like a folder that holds all your expenses that fall under a specific theme. For example, you might have a category called Groceries where you record all purchases from Fairprice or NTUC.

To create a category in FastTrack, simply give it a name, such as Entertainment or Transportation. You can also add a short text summary to give yourself more context about the category.

FastTrack even has a default Misc category for any expenses that you haven’t categorized yet, however, this category is not modifiable or accessible.

Command Summary

Listing Categories lcat

Displays the list of categories in FastTrack.

Format: lcat

Demonstration

1. Type lcat into the command box
2. FastTrack displays the list of categories with the confirmation message Listed all categories

Adding a category addcat

Adds a new category to FastTrack. If a category with the same name already exists, this command will not execute.

Format: addcat c/CATEGORY_NAME s/SUMMARY

Examples

• addcat c/Groceries s/for living creates a new Groceries category with the summary of for living.
• addcat c/Entertainment s/for fun! creates a new Entertainment category with the summary of for fun!.

Demonstration

1. Enter the command lcat to switch to the Category Display
2. Enter the command addcat c/Groceries s/for living into the command box
3. FastTrack adds the new category to the category list with the confirmation message New category added: groceries

Deleting a category delcat

Deletes the category at the specified INDEX in the category list.

Format: delcat INDEX

Examples

• lcat followed by delcat 2 deletes the second category in the category list
• lcat followed by delcat 1 deletes the first category in the category list

Demonstration

1. Enter the command lcat to switch to the Category Display
2. Enter the command delcat 7 into the command box
3. FastTrack deletes the seventh category Food from the category list with the confirmation message Deleted category: food

Editing a category edcat

Edits the category at the specified INDEX in the category list.

Format: edcat INDEX [c/CATEGORY_NAME] [s/SUMMARY]

Both CATEGORY_NAME and SUMMARY are optional by themselves, but at least one of them must be specified in addition to INDEX, otherwise the command will not be executed.

Examples

• edcat 1 c/Drink changes the name of the first category in the category list to Drink
• edcat 2 c/Food s/Eating out changes the name and summary of the second category in the category list to Food and Eating out respectively.

Demonstration

1. Enter the command lcat to switch to the Category Display
2. Enter the command edcat 1 c/Drink into the command box
3. FastTrack edits the name of the first category Food from the category list to Drink with the confirmation message Edited category: Drink

Viewing Category Summary sumcat

Displays the category summary for a category.

Format: sumcat INDEX

Demonstration

1. Enter the command lcat to switch to the Category Display
2. Enter the command sumcat 2 into the command box.
3. FastTrack displays the summary of the Entertainment category in the Results Display.

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Expense Features

An expense is a single purchase that you want to track. Each expense has a name, price, category, and date. With FastTrack, you can easily duplicate an expense if you happen to make the same purchase multiple times, such as buying a coffee from CoolSpot every morning on your way to NUS.

Finally, there are recurring expenses. These are expenses that are charged on a regular basis, such as a monthly subscription to Netflix or an annual Heroku subscription. Instead of manually creating an expense every time the payment is due, you can set up a recurring expense in FastTrack. Simply specify the start date, interval (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly), and end date (if applicable), and FastTrack will automatically generate the expenses for you.

Command Summary

One-time Expenses

Recurring Expenses

One-Time Expenses

Listing expenses list

The list feature in FastTrack allows you to view all your expenses. You can filter the list based on specific categories and timeframes to get a more customized view of your spending.

If you apply the CATEGORY_NAME filter, only expenses associated with that particular category will be displayed. For instance, if you filter by groceries, you’ll only see the expenses you’ve categorized as groceries.

If you apply the TIMEFRAME filter, you can see expenses that fall within a particular time period. For example, you could filter by month to see only the expenses you incurred in the current month.

If you don’t specify any filters, the expense list will show all your expenses by default.

Format: list [c/CATEGORY_NAME] [t/TIMEFRAME] [r/RECUR_PERIOD]

Examples

• list
• list c/Groceries t/week
• list c/Entertainment t/month
• list c/Food
• list t/w
• list c/Entertainment t/year

Demonstration

List Expenses by Category

1. Enter the command list c/drink into the command box
2. FastTrack displays the expenses under the category Drink with the confirmation message 2 expenses listed. The number of expenses may differ for every user.

List All Expenses

1. Enter the command list into the command box
2. FastTrack displays all expenses with the confirmation message 5 expenses listed. The number of expenses may differ for every user.

List Expenses by Timeframe

1. Enter the command list t/w into the command box
2. FastTrack displays all expenses within the current week with the confirmation message 2 expenses listed. The number of expenses may differ for every user.

Adding an expense add

Adds a new one-time expense to FastTrack.

Format: add c/CATEGORY_NAME n/ITEM_NAME p/PRICE [d/DATE]

Examples

• add c/groceries n/milk p/4.50
• add c/entertainment p/20 n/movie night d/14/2/23

Demonstration

1. Enter the command add c/groceries n/milk p/4.50 into the command box
2. FastTrack adds the new expense under the new category Groceries with the confirmation message New expense added: Name: milk, Amount: $4.5, Date: 2023-04-07, Category: groceries.

1. Enter the command lcat to switch to the Category Display. Notice how FastTrack has automatically created a new category Groceries in the category list!

Deleting an expense delete

Deletes an expense at the specified INDEX in the expense list.

Format: delete INDEX

Examples

• list followed by delete 2 deletes the second expense in the expense list
• find movie followed by delete 1 deletes the first expense in the results of the find command

Demonstration

1. Type the command list to switch to the Expense Display
2. Enter the command delete 2 into the command box
3. FastTrack deletes the second expense in the expense list with the confirmation message Deleted expense: Name: milk, Amount: $4.5, Date: 2023-04-07, Category: groceries.

Editing an expense edexp

Edits the expense at the specified INDEX in the expense list.

Format: edexp INDEX [c/CATEGORY_NAME] [n/EXPENSE_NAME] [d/DATE] [p/PRICE] [r/RECUR_PERIOD]

Every parameter except for INDEX is optional by themselves, but at least one of them must be specified in addition to INDEX, otherwise the command will not be executed.

Examples

• edexp 1 c/groceries changes the category of the first expense in the expense tracker
• edexp 2 p/20 n/movie night changes the price and name of the second expense in the expense tracker

Demonstration

1. Type the command list to switch to the Expense Display
2. Enter the command edexp 2 p/20 n/movie night c/entertainment
3. FastTrack edits the second expense in the expense list with the confirmation message Edited expense: Name: movie night, Amount: $20.0, Date: 2023-04-03, Category: entertaiment.

Search for an expense by keyword find

Find expenses whose names contain any of the given keywords.

Format: find KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]

• The search is case-insensitive. e.g. dinner will match Dinner
• The order of the keywords does not matter. e.g. ramen Dinner will match Dinner ramen
• Only the name of the expense is searched
• Only full words will be matched e.g. dinn will not match dinner
• Expenses matching at least one keyword will be returned e.g. movie dinner will return dinner with Alex, movie with friends

Examples

Suppose you have 3 expenses logged:

Date: 2023-03-02, Category: Food, Name: McDonald's, Price: $7.50
Date: 2023-03-02, Category: Food, Name: KFC, Price: $6.00
Date: 2023-03-03, Category: Groceries, Name: Milk, Price: $4.00

• find kfc milk returns Milk and KFC
• find mcdonald's returns McDonald's
  

Demonstration

1. Enter the command find movie into the command box to find expenses with the keyword movie
2. FastTrack filters the expense list to show only the expenses matching the given keyword, with the confirmation message Edited expense: Name: movie night, Amount: $20.0, Date: 2023-04-03, Category: entertaiment.

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Recurring Expenses

Listing Recurring Expenses lrec

Displays the list of recurring expenses in FastTrack.

Format: lrec

Demonstration

1. Type lrec into the command box
2. FastTrack displays the list of recurring expenses with the confirmation message Listed all recurring expenses

Adding a Recurring Expense addrec

Adds a recurring expense to FastTrack.

Format: addrec c/CATEGORY_NAME n/ITEM_NAME p/PRICE t/INTERVAL sd/START_DATE [ed/END_DATE]

Examples

• addrec n/milk c/groceries p/4.50 sd/20/3/2023 t/month
• addrec n/milk c/groceries p/4.50 sd/20/3/2023 ed/15/5/2023 t/w

Demonstration

1. Enter the command addrec n/milk c/groceries p/4.50 sd/20/1/2023 t/week to create a weekly recurring expense starting on 20/1/2023.
2. FastTrack creates the new recurring expense with the confirmation message New recurring expense added: Recurring Expense: milk, Amount: 4.5, Category: groceries, Start Date: 2023-01-20, End Date: Ongoing, Recurring Expense Type: WEEKLY

1. Enter the command list to switch to the Expense Display. Notice that FastTrack has automatically added the weekly expenses in the expense list!

Deleting a recurring expense delrec

Deletes an expense category at the specified INDEX in the recurring expense list.

Format: delrec INDEX

Automatic Deletion of Recurring Expenses: If a recurring expense’s end date has already passed, FastTrack automatically deletes the recurring expense the next time the application is started. This means you do not need to worry about manually deleting recurring expenses which are no longer applicable!

Examples

• lrec followed by delrec 2 deletes the second recurring expense in the recurring expense list
• lrec followed by delrec 1 deletes the first recurring expense in the recurring expense list

Demonstration

1. Enter the command lrec to switch to the Recurring Expense Display
2. Enter the command delrec 2
3. FastTrack deletes the second recurring expense in the recurring expense list with the confirmation message Deleted recurring expense: Recurring Expense: Netflix, Amount: 16, Category: entertainment, Start Date: 2023-01-01, End Date: Ongoing, Recurring Expense Type: MONTHLY.

Editing a recurring expense edrec

Edits the expense at the specified INDEX

Format: edrec INDEX [c/CATEGORY_NAME] [n/EXPENSE_NAME] [p/PRICE] [t/INTERVAL] [ed/END_DATE]

Every parameter except for INDEX is optional by themselves, but at least one of them must be specified in addition to INDEX, otherwise the command will not go through.

Examples

• edrec 1 c/groceries t/week updates the category and recurrence period first recurring expense in the expense tracker.
• edrec 2 p/4.50 ed/15/5/2023 updates the price and ending date of the second recurring expense in the expense tracker.

Demonstration

1. Enter the command lrec to switch to the Recurring Expense Display.
2. Say you have upgraded to a Netflix yearly subscription plan - enter the command edrec 2 p/200 t/year .
3. FastTrack edits the second recurring expense in the recurring expense list with the confirmation message Edited recurring expense generator: Recurring Expense: Netflix, Amount: 200.0, Category: entertainment, Start Date: 2023-01-20, End Date: Ongoing, Recurring Expense Type: YEARLY.

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General Features

Command Summary

Setting A Budget set

Sets a monthly budget for FastTrack. For first-time users of FastTrack, no budget is set and expense statistics are not updated.

In order to view all the expense statistics, you must first set a budget using this command.

FastTrack derives the weekly budget from this monthly budget by dividing the monthly budget by 4.

Format set p/AMOUNT

Examples

• set p/500 sets the monthly budget of FastTrack to $500.

Demonstration

1. Enter the command set p/500 to set the monthly budget of FastTrack to $500.
2. FastTrack updates the monthly budget to $500 with the confirmation message Monthly budget successfully set to $500.0

Category Autocompletion

FastTrack offers a powerful and time-saving feature that autocompletes your category names for you! When you start typing c/, FastTrack provides a list of suggested category names as a popup above the command box. Give it a try and see how much time you can save with this feature!

How to Use Category Autocompletion?

• Type c/ in the command box to trigger the autocompletion feature.
• FastTrack will display a list of suggested category names above the command box.
• To select a category name from the list, use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to navigate through the suggestions list.
• Press ENTER to autocomplete the selected category name.
• If the category you’re looking for is conveniently at the bottom of the list, simply press TAB to autocomplete the first suggested category without having to navigate through the list manually!
• If you decide not to use any of the suggested categories, just continue typing your own category name as per normal.

Demonstration

1. Enter list c/ into the command box.
2. A list of suggested categories appear in a popup above the command box.
3. Navigate into the suggestion list using the UP arrow key and press ENTER on the desired category Transportation.
4. This autocompletes the category name.
5. If you need to navigate out of the suggestion list, press the DOWN arrow key until the cursor returns to the command box.

1. Enter list c/ into the command box.
2. A list of suggested categories appear in a popup above the command box.
3. If the desired category Shopping is the first suggestion in the list (the bottom-most suggestion), press TAB within the command box.
4. This autocompletes the category name.

Clearing all entries CLEAR

Clears all entries from FastTrack. This command removes all stored expenses, recurring expenses and categories.

Format: CLEAR

Demonstration

1. Enter CLEAR in the command box.
2. FastTrack clears all previously logged expenses, recurring expenses and categories, with the confirmation message Deleted all prior entries.

Exiting FastTrack exit

After logging your expenses, you might want to close the application and ensure your data is saved. This command closes FastTrack and saves the data to the fastTrack.json file located on computer’s hard disk.

Format: exit

Viewing help help

Shows a message explaining how to access the help page, as well as a quick rundown of what commands can be used.

Format: help

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Expense Statistics Feature

FastTrack provides you with real-time statistics on your spending to help you keep track of your monthly budget. Here are the types of statistics displayed and what they mean.

Monthly spending statistic

This statistic represents the total amount of money you have spent in the current month. It includes all expenses recorded in the current month.

For example, if the current month is March, this statistic shows the total amount of money spent in March.

Monthly remaining statistic

This statistic represents the amount of money you have left from your monthly budget. It gives you an idea of how much money you have left to spend for the rest of the month.

Monthly percentage change statistic

This statistic represents the percentage increase or decrease in your monthly spending relative to the previous month. The indicator colour is red if it is a percentage increase and green if it is a percentage decrease.

For example, if you spent $500 last month and $750 this month, the monthly percentage change indicator would be +50.00% and be displayed in a red colour. If you spent $750 last month and $500 this month, the monthly percentage change would be -33.30% and be displayed in a green color.

Weekly spending statistic

This statistic represents the total amount of money you have spent in the current week, starting from Monday to Sunday. This gives you an idea of how much money you are spending on a weekly basis.

Weekly remaining statistic

This statistic represents the amount of money you have left from your weekly budget. Your weekly budget is the value of your monthly budget divided by four. This gives you an idea of how much money you have left to spend for the rest of the week.

Caution: Please take note that this value should be treated as a rough guide.
Even if you have exceeded your previous week’s budget, this statistic will show that you have more remaining, as the weekly budget is fixed based on the monthly budget. Therefore, it is important to use this value as an estimate and not solely rely on it for your spending decisions!

Weekly percentage change statistic

This statistic represents the percentage increase or decrease in your weekly spending relative to the previous week. The indicator colour is red if it is a percentage increase and green if it is a percentage decrease.

For example, if you spent $500 last week and $750 this week, the weekly percentage change indicator would be +50.00% and be displayed in a red colour. If you spent $750 last week and $500 this week, the weekly percentage change would be -33.30%.

Total spent statistic

This statistic represents the total amount of money you have spent to date, starting from the first expense you recorded in FastTrack.

This gives you an idea of how much money you have spent over the period of time from when you started tracking your expenses.

Budget utilisation percentage statistic

This statistic represents the percentage of your monthly budget that you have already utilised in the current month.

For example, if your monthly budget is $1000, and you have already spent $500, your budget utilised percentage would be 50%. This gives you an idea of how much of your monthly budget you have used up.

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Saving the data

All data in FastTrack are saved in the hard disk automatically after any command that changes the data. There is no need to save manually.

Editing the data file

FastTrack’s data are saved as a JSON file [JAR file location]/data/fastTrack.json. Advanced users who are familiar with JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) are welcome to update data directly by editing that data file.

Caution: If your changes to the data file makes its format invalid, FastTrack will discard all data and start with an empty data file at the next run.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I transfer my data to another Computer?
A: Install the app in the other computer and overwrite the empty data file it creates with the file that contains the data of your previous FastTrack home folder.

Q: Does FastTrack require a Wi-Fi network?
A: No, FastTrack does not need any sort of internet connection to run! You can be rest assured that your data is kept safe locally on your computer. However, accessing the user guide and developer guide which are hosted online will require an internet connection.

Q: Why are some of my expenses being categorised as Misc?
A: Misc is an internal default category in FastTrack that represents an unclassified expense. If you see an expense with the Misc category, chances are, the category it was previously associated with was deleted.

Q: My expense name gets cut off with trailing ellipses ..., how do I fix this?
A: Try resizing the FastTrack window size by increasing its width until the full expense names are within view.

Q: Can I set reminders for recurring expenses in FastTrack?
A: No, FastTrack does not currently have a built-in feature for setting reminders for recurring expenses. However, you can use an external calendar or reminder app to keep track of recurring expenses.

Q: Does FastTrack integrate with payment systems like credit cards or PayPal?
A: Currently, FastTrack does not support integration with external payment systems. However, we are constantly improving and expanding our features, and we plan to explore integrating with popular payment systems in the future. Stay tuned for more updates!

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