What a good monthly report contains
The PDF Balance Helper generates follows a deliberately rigid structure: months must compare against each other without you re-laying out anything. Four blocks, always in the same order.
- Monthly summary — income, fixed costs, variable, subscriptions, bank costs, residual margin.
- Top categories — top 5 by amount, each tagged with its type (fixed/variable/recurring).
- Active subscriptions — list of subscriptions recognised as recurring, with their annual weight.
- Bank account costs — bank line items, separated from "normal" expenses.
No decorative charts, no colour palette, no logos. A white page with clear typography and readable tables. The PDF is a useful object, not a poster.
Free vs Pro
Free includes two exports: CSV with one row per expense, and JSON backup with the full state (expenses, incomes, categories, scenarios, settings — for full restore and to move data between devices).
Pro adds the monthly PDF and end-to-end encrypted sync between devices. No subscription: €29 one-time, 30-day refund.
Generating the report (step by step)
- Open the app: balancehelper.it/app.
- Open Settings → "Storage & sync" section.
- For CSV or JSON: click the corresponding button — the file downloads.
- For PDF (Pro): pick the month from the dropdown, click "PDF".
- File name is
balance-helper-report-YYYY-MM.pdf, ready for archive or print.
What to do with a report once generated
Three typical uses, in order of frequency:
- Personal archive. A folder with twelve PDFs is a rich annual summary — especially when you wonder "how much did I really spend on holidays last summer?"
- Share with partner. A monthly report is a much better discussion artefact than a dump of all transactions: three big numbers, one possible conversation.
- Accountant or tax documents. For self-employed people, monthly aggregates support categorisation of deductibles. Doesn't replace bookkeeping, but lightens reconstruction.
Mini estimate: how many reports are useful?
Below is a mini calculator to estimate how many reports you'd need next year to cover your history. Tip: three consecutive months are enough to read a trend; six months is where seasonal noise starts to separate from real patterns.