Plan your spending before it happens. Then watch the reality unfold.
Most finance apps let you tag a transaction to a category after the fact. MyCashDash lets you plan an entire financial undertaking before you spend a penny, then track what actually happens and see where reality diverged from the plan.
Build an itemised plan.
Planning a kitchen renovation? Add each expected cost as a line item: builder's labour at £8,000 in March, tiles at £2,500 in February, appliances at £1,200 in April. That gives you a projected total and a timeline of when costs are expected.
For a freelance job, flip the model: client payment of +£5,000 in June, subcontractor costs of -£1,500 in May. Projects work for both spending and earning.
Each planned item has a name, an expected amount, and an anticipated date. You can add, adjust, and reorder items at any time.
Track plan vs reality on a single timeline.
As real transactions come in and you allocate them to the project, the timeline shows both trajectories: what you planned and what actually happened. Planned items appear as dashed markers at their expected dates. Actual transactions appear as solid markers at their real dates. A cumulative balance overlay shows two lines, one for the plan and one for reality, so you can see at a glance whether you're on track, over budget, or ahead of schedule.
When you allocate a transaction to a project, the system suggests matching it to an unmatched planned item based on amount and date proximity. You confirm the match, and the planned item is marked as fulfilled.
Draft it, activate it, complete it.
Draft
Build out the plan without affecting anything else. The project doesn't appear in the transaction explanation dropdown, so nothing gets accidentally allocated. Clone a draft to explore alternative plans (say, two different builder quotes).
Active
The project is live. Real transactions can be allocated. The timeline shows both planned items and actual transactions. You can still adjust planned items as the plan evolves.
Complete
The project is finished. It no longer appears in the dropdown. The full plan-vs-actual record is preserved for reference. Useful for reviewing how a project went and for planning similar future projects.
See the detail. Compare alternatives.
Itemised breakdown
A table view showing each planned line item alongside its actual outcome: item name, planned amount, planned date, actual amount, actual date, and status (Pending, Matched, Overspent, Underspent, or Unplanned). A totals row shows total planned vs total actual for both debits and credits.
Project comparison
Compare two or three projects side by side. Useful for evaluating different quotes or approaches. The comparison view shows summary metrics, itemised breakdowns, and timelines in columns.
At-a-glance summary
Each project shows at-a-glance summary cards: Planned (total of all itemised planned amounts), Debit (sum of actual debits), Credit (sum of actual credits), Net Actual (credits minus debits), and Variance (difference between planned and net actual, green if under budget, red if over).
Common questions about Projects
Can I track how much a project was meant to cost versus what it actually cost?
Yes. Build an itemised plan with expected costs, income, and dates. As real transactions are allocated, the system tracks planned vs actual with variance tracking and status labels for each line item.
Can I compare different project plans?
Yes. Clone a draft project to create a variation, then compare up to three projects side by side with summary metrics, itemised breakdowns, and timeline overlays.
More features
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