Budget Settings is where you decide how you budget and who shares the budget with you. Most people set it up once and rarely come back. This guide explains each section and also shows where to change your currency.
What you'll learn
- How to change your budget strategy
- How to add spenders for your household
- What webhooks are for
- Where to change your currency
Open Budget Settings
Click the gear icon at the bottom of the Budget Planner sidebar, next to the bell. The page opens with three sections: Budget Strategy, Spenders, and Webhook Integrations.
Budget Strategy
You picked a strategy during setup. You can switch at any time:
- Zero-Based Budgeting — every penny has a purpose. You plan all of your income across categories until the amount left to plan reaches zero.
- Carry Over Budget — unspent category balances roll over to next month. You don't need to plan every dollar.
Click the card you want, then click Save. The Save button only becomes active after you've changed something. You'll see "Settings updated successfully".
What changes when you switch
The strategy changes how your Monthly Budget page judges your month:
| Zero-Based | Carry Over | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Plan income down to zero | Stay under your plan |
| Status messages | Unallocated Funds, Almost Balanced, Balanced | Healthy, Caution |
| Leftover money | Should be given a category | Shown as Carry Over from Previous Month |
Your transactions, payments and planned amounts stay exactly the same. Only the way the month is summarized changes. See Plan your monthly budget.
Many people start with Carry Over while they learn their spending patterns, then switch to Zero-Based after two or three months, once they know what a realistic plan looks like.
Spenders
Spenders are the people who share your budget, such as you, your partner, or a "Shared" household pot. Once they're set up, you can pick a Spender on every transaction and recurring item. You can then filter by person on the Transactions and Payments pages.
Click the Spenders header to expand the section, then:
- Click Add Spender.
- Enter a Name (for example "Mom", "Dad", or "Kids") and pick a Color.
- Click Create.
Use the pencil icon to rename a spender, change their color, or switch them between Active and Inactive. Use the trash icon to delete one. Transactions that were assigned to a deleted spender stay in place but are no longer assigned to anyone.
The number of spenders you can add depends on your plan. If you reach the limit, you'll see a message asking you to upgrade before you can add more.
Webhook Integrations
Webhooks are an advanced feature for people who connect NevaPlan to other tools. A webhook sends a message to a web address you choose whenever something happens. Examples are Payment Created, Payment Paid, Budget Exceeded, Account Updated, Transaction Created, or Recurring Created.
Click Add Webhook, enter the Endpoint URL, choose the Events, and save. Copy the Secret Key right away, because it's only shown once. Use Test to send a sample message, and check Recent Deliveries to see whether your messages arrived.
If you don't use automation tools, you can safely ignore this section.
Change your currency
Currency is an account-wide setting, so it lives in your Account Settings rather than in Budget Settings:
- Go to your NevaPlan account area, click Settings in the sidebar, and open the Preferences tab.
- In the Currency box, choose your currency from the list.
- Click Save.
Changing the currency changes the symbol shown next to your amounts. It does not convert the amounts you've already entered. Pick the currency you actually spend in, and avoid switching it later.
FAQ
No. Your planned amounts, transactions and payments are kept. Only the status messages and the leftover calculation on the Monthly Budget page change.
No. A spender is only a label you attach to transactions, so you can see who spent what. It doesn't create a separate login.
Both are in Account Settings → Preferences, on the same page as the currency. You can also use the language menu and the sun/moon button at the top of every Budget Planner page.