📚 Help & Documentation

1. Sign in with Google

Click the "Sign in with Google" button on the home page. Basic sign-in only requires your email for authentication.

2. Your First Upload

Upload your first bank statement PDF. The app will automatically extract and categorize your transactions using AI.

3. Review Your Transactions

Check the categorization and make any adjustments needed before exporting.

4. Export Your Budget

Choose how you want to save your budget:

• Export to Excel File: Download a complete budget file to your device
• Export to Google Sheets: Create a budget spreadsheet in your Google Drive for ongoing tracking and more features

Step 1: Download Your Statement

Log in to your online banking and download your monthly statement as a PDF.

Step 2: Go to Upload Page

Click "Upload Statement" from your Dashboard or navigation menu.

Step 3: Upload Your PDF

1. Click "Choose File" and select your PDF statement
2. The app will automatically detect your bank type
3. Click "Upload and Extract"
4. Wait while the app processes your statement

Supported Banks

• Scotiabank Bahamas: Electronic Access Account, Electronic Access Digital, Primary Savings Account, and Credit Card statements
• CIBC FirstCaribbean: Chequing Account & Credit Card statements
• RBC Royal Bank (Bahamas): Day to Day Savings Account statement
• Commonwealth Bank: Bahamas Savings Account statement
• Fidelity Bank (Bahamas): Savings Account statement

Understanding the Review Page

After uploading, you'll be redirected to the Review page where you can see all extracted transactions.

Transaction Details

Each transaction shows:

• Date: Transaction date
• Description: Merchant or transaction description
• Amount: Transaction amount
• Category: Auto-assigned category (editable)
• Confidence: How confident the system is about the category

Reviewing Categories

1. Check yellow-highlighted items: These need your review (confidence below 70%)
2. Edit categories: Click the dropdown to change any category
3. Confirm or adjust: Review auto-assigned categories
4. Export: Click "Export to Excel File" or "Export to Google Sheets"

Bulk Category Assignment

Need to categorize multiple similar transactions? You have two options:

• Smart Detection: When you change a transaction's category, the app automatically finds similar transactions and offers to apply the same category to all of them
• Manual Selection: Use the checkboxes to select multiple transactions, then use the floating action bar to assign a category to all selected items

Customizing Your Categories

You can personalize the 17 built-in categories. Go to Settings → Category Names & Visibility to:

• Rename categories: Change "Eating Out" to "Restaurants" - your custom names appear everywhere
• Hide unused categories: Uncheck categories you don't need to remove them from dropdowns

What is Cash Entry?

Cash Entry lets you manually add transactions that don't appear on your bank statements - like cash purchases, person-to-person payments, or any transaction you want to track.

How to Use Cash Entry

1. From your Dashboard, click "Cash Entry"
2. Fill in the transaction details (Date, Description, Amount, Type, Category)
3. Click "Add Transaction" to add it to your list
4. Add more transactions as needed
5. When done, click "Save to Sheet"

Where Do Cash Entries Go?

Cash entries are saved to "[Month] Live Transactions" sheets in your budget spreadsheet, separate from bank statement transactions.

No Spreadsheet Yet?

No problem! Cash Entry will automatically create a new budget spreadsheet for you when you save.

After reviewing your transactions, you have two ways to save your budget. Both are included at no extra cost!

What is Email Auto-Import?

Email Auto-Import monitors your Gmail for bank transaction alerts and automatically imports them to your budget spreadsheet in real-time.

Setup Steps

1. Upload at least one statement (to create your spreadsheet)
2. Go to Dashboard and click "Setup Email Auto-Import"
3. Follow the 6-step wizard to set up the monitoring script
4. Click "Enable Email Auto-Import" in the app

How It Works

• The script checks your Gmail every 5 minutes
• It looks for emails from Scotiabank Bahamas or CIBC FirstCaribbean
• Extracts transaction details and adds to "Live Transactions" sheets

Authentication Failed?

Problem: Authentication error during sign-in

Solution: Log out, then log back in. Make sure to check ALL the permission boxes when Google asks.

PDF Upload Issues

"Unable to detect bank type" - Make sure you're uploading an official PDF statement from a supported bank. Screenshots won't work.

"No transactions found" - The PDF might be encrypted or password-protected. Try downloading it again.

Email Auto-Import Issues

Emails not being imported:

• Check that emails are unread (script only processes unread emails)
• Verify the trigger is still active in Apps Script
• Check your Apps Script execution log for errors

Google Sheets Issues

Formulas showing #REF! error - Close and reopen the spreadsheet. If it persists, re-upload your statement.

Can't find my spreadsheet - Search your Google Drive for "[Year] - 3 Bucket Budget"

Still Having Issues?

Use the Feedback form to contact support.

3 Bucket Budget offers a free tier so you can try the app before subscribing. Here's what's included in each tier: