Income vs Expense report — Aspire Budgeting

The Income vs Expense report answers: Did I bring in more money than I spent? It compares inflows and outflows month by month and calculates the difference.

Use it for cash-flow reviews, irregular-income planning, or checking whether changes in income are actually creating more financial margin.

What the report shows

The summary metrics show:

Income: External inflows during the selected period
Expenses: External outflows during the selected period
Net income: Income minus expenses
Savings rate: Net income divided by income

The monthly chart compares income and expenses with a net-income line. Below it, a table provides the detailed monthly breakdown.

Positive net income means more entered than left during the period. Negative net income means expenses were greater than income. This is cash flow, not an account-balance or net-worth calculation.

Income vs Expense report showing monthly income, expenses, net income, savings rate, and the detailed table

Choose how the table is grouped

Income and expenses have separate grouping controls. Each can be organized by:

Accounts
Category groups
Categories

For example, you can group income by Account while grouping expenses by Category Group. This makes it possible to compare where money arrived with the broad purposes it funded.

Open transaction details

Select an income or expense bar to see all transactions for that direction and month.
Select a row name to see its transactions across the complete date range.
Select a monthly table amount to see the transactions for that row and month.

Net income is calculated from income and expenses, so the net line and net table values do not open a separate transaction list.

Useful ways to use Income vs Expense

Monthly cash-flow check: Look for repeated months where expenses exceed income.
Irregular income planning: Compare high- and low-income months before deciding how large a buffer you need.
Savings-rate review: Use a longer period so one unusual month does not dominate the result.
Account review: Group by Account to understand which accounts receive income or handle most spending.

What is excluded

Account transfers and balance adjustments are excluded. Moving money between your own accounts is not new income or new spending and should not inflate either side of the comparison.

Tips

Use at least three complete months when you want to understand typical cash flow.
Payee filters affect rows when the workbook includes a Payee field.
Use Spending when you need a more visual breakdown of the expense side.