Comprehensive Guide To Expense Tracking App Development

Financial management may be tedious and time-consuming, but expense tracker mobile apps have made it easier to keep track of payments.

In the same way that mobile applications are taking over the globe, financial services are also benefiting from technological improvements.

In order to keep track of one’s spending and earnings, it is helpful to have a money manager app available on one’s smartphone.

The combination of the financial sector with mobile applications has brought improvements to the way individuals handle their finances, including stock trading, investing, exchanging cash, bill payments, dividing bills, etc.

 

Why Build an Expense Tracking App?

The expense tracking app is a boon for company owners, as their earnings vary monthly in accordance with their revenues.

With full security, a money tracking app monitors income, handles taxes, generates a budget, catalogs receipts, and compares earnings to spending.

 

 

This app is one of the most popular mobile app trends, and many people are taking advantage of it.

More than 45.5% of Americans have no retirement savings, which means they’ll have a difficult time when they retire. Now you understand why it’s so important to keep track of your finances with a financial tracking tool.

Decreases the Risk of Data Loss and Theft

Managing personal accounts and spending manually cannot be simple, as each transaction cannot be verified in detail. Because of this, fraud happens often.

It is possible to automate the process of managing money and finances by using an expense tracking app. Thus, fraud is reduced, and the process is made transparent.

Manages Documentation

Paper and Excel spreadsheets for recording cash payments and digital transactions are a thing of the past. In addition to being inconvenient, paper waste is harmful to the environment.

There is an online solution, however, excel spreadsheets are not very helpful in managing money. As a result, it is preferable to build an expense tracker app that accumulates data insights and helps businesses make better decisions.

Analyzes Data Accurately

While an Excel spreadsheet may generate useful graphs and charts, as well as track and store data, it lacks the sophisticated capability.

Developing a financial tracking software that does precise analysis and aids in making the best company decisions is thus the ideal option.

Store Receipts

You may not always be able to identify online and cash transactions, which might pose a huge problem when it comes to managing your income.

As a result, if you want to keep track of your payments and expenditures, you should surely utilize an expense tracking app.

 

 

These applications allow you to preserve your receipts by simply taking a photo of them and then uploading them into your expense management application.

Eliminates The Risk Of Human Error

When it comes to funds and budgeting, mistakes cannot be overlooked. It is possible, however, for people to commit mistakes out of carelessness or negligence.

Using an expenditure management app helps eliminate all of the mistakes that are made because of ignorance.

Importance of MoneyTracking

• According to a survey, 26% of Canadians had a Financial Well-Being Score of less than 50.
• Out of this 26%, about 19% have a score between 31 and 50 and are somewhat struggling while 7% have a score of less than 30 and are struggling a lot.
• The study also said that Canadians who actively save have higher levels of financial well-being than those with the same income who don’t.

 

 

Top Expense Tracking Apps in the Market

 

 

Name of the app	Features	Play Store Link	App Store Link
Mint	Track all finances Create Budgets Notifies of due dates
Goodbudget	Expense tracking Scheduled transactions Search for transactions
QuickBooks	Create invoices Scan receipts Get valuable business insights
Expensify	Advanced tax tracking Accounting integrations Custom report exports

 

Benefits of using an Expense Tracker App

1. Tracking and submitting data while on the go

Paperwork is tedious, time-consuming, and potentially risky in any form it may take. When you’re on a business trip and working on a presentation or gearing up for an important meeting, it’s unlikely that you’ll have time to think about filing receipts and other financial paperwork. Well, you may use an app to keep track of your expenses.

 

An expenditure tracker app allows you to submit invoices and expenditures while you’re on the go, relieving you of the burden of worrying about money management and budgeting. This app makes it a breeze to submit expenses on all of your work trips.

2. Instantaneous access from anywhere

Expense tracking applications are especially useful for companies where employees have to travel often for business.

Staff can submit, access, and approve expenditures at any time and from any using a location based app backed by a cloud-based database.

3. Minimal data loss

Employees frequently forget or misplace their travel tickets or lunch bills while on the road. It’s far less likely that you’ll misplace important receipts and invoices if you have an expenditure tracker app on your phone.

You can take a picture or screenshot of the bill and save it in the app so that it can be processed later.

An expenditure management app should have the capability of scanning receipts in real-time to produce digital receipts. Because they can be viewed or generated at any time, these digital records lessen the risk of losing data.

4. Approval of bills in real-time

Using a mobile expenditure tracker app, a company may assure faster bill and expenditure approval from the accounting department and notify the employees in real-time.

This will not only speed up the procedure, but it will also keep employees happy and enthused about going on business trips.

 

Automated and streamlined billing approval reduces the time it takes to verify and settle bill claims, allowing staff to focus on their primary goals while on business trips.

As a result, the risk of human mistakes in accounting and calculating is minimized, while also reducing the likelihood of biased decision-making.

 

Must-Have Features in a Money Tracking App

Make a list of the functions and features you need in your expense management application before you start looking for a reputable mobile app development company.

Our team has created the following list of features that any expenditure management app should have:

1. Data Protection

Security is the most important consideration for anyone who has access to confidential data. App developers must place a high value on this feature.

The security of the expense tracking app should be top-notch at all times. If a user’s phone or tablet is stolen or lost, the app should be able to recover their account information.

2. Reports Generation

Users should be able to produce financial statements, profit and loss statements, spending and income reports, and so on. Moreover, users may utilize this functionality to create advance reports for budgetary and inventory management.

 

 

3. Receipt Management and Organization

If a user misses out on a transaction, this functionality makes up for it. When a user receives or sends an online payment, all they have to do is snap a picture of the receipt.

Expense tracker apps should remind users to put it in the correct category, so they don’t forget about it. It’s also safe to say that they won’t lose these images since they are stored in the cloud.

4. Efficient Ways to Reduce Taxes

For those who need to submit their taxes, the expense tracker software should make it easy for them to do so. Income and spending might be categorized in a tax-friendly manner.

With the use of expense management software, business owners are better able to keep tabs on their income and expenses.

5. Invoices and Bills

Bank transfers, online banking, UPI payments, and card transactions should all be supported by an expense tracker app. The reports and bills can therefore be tracked within the application itself.

 

 

6. Manages Inventory

Stock management doesn’t necessitate the creation of exceptional software this app is capable of doing this job. As an example, if a product’s inventory runs low, an expense management app may notify the user and alert them accordingly.

7. Streamlines Operations

Saving time by automating the process of creating, distributing, and evaluating reports is an important benefit of this application.

It is possible for users to assess alert reminders depending on the requirements of their enterprise solutions. Automated notifications strengthen customer connections, and increase sales and cash flow.

 

 

8. AI-based Robo-Advisors

Virtual financial guidance is now possible thanks to an AI-based function. This function also produces algorithmic investment portfolios, assesses, monitors, and improves diverse investments.

The data is often collected from customers regarding their financial situation or future aspirations and then used to provide them with advice on their financial decisions.

Robo-advisors make recommendations effortlessly, and new investors may trade stocks in real-time with no danger of losing money.

9. Monitor The Credit Score

This feature displays current and weekly credit scores, as well as a score rating like fair or good, for each individual.

Your users will receive push alerts and personalized suggestions based on their existing credit score as well as information about how to increase their credit score.

 

10. Make Small Investments

This feature makes it easier for the users to spend small amounts of money instead of having to worry about making larger ones, which may be challenging.

Investing can be automated on a monthly basis or done on a per-account basis, depending on the account balance.

11. AI-Driven Chatbots

It’s great to have virtual bots that engage with your customers and make them happy. When it comes to answering the questions, these virtual assistants have the users covered.

12. Offers And Discounts

With this option, users may save money by getting discounts on the things they want. It also finds and presents special discounts on things your users desire to buy or finds less costly replacements for identical items around the buying time.

Saving money is easier with the help of an expenditure tracking app, which shows users where and how to save costs.

13. Keeping Track of Travel Money

This function may be included in the expenditure tracking app so that your employees can build a budget before going on a business trip.

One may enter the destination in the search and receive a chart tailored to their needs. Later, users can allocate resources in accordance with the anticipated costs of the trip. This will save a lot of money that would otherwise be spent on business trips.

 

 

14. Agreements with Suppliers

Vendor information and classification may be entered into the expense tracking app. In addition, users may keep track of every payment they make, including who paid what and when.

15. Budget Monitoring

Expense monitoring tools can help anyone see the gap between your income and your spending. The users should be able to view the whole picture and gain valuable insights as a result of this.

That’s why real-time budget and investment information is critical. Moreover, the mobile application should assist them in adhering to a budget and devising alternatives, such as reducing unnecessary expenditures.

16. Safe and Secure Access

Keeping track of payments on your own may be a daunting task. Therefore, app developers and companies may offer their customers secure access to their funds while also providing their users with convenience.

Using expense tracking software makes it possible to increase the effectiveness and knowledge of the team as a whole. As a result, there’s no better way for firms to exchange data with the team than with this app.

17. AI-based Projections

Artificial intelligence is aware of your spending habits and financial situation and may thus predict your future purchases. Moreover, it provides specific information on how to save money.

Everything users need to know about budgeting, from how much to spend to where they should spend it, can be included in an expense tracking app using this feature.

 

How to Develop a Profitable Expense Tracking App?

The above-mentioned features of an expense tracking app can only be achieved via thorough knowledge of the project and its associated values for its users.

Let’s take a look at what it takes to design an effective application for tracking various expenditures:

 

 

Clarify the App Concept

Mobile applications for tracking expenses are already available, with several of them becoming extremely popular. A new expense tracker won’t have much of an impact unless you can offer extra perks and a user experience that people find engaging and useful.

It’s imperative to ask these questions in order to ensure that your expense tracking app concept remains competitively ahead of others.

• What are the main issues that the app will address for customers?
• What makes your app stand out from the competition in terms of its unique selling point?
• What are the main reasons why customers prefer your app to the competition?
• What distinguishes this app from its competitors?

Research To Validate The Concept

With a clear picture of the expense tracking application project, you’re ready to do market research to verify your claims. If you want to succeed in the market, you must ensure that your concept adheres to current market trends.

An in-depth competition study is also part of the market research to help you better understand how other expense monitoring apps work and how they contrast to your own.

Perform a SWOT analysis to determine the concept’s advantages, disadvantages, opportunities, and threats.

 

 

UI and UX Design 

Prior to beginning the development stage, you should generate design mock-ups and well-articulated application prototypes that will establish the expense tracking app’s UI and UX design.

Build the Backend and Architecture

If you’re creating an app to track your spending, you should focus on designing the app’s architecture and backend first. Depending on these two factors, the app’s speed and security might be affected. Different areas of an app’s development are addressed by the app’s architectural design.

To begin working on the app backend, you must first finish designing and implementing the app’s underlying architecture.

Setting up a development environment and creating internal APIs are only two of the many components of this process that take a long time to complete.

Many app development organizations use SaaS solutions to swiftly develop the back-end using pre-configured modules.

Firebase, AWS Mobile Hub, and other top-notch SaaS solutions are readily available. Alternatively, you may start from scratch and create your own expense tracking app.

App Testing

The most important part of every app project is testing, regardless of the development style used. To ensure that an app does not have any bugs or errors, the project should first go through testing.

App performance and functionality need to be tested under various settings and stress levels in order to guarantee that it performs at its best.

 

Cost Estimates for Expense Tracking App Development

As your app is a collection of features, architectures, and functionalities, the expense of app development cost relies on a variety of variables.

 

Several factors must be considered when calculating the cost of developing an expense tracking app, such as:

• Size of the application
• Application features
• UI/UX design
• Location
• App testing
• 3rd-party integrations

However, we can provide you with an approximate cost estimate for the expense monitoring app, which will range between $20K-$30k, depending on the features.

 

Conclusion 

There are several benefits to utilizing an expense tracking app to keep track of your spending, and we hope this blog has made it perfectly clear to you. 

Despite the fact that we have discussed some fundamental rules, the creativity placed into an application project is essential to its final success.