Introducing the Financial Dashboard: See Your Complete Money Map
Most people know their salary. Far fewer know where it actually goes.
They know they pay rent. They know they have a SIP. But ask them: what percentage of my income goes to investments? What’s my debt-to-income ratio? What is my net worth right now? — and the honest answer is usually a shrug.
The BudgetMaster Financial Dashboard is built to answer exactly these questions, in one place, visually.
What Is the Financial Dashboard?
It is a personal finance command centre — a single page where you map your entire household financial life:
- Where money comes from — all income sources (salary, rental, freelance, dividends)
- Where money goes — every monthly outflow: expenses, EMIs, investments, tax
- What you own — all assets with current value and gain/loss
- What you owe — all loans with outstanding balance and payoff progress
- The full picture — your net worth (assets minus liabilities) and a financial health assessment
The centrepiece is a Sankey diagram — a flow chart where the width of each band is proportional to the rupee amount. At a glance, you can see which category consumes the most of your income.
The Four Building Blocks
1. Income Sources
Start by adding every source of household income. Each source has a name, type (salary, rental, freelance, etc.), amount, and frequency (monthly, quarterly, or annual — the dashboard normalises everything to monthly).
Important: Add both incomes if you’re a dual-income household. The dashboard aggregates them into a single Household Income pool, which then splits into flows.
You can also track income history — when you get an increment or change jobs, update the amount and add a note (“Annual increment — April 2026”). The dashboard preserves the old value in a history log so you can see how your income has grown.
2. Flows — Mapping Where Money Goes
Flows are the heart of the dashboard. A flow is any periodic outflow of money, categorised into four types:
| Type | Examples |
|---|---|
| Expense | Rent, groceries, dining, utilities, insurance premiums |
| Investment | SIP, PPF contribution, NPS, stock purchases, FD |
| Loan EMI | Home loan, car loan, personal loan repayments |
| Tax | TDS, advance tax, income tax payments |
When you add flows, the Sankey diagram immediately updates — you’ll see your income splitting into coloured bands, each proportional to how much you allocate there.
Pro tip: Link your investment flows to assets (e.g., your monthly SIP of ₹5,000 links to your mutual fund corpus) and your EMI flows to loans. This creates a complete picture of how monthly payments are building (or reducing) your balance sheet.
3. Assets — What You Own
Add every asset you own, along with its current value and what you originally paid (cost basis). The dashboard shows your gain or loss percentage.
Asset types supported: Property, vehicle, mutual fund, stocks, EPF, PPF, NPS, fixed deposit, recurring deposit, gold, savings account, crypto.
When you sell or liquidate an asset, use the Liquidate action rather than deleting it. Enter the date, proceeds received, and reason (e.g., “Down payment for new house”). The asset moves to a liquidation history so your record stays intact.
Assets do not appear in the Sankey (which shows monthly flows) — they appear in the Balance Sheet at the bottom, where you see the full accumulated picture.
4. Liabilities — What You Owe
Add each loan: home, car, personal, education, or credit card. Enter the original loan amount, current outstanding balance, interest rate, and EMI.
The dashboard shows a payoff progress bar for each loan — how much of the original principal you’ve repaid. When a loan is fully paid off, mark it as closed (the EMI flow can then be redirected to investments).
Reading the Sankey Diagram
The Sankey diagram is the visual story of your finances. Here is how to read it:
[Salary 1] ─┐
[Salary 2] ─┼──→ [ Household Income ] ──→ [ Tax ] → TDS
[Rental ] ─┘ ├──→ [ Liabilities ] → Home Loan EMI
├──→ [ Investments ] → SIP, PPF
└──→ [ Expenses ] → Rent, Groceries
- Band width = money amount. A thick band means more money flows there.
- Colour distinguishes categories: green (income), blue (investments), amber (liabilities), purple (expenses), red (tax).
- Hover any band or node for the exact monthly amount.
- If your income exceeds all flows, an Unallocated (grey) band appears — money you haven’t accounted for yet.
A healthy Sankey shows a balance: a meaningful blue (investments) band, a shrinking amber (liabilities) band over time, and a controlled purple (expenses) section.
The Balance Sheet and Net Worth
Below the Sankey, the dashboard shows your complete balance sheet:
Net Worth = Total Assets − Total Liabilities
This single number is the most important metric in personal finance. The dashboard updates it every time you change an asset value or liability balance.
What to track over time:
- Update asset values periodically — especially mutual fund NAV, EPF balance, and property estimate
- Update loan outstanding balances each quarter
- Watch your net worth grow as investments compound and loans reduce
The Financial Assessment
The dashboard also provides an automated assessment of your financial health across key metrics:
- Savings Rate — what % of income goes to investments (target: 20%+)
- Debt-to-Income Ratio — EMIs as % of income (target: below 40%)
- Emergency Fund — liquid savings vs monthly expenses (target: 6 months)
- 80C Utilisation — are you maximising the ₹1.5 lakh tax deduction?
- Surplus — unallocated income that could be put to work
Each metric is colour-coded (green/yellow/red) with a specific suggestion so you know exactly what to act on.
A Practical Example
Let’s say you add:
- Income: Salary ₹1,20,000/month + Rental ₹15,000/month = ₹1,35,000 total
- Flows: Rent ₹25k, Groceries ₹15k, Dining ₹8k, SIP ₹10k, PPF ₹5k, Home Loan EMI ₹32k, TDS ₹12k
- Assets: Home loan property ₹85L, MF corpus ₹8L, PPF ₹3.5L, Savings ₹2L
- Liabilities: Home loan outstanding ₹48L
The dashboard immediately shows:
- Savings Rate: 11% (₹15k investments / ₹1.35L income) → Yellow flag
- Debt-to-Income: 24% → Green
- Net Worth: ₹85L + ₹8L + ₹3.5L + ₹2L − ₹48L = ₹50.5L
- Surplus: ₹1,35,000 − ₹1,07,000 flows = ₹28,000 unallocated — the assessment suggests investing this
Why This Approach Works
Most budgeting advice treats income and wealth as separate. You budget your monthly spending in one tool, track your net worth in another (if at all), and stare at loan statements separately.
The Financial Dashboard connects all three:
- Monthly flows feed into assets (investments) and reduce liabilities (EMIs)
- Asset values and liability balances determine net worth
- Net worth growth is the ultimate scorecard
When everything is in one place, the gaps become obvious. A household spending 60% on expenses and 5% on investments can see it immediately — and the assessment tells them exactly what to change.
Getting Started: The Right Order
- Income first — add all sources, even small ones
- Flows next — map every monthly commitment (start with the big ones: rent/EMI, then investments, then discretionary)
- Assets — add what you own with honest current valuations
- Liabilities — add outstanding loan balances
- Read the assessment — act on the highest-priority suggestion first
Your data is 100% private — stored only in your browser, never sent to any server.
The Financial Dashboard is free. Open it here →