How to Use — LedgerLight

LedgerLight in 5 Steps

Upload your statements — Click "View Your Own →", then drag in your bank, card, or expense files. PDF, Excel, or CSV — up to 10 files at once. No sign-up needed.
Merge if you uploaded more than one file — Click "Yes, merge and continue" to combine every file into a single review screen and one unified dashboard.
Set Category & Expense Type for each row — Every row starts as "Income" — go down the list and set the real Category (Income / Expense / Savings / Liability Payment / Transfer), then the Expense Type for any Expense rows (Housing, Groceries, etc.). Or, click "Let AI categorize it" to have Claude auto-fill Category and Expense Type for you — your transaction data (date, description, amount) will be sent to Claude for categorization, no files are uploaded, only the extracted rows. AI-categorized rows stay fully editable, and any row Claude flags as suspicious (e.g. a garbled description or invalid date) shows a small warning icon so you can double-check it.
Delete PDF parsing errors — PDFs sometimes produce a garbled row — odd description, wrong amount. Double-check against your statement, then click the "−" button to remove it. Add any missing transaction with "+ Add row."
Click "Start Analysis" — Your dashboard appears instantly — income, expenses, savings rate, category charts, and smart spending insights. Click "Export" before closing the tab to keep your results.

Not an Expense? Type = N/A — If Category is Income, Savings, Liability Payment, or Transfer, leave Expense Type set to N/A — that's correct, not a mistake.
Nothing fits? Use Blank / Custom — Can't find the right category or expense type in the dropdown? Choose "Blank / Custom" and type your own.

Summary cards — Your four headline numbers: Total Income, Total Expenses, Net Savings, Savings Rate.
Month filter — Use "All months" to narrow the dashboard to one month, if you uploaded several.
Expenses by Type — Donut chart of spending by category — bigger slice means more spent there.
Top Spending Types — Same data as a ranked bar chart — fastest way to spot your biggest category.
Monthly Trend — Income (green) vs. expenses (red) over time, if you uploaded multiple months.
Spending Insights — Auto-flagged: dominant category, monthly change, recurring charges, unusual transactions, potential savings.
Export — Saves your results to your device — nothing is stored online. Export before closing the tab.

Green = Income or a positive insight. Red = Expenses, money out. Amber = Worth a closer look. Purple shades = Spending categories.