Getting Started
From signing up to a dashboard that actually tells you something.
Updated
Creating Your Account
- Enter your email address and choose a secure password on the signup form.
- Check your inbox for a verification email and click the confirmation link to activate your account.
- Sign in and start the onboarding wizard.
Sign up on the web
The iOS and Android apps are for signing in to an account you already have, so they have no signup form. Once your account exists you can use it anywhere, and resetting a forgotten password does work from the apps.
The Onboarding Wizard
After creating your account, the wizard walks you through setting up your financial profile. It is six steps, and every plan sees the same six:
| Step | What it asks for | Skippable? |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Welcome to Cadence | A quick introduction and what to expect | Part of the core flow |
| 2. Add Your Transactions | Import a CSV, or link a bank on Cadence+ and Premium | Yes |
| 3. Income Sources | Your salary, freelance income or other recurring income | Part of the core flow |
| 4. Bills | Recurring expenses like rent, utilities and subscriptions | Yes |
| 5. Spending Plan | One monthly limit with WorryFree, or a budget per category | Yes |
| 6. Review & Finish | Review everything and make final adjustments | Part of the core flow |
On step 5, the default is WorryFree with one spending limit. Open Prefer Detailed Monthly Budgeting? and untick it to get a budget per category instead, with preset categories ready to edit.
Tip
Do not feel you have to fill everything in at once. Anything you skip can be added later from its section in the app, and a rough figure now beats an empty setup you never come back to.
What Is Not in Setup
Accounts, assets and debts are not part of onboarding, and neither are savings goals. Both live in the app and can be added whenever you like, from the Net Worth and Goals sections.
If you link a bank during step 2, the accounts it brings across are added to your net worth for you.
Your First Week
Once you finish the wizard you land on your Dashboard. A reasonable order from there:
- Look around the dashboard and swap the chart between net worth and spending to see which you want by default.
- Check your categories. Correct a few transactions that landed in the wrong place - that is how Cadence learns your merchants. See Categories.
- Clear Needs Review. The widget lists transactions missing a budget or a category.
- Add anything you own that no bank knows about - a car, a property, holdings. See Net Worth.
- Set one goal. Even a rough one gives the numbers something to be measured against. See Goals.
Two Things Worth Doing Early
- Turn on two-factor authentication and save the recovery codes somewhere real. See Security.
- Install the mobile app and enable biometric unlock. Most people set things up on the web and check in on their phone. See Mobile App.