Notion Budget Tracker in 2023 (Complete How To Guide)

Hi, there 👋. Welcome to the accountantguy. 

Today, we are going to learn how we can create this amazing Notion Budget Tracker to keep track of our income and expenses and stay on top of our game.

Here are some important things you need to know first, before we dive deep into the process of creating this Notion Budget Tracker.

Benefits of Notion Budget Planner

Here are 5 prominent benefits of using this minimalistic Notion Budget Planner:

1. Keep track of your income and expenses in one central location 💲
2. Fix your monthly income goals to assess your overall performance ✔
3. Categorize your expenses to identify areas for improvement 📃
4. Set and monitor monthly budgets for different categories 💻
5. Gain access to your monthly budget tracker from any device and from anywhere in the world..😀

Where can I download this Notion Budget Tracker?

You can download this Notion Budget Tracker from here. 

You can also visit theaccountantguy.gumroad.com to check out more templates.

Related: How to build Notion Income Tracker

Features of using this Notion Budget Tracker

This minimalistic Notion Budget Tracker has the following 3 segments in the dashboard:

Summary View 

This gives an overall view of the Income, Expenses, and Allocation of funds.

The summary section of the Notion Budget Tracker is further subdivided into 5 sections, i.e.:

1. Budget Overview 

Gives details about Available Funds, Allocated Funds, Unallocated Funds, and Allocation (in %) for the allocation section and Total Actual Expense, Total Budgeted Expense, Difference, and Change (in %) for the Income / Expense section.

2. Income Sources

Shows different sources of income (Salary, Side Hustle, and Others) with Total Actual Income and the percentage (marked in green bar) of each source of income to the Total Income.

3. Expense Sources 

Shows different sources of expenses (Entertainment, Travel and Transportation, Food and Groceries, Loans and Debts, Utility Bills, and Others) with Total Actual Expenses and the percentage (marked in red bar) of each source of expense to the Total Expense.

4. Fund Allocation Overview

Shows different sources of allocation (Investments, Savings and Others) with Total Allocation Amount and the percentage of each source of allocation to the Total Allocation.

5. Quarterly Allocation Overview 

Quarterly view showing the total available funds for each month and the percentage of available funds allocated for the month.

Income Details

The Income Details section is all about the analysis of different sources of income and getting to know more about them.

It has the following 3 subsections:

1. Actual vs Estimated Income

This shows the difference between the actual vs expected income for a period and shows the variation between both.

This has the following components for each source of income: 

1. Total Actual Income for the period.
2. Total Estimated Income for the period.
3. The difference between both.
4. Change in percentage in both.

2. Quarterly Income Overview

Quarterly Income Overview that shows the total actual income and the proportion of total actual income to the budgeted income (marked in green bar) for each month of the quarter.

3. Frequency of Income 

This shows how frequently one earns an income divided into Recurring income and One Time source of income.

This represents the following:

1. Total Actual Income for each frequency of income
2. Percentage of earnings for each frequency of income to the Total Income earned (marked in green bar).

Expense Details

The Expense Details section is all about the analysis of different sources of expense and getting to know more about them.

It has the following 3 subsections:

1. Actual vs Estimated Expense

This shows the difference between the actual vs expected expense for a period and shows the variation between both.

This has the following components for each source of expense: 

5. Total Actual Expense for the period.
6. Total Estimated Expense for the period.
7. The difference between both.
8. Change in percentage in both.

2. Quarterly Expense Overview

Quarterly Expense Overview that shows the total actual expense and the proportion of total actual expense to the budgeted expense (marked in the red bar) for each month of the quarter.

3. Type of Expense 

This shows how frequently one spends on expenses divided into Variable and Fixed sources of expense.

This represents the following:

3. Total Actual Expense for each frequency of expense
4. Percentage of expenses for each frequency of expense to the Total Expenses (marked in the red bar).

Now, let’s understand in detail how we can build the Notion Budget Tracker.

How to create a minimalistic Notion Budget Tracker

We need to follow these 3 steps with their respective databases in order to create a Notion Budget Tracker:

Steps	Databases
Fill out the income details for each month	Income Details Database
Fill out the expense details for each month	Expense Details Database
Allocation of the available funds (income minus expenses) for each month onto different allocations	Allocation of Funds Database

In addition to above, we will create a “Start Here” page, which will have all the above databases combined into one to help the user enter details to use the database.

We will first start by filling out the income details in the Income Budget Details

Build the Income Details Database (Step – 1)

In order to create the Income Details database, we will require the following databases for our analysis:

Database	Purpose
Expected Income Source Details	Enter all the details related to Income
Month of Income	Summary of income sources month-wise
Frequency of Income of Budget	Summary of income sources as per the different frequency of income
Income Type	Summary of the income details as per different sources such as Salary, Side Hustle or Other source
Income Variance Distribution	Calculate Total Estimated Income, Total Actual Income, Difference, and Change (in %) for each source of income

We will discuss how to create each database one by one.

Important Note: We will create all these databases under one page, i.e. Income Budget Details.

Building Expected Income Source Details Database

First, let’s create a new database and name it “Expected Income Source Details”.

In order to create a new database, simply type “/database” and then select “Database-Inline” to create a database for storing the income details.

Important Note: Repeat the above process for creating other databases as mentioned above such as Month of Income, Frequency of Income of Budget, Income Type, etc.

Once an Inline Database is created, it’s time to add the necessary properties to store information for use in the Notion Budget Tracker for the income section.

Here, the “Expected Income Source Details” database has been created that stores the necessary properties as discussed below.

Here’s a quick overview of all the properties to be used in the Expected Income Source Details database in the Notion Budget Tracker:

Properties	Property Type	Purpose
Income Details	Title	Enter relevant information related to Income such as Salary Income for Jan 2023
Source of Income	Relation	Categorize the different sources of Income creating a relation to another database, i.e. Income Type
Month of Income	Relation	Specify the month of the income creating a relation to another database, i.e. Month of Income
Frequency of Income	Relation	Specify the frequency of the income creating a relation to another database, i.e. Frequency of Income
Expected Income	Number	Enter the expected income you expect to earn for a specific source of income for a month
Actual Income	Number	Enter the actual income you earned during a specific  month for a particular source of income
Difference	Formula	Create a formula to find the difference between Expected Income and Actual Income

Why do we need to create the Expected Income Source Details database?

We need to create the Expected Income Source Details database in order to create the Income Details section as seen above.

Now, let’s learn how to create and add a new property to a Database.

How to add properties to an inline database in Notion?

Once you have created an Inline Database, you can click on “+” at the top right of a new database to add new properties as shown below.

How to assign the property type to an inline database in Notion?

In order to assign a property type to an inline database in Notion, first click on the property created and then specify a property of your choice as shown below.

There are multiple properties to choose from, such as Text, Number, Select, etc.

Let’s understand each property to create in the Expected Income Source Details database in the Notion Budget Tracker database:

1. Income Details

This is the Default property that is created while creating an Income Details Database.

This will have a Title-type property assigned that will store the entire details related to income.

2. Source of Income

This specifies the income source from where we will earn an income, such as Salary, Side Hustle, or Other Source of Income.

Select the “Relation” property from the options, you need to specify the database which to create a relation with.

Select the “Income Type” database and establish the relation (both ways) as shown below by turning on the “Show on Income Type” option.

3. Month of Income

This specifies the month for which an income is earned such as Jan 2023, Feb 2023, Mar 2023, and so on.

Select the “Relation” property from the options, you need to specify the database which to create a relation with.

Select the “Month of Income” database and establish the relation (both ways) as shown below by turning on the “Show on Month of Income” option.

4. Frequency of Income

This specifies the frequency with which you earn an income such as Recurring or One Time Income.

Select the “Relation” property from the options, you need to specify the database which to create a relation with.

Select the “Frequency of Income of Budget” database and establish the relation (both ways) as shown below by turning on the “Show on Frequency of Income” option.

5. Expected Income

Enter the Expected Income you expect to earn during a month for a specific source of income.

Select the Number property as the property type.

Here we have specified “US Dollar” as the Number Format for our example. You can select the currency of your choice.

6. Actual Income

Enter the Actual Income you have earned during a month from the specific source of income.

Select the Number property as the property type.

Here we have specified “US Dollar” as the Number Format for our example. You can select the currency of your choice.

7. Difference

This is the last property to add which will calculate the difference between expected income and actual income.

Here’s the formula we will specify for the property:

prop(“Actual Income”) – prop(“Expected Income “)

If the difference is positive, this means Actual Income > Expected Income for the month.

If the difference is negative, this means Actual Income < Expected Income for the month.

Here we have specified “US Dollar” as the Number Format for our example. You can select the currency of your choice.

Once we have built this database, it’s now time to build other databases.

We will start by building the “Month of Income” database.

Building Income Type database

Once we have created the Expected Income Source Details, it’s now time to build the Income Type database by relating the same through the Source of Income property from the Expected Income Source Details.

In the Income Type database, we will have the following properties setup:

Properties	Property Type	Purpose
Type	Title	Specify the sources of Income such as Salary, Side Hustle, and Others
Expected Income Source Details	Relation	Created by default while setting up a relationship property during the creation of Expected Income Source Details database.
Total Actual Income	Rollup	Create a Rollup property rolling the Actual Income property from the Expected Income Source Details database.
Total Budgeted Income	Rollup	Create a Rollup property rolling the Expected Income property from the Expected Income Source Details database.
Difference	Formula	Create a difference between the Total Actual Income and less Total Budgeted Income.
Change (in %)	Formula	Find the percentage by dividing the difference (in %) from the Total Budgeted Income

Why do we need to create the Income Type database?

With the help of the Income Type Database, we will be able to find additional information to help create the Actual vs Estimated Income part in the Income Details section (as discussed later)

What are the properties of the Income Type database?

Let’s understand each property to create in the Income Type database in the Notion Budget Tracker database:

1. Type

This is the default property which is created while building the Income Type database.

This will have a Title-type property assigned that will store the type of income you earn during a period, such as Salary, Side Hustle, or Others.

2. Expected Income Source Details

This is the related property that is created while building the Expected Income Source Details database.

This will thus have a Relation property as discussed earlier.

3. Total Actual Income

This shows the Actual Income earned obtained from rolling the same information from the Expected Income Source Details database.

Essentially, this means we are projecting the total Actual Income details from the Expected Income Source Details database onto this database for each type of Income.

In order to set up the roll-up property, set the property as roll-up and then select the Expected Income Source Details as the database from there, as shown below.

This pulls all the Actual Income details related to each type of income from the Expected Income Source Details database (source) and projects the total amount of actual income in the Income Type database (destination).

Note: It’s important to select “Sum” in the Calculate section to derive the sum of all the income details.

4. Total Budgeted Income

This shows the Budgeted Income expected from rolling the same information from the Expected Income Source Details database.

Essentially, this means we are projecting the total Budgeted Income details from the Expected Income Source Details database onto this database for each type of Income.

In order to set up the roll-up property, set the property as roll-up and then select the Expected Income Source Details as the database from there, as shown below.

This pulls all the Expected Income details related to each type of income from the Expected Income Source Details database (source) and projects the total amount of expected income in the Income Type database (destination).

Note: It’s important to select “Sum” in the Calculate section to derive the sum of all the income details.

5. Difference

This calculates the difference between Total Actual Income and Total Budgeted Income for each type of Income.

Here’s the formula we will specify for the property:

prop(“Total Actual Income (Rollup)”) – prop(“Total Budgeted Income (Rollup)”)

If the difference is positive, this means Actual Income > Expected Income for the month.

If the difference is negative, this means Actual Income < Expected Income for the month.

We have specified “US Dollar” as the Number Format for our example. You can select the currency of your choice.

6. Change (in %)

This shows the change between the Total Actual Income and the Total Budgeted Income, specified in percentage.

Here’s the formula we will specify for the property:

round(abs(prop(“Difference”)) / prop(“Total Budgeted Income”) * 100) / 100

This helps to calculate the percentage of change keeping absolute values in reference.

We have specified Percent as the Number Format as we are calculating the Percentage of change over here.

We have created the Income Type database. Let’s move to the next database.

Building Month of Income database

Once we have created the Expected Income Source Details and Income Type, it’s now time to build the Month of Income database by relating the same through the Month of Income property from the Expected Income Source Details database. 

In the Month of Income database, we will have the following properties setup:

Properties	Property Type	Purpose
Month	Title	Specify the month of Income such as Jan 2023, Feb 2023, Mar 2023, etc.
Source	Relation	Created by default while setting up a relationship property during the creation of the Expected Income Source Details database.
Expected Income (Rollup)	Rollup	Create a Rollup property rolling the Expected Income property from the Expected Income Source Details database.
Actual Income (Rollup)	Rollup	Create a Rollup property rolling the Actual Income property from the Expected Income Source Details database.
% of Budgeted Income	Formula	Find the percentage by dividing the Actual Income from the Expected Income

Why do we need to create the Month of Income database?

We need to create the Month of Income database to create Quarterly Income Overview in the Income Details section as discussed earlier.

What are the properties of the Month of Income database?

Let’s understand each property to create in the Month of Income database in the Notion Budget Tracker database:

1. Month

This is the default property that is created while building the Month of Income database.

This will have a Title-type property assigned that will store the month details during a period, such as Jan 2023, Feb 2023, Mar 2023 etc.

2. Source

This is the related property that is created while building the Expected Income Source Details database.

This will thus have a Relation property as discussed earlier.

3. Expected Income (Rollup)

This shows the Expected Income expected from rolling the same information from the Expected Income Source Details database.

Essentially, this means we are projecting the total Expected Income details from the Expected Income Source Details database onto this database for each type of Income.

In order to set up the roll-up property, set the property as roll-up and then select the Expected Income Source Details as the database from there, as shown below.

This pulls all the Expected Income details related to each type of income from the Expected Income Source Details database (source) and projects the total amount of expected income in the Month of Income database (destination).

Note: It’s important to select “Sum” in the Calculate section to derive the sum of all the income details.

4. Actual Income (Rollup)

This shows the Actual Income earned obtained from rolling the same information from the Expected Income Source Details database.

Essentially, this means we are projecting the total Actual Income details from the Expected Income Source Details database onto this database for each type of Income.

In order to set up the roll-up property, set the property as roll-up and then select the Expected Income Source Details as the database from there, as shown below.

This pulls all the Actual Income details related to each type of income from the Expected Income Source Details database (source) and projects the total amount of actual income in the Month of Income database (destination).

Note: It’s important to select “Sum” in the Calculate section to derive the sum of all the income details.

5. % of Budgeted Income

This shows the proportion of the Actual Income to the Total Budgeted Income, specified in percentage.

Here’s the formula we will specify for the property:

round(prop(“Actual Income (Roll Up)”) / prop(“Expected Income (Rollup)”) * 100) / 100

This helps to calculate the percentage keeping absolute values in reference.

We have specified Percent as the Number Format as we are calculating the Percentage over here.

We have created the Income Type database. Let’s move to the next database.

Building the Frequency of Income of Budget Database

Now it’s time to build the Frequency of Income of Budget database by relating the same through the Frequency of Income property from the Expected Income Source Details database. 

In the Frequency of Income database, we will have the following properties setup:

Properties	Property Type	Purpose
Frequency of Income	Title	Specify the frequency of Income with which you earn such as Recurring or One Time.
Income Source Details	Relation	Created by default while setting up a relationship property during the creation of the Expected Income Source Details database.
Total Income Details of Budget	Relation	Created by default while setting up a relationship property during the creation of the Total Income Details of Budget database.
Expected Income (Rollup)	Rollup	Create a Rollup property rolling the Expected Income property from the Expected Income Source Details database.
Actual Income (Rollup)	Rollup	Create a Rollup property rolling the Actual Income property from the Expected Income Source Details database.
Total Income	Rollup	Create a Rollup property rolling the Total Actual Income property from the Total Income Details of Budget database (to be discussed in the allocated of funds section)
Total Income (in %)	Formula	Find the proportion of the actual income of each frequency of income to the Total Actual Income.

Why do we need to create the Frequency of Income of Budget Database

We are building this database so as to create the Frequency of Income view from the Income Details section as we discussed earlier.

What are the properties of the Frequency of Income database?

Let’s understand each property to create in the Frequency of Income of Budget database in the Notion Budget Tracker database:

1. Frequency of Income

This is the default property that is created while building the Frequency of Income of Budget database.

This will have a Title-type property assigned that will say how frequently you earn an income such as Recurring or One Time income.

2. Income Source Details

This is the related property that is created while building the Expected Income Source Details database.

This will thus have a Relation property as discussed earlier.

3. Total Income Details of Budget

This has a Relation property that you can create by adding the property to the database.

This is not shown in the related database, i.e. Total Income Details of Budget, and is thus only shown in the Frequency of Income database.

Note: We can note here that the option “Show in Total Income Details” is kept disabled on purpose as it need not be shown in the related database, i.e. Total Income Details.

4. Expected Income (Rollup)

This shows the Expected Income expected from rolling the same information from the Expected Income Source Details database.

Essentially, this means we are projecting the total Expected Income details from the Expected Income Source Details database onto this database for each type of Income.

In order to set up the roll-up property, set the property as roll-up and then select the Expected Income Source Details as the database from there, as shown below.

This pulls all the Expected Income details related to each type of income from the Expected Income Source Details database (source) and projects the total amount of expected income in the Frequency of Income of Budget database (destination).

Note: It’s important to select “Sum” in the Calculate section to derive the sum of all the income details.

5. Actual Income (Rollup)

This shows the Actual Income earned obtained from rolling the same information from the Expected Income Source Details database.

Essentially, this means we are projecting the total Actual Income details from the Expected Income Source Details database onto this database for each type of Income.

In order to set up the roll-up property, set the property as roll-up and then select the Expected Income Source Details as the database from there, as shown below.

This pulls all the Actual Income details related to each type of income from the Expected Income Source Details database (source) and projects the total amount of actual income in the Frequency of Income of Budget database (destination).

Note: It’s important to select “Sum” in the Calculate section to derive the sum of all the income details.

6. Total Income

This calculates the total actual income earned during a period for both Recurring and One Time income.

In order to set up the roll-up property, set the property as roll-up and then select the Total Income Details of Budget as the database from there, as shown below.

This pulls the Total of the Actual Income earned for the 2 frequencies of income from the Total Income Details of Budget database (source) and projects the total amount of actual income in the Frequency of Income of Budget database (destination).

Note: It’s important to select “Sum” in the Calculate section to derive the sum of all the income details.

7. Total Income (in %)

This shows the proportion of the Actual Income to the Total Income, specified in percentage.

Here’s the formula we will specify for the property:

round(prop(“Actual Income (Roll Up)”) / prop(“Total Income”) * 100) / 100

This helps to calculate the percentage keeping absolute values in reference.

We have specified Percent as the Number Format as we are calculating the Percentage over here.

We have created the Income Type database. Let’s move to the next database.

Building the Income Variance Distribution Database

Now it’s time to build the Income Variance Distribution database and relate the same to the Income Type database.

Essentially, this database will be the crux of all the databases discussed so far in the Income Details section so far.

In this database, the objective is to get an overall view of the following 4 things for all types of Income Types, such as Salary, Side Hustle, and Other Sources of Income:

1. Total Estimated Income
2. Total Actual Income
3. Difference
4. Change (in %) 

In the Income Variance Distribution database, we will have the following properties setup:

Properties	Property Type	Purpose
Particulars	Title	Create 4 properties, i.e. Total Estimated Income, Total Actual Income, Difference and the Change (in %) to find values for 3 sources of Income.
Salary / Side Hustle / Other	Relation	Create to establish a link to the Income Type database to find relevant information
Final Output (For Salary/ Side Hustle/ Other)	Formula	Formula for deriving the Total Estimated Income, Total Actual Income, and Difference from 3 sources of Income.
Final Output in % (For Salary/ Side Hustle/ Other)	Formula	Formula for deriving the Change (in %) from 3 sources of Income.
Total Estimated Income (For Salary / Side Hustle / Other)	Rollup	Create a Rollup property rolling the Estimated Income from the Income Type database.
Total Actual Income (For Salary / Side Hustle / Other)	Rollup	Create a Rollup property rolling the Actual Income from the Income Type database.
Difference	Rollup	Create a Rollup property rolling the Difference from the Income Type database.
Change (in %)	Rollup	Create a Rollup property rolling the Change (in %) from the Income Type database.

Why do we need to create the Income Variance Distribution Database

With the help of the Income Variance Distribution database, we will be able to create the Actual vs Estimated Income part in the Income Details section.

What are the properties of the Income Variance Distribution database?

Let’s understand each property to create in the Income Variance Distribution database in the Notion Budget Tracker database:

1. Particulars

This is the default property that is created while building the Income Variance Distribution database.

This will have a Title-type property assigned which is used to find the following 4 things:

• Total Estimated Income
• Total Actual Income
• Difference
• Change (in %)

2. Salary

This helps to create a link to the Income Type database and extract information related to Salary for the above 4 discussed things.

This has a Relation property and is not shown in the Income Type database.

Important Notes: 

1. We can note here that the option “Show in Income Type” is kept disabled on purpose as it need not be shown in the related database, i.e. Income Type.

2. Once we have created the relation for Salary for the above property, we need to repeat the above steps for Side Hustle and Other sources of income as well.

3. Final Output (For Salary)

This is used to calculate the Total Estimated Income, Total Actual Income, and the Difference in Salary.

Here’s the formula we will specify for the property:

if(prop(“Particulars”) == “Total Estimated Income”, prop(“Total Estimated Income”), if(prop(“Particulars”) == “Total Actual Income”, prop(“Total Actual Income”), if(prop(“Particulars”) == “Difference”, prop(“Difference”), toNumber(“”))))

Essentially, this helps to find Total Estimated Income, Total Actual Income and the Difference for Salary based on the value in the Particular field as explained below.

Particulars	What the formula generates
Total Estimated Income	Get Total Estimated Income value from Income Type database
Total Actual Income	Get Total Actual Income value from Income Type database
Difference	Get Difference from Income Type database

We have specified US Dollar  as the Number Format as we are calculating the currency value over here.

Important Note: 

Once we have created the above for the Salary property, we need to repeat the above steps for Side Hustle and Other sources of income as well.

4. Final Output of Salary (in %)

This is used to calculate the Change (in %) of Total Estimated Income and Total Actual Income in Salary.

Here’s the formula we will specify for the property:

if(prop(“Particulars”) == “Change (in %)”, prop(“Change (in %)”), toNumber(“”))

Essentially, this helps to find the Change (in %) from the Income Type database.

We have specified Percent as the Number Format as we are calculating the percentage value over here.

Important Note: 

Once we have created the above for Salary property, we need to repeat the above steps for Side Hustle and Other sources of income as well.

5. Total Estimated Income

This shows the Total Estimated Income by rolling the same information from the Income Type database for the type of Income source selected (in this case Salary from the Salary property).

In order to set up the roll-up property, set the property as roll-up and then select the Income Type as the database from the Salary property defined earlier, as shown below.

Important Note: 

Once we have created the above for the Salary property, we need to repeat the above steps for Side Hustle and Other sources of income as well.

6. Total Actual Income

This shows the Total Actual Income by rolling the same information from the Income Type database for the type of Income source selected (in this case Salary from the Salary property).

In order to set up the roll-up property, set the property as roll-up and then select the Income Type as the database from the Salary property defined earlier, as shown below.

Important Note: 

Once we have created the above for Salary property, we need to repeat the above steps for Side Hustle and Other sources of income as well.

7. Difference

This shows the difference in between the Total Actual Income and the Total expected income by rolling the same information from the Income Type database for the type of Income source selected (in this case Salary from the Salary property).

In order to set up the roll-up property, set the property as roll-up and then select the Income Type as the database from the Salary property defined earlier, as shown below.

Important Note: 

Once we have created the above for Salary property, we need to repeat the above steps for Side Hustle and Other sources of income as well.

8. Change (in %)

This shows the Change (in %) in between the Total Actual Income and the Total expected income by rolling the same information from the Income Type database for the type of Income source selected (in this case Salary from the Salary property).

In order to set up the roll-up property, set the property as roll-up and then select the Income Type as the database from the Salary property defined earlier, as shown below.

Important Note: 

Once we have created the above for Salary property, we need to repeat the above steps for Side Hustle and Other sources of income as well.

Now we have completed creating all the databases that are required to present the Income Details in this minimalistic Notion Budget Tracker.

Here’s how we can represent the above information finally onto the main dashboard.

How to represent Actual vs Estimated Income in the dashboard?

In order to represent the information from the database view to the dashboard view, we need to follow 3 steps:

1. Linking the desired database to the dashboard page.
2. Select the right presentation in the Layout section (such as List, Gallery, Calendar, etc)
3. Showing the desired properties and hiding the unnecessary properties.

Here’s how…

Linking the Income Variance Distribution Database

First, we need to create a linked database in the primary dashboard.

In order to create a linked database, one needs to type “/linked” in order to show the options for linking a database.

Once this option pops up, select the database you want to link to, over here it is Income Variance Distribution Database

Once the desired database is selected, you will be able to link the database as desired on the primary dashboard.

Essentially linking to a database creates a copy of the database onto a new page where editing on the new page can create changes in the original page as well.

Selecting the right presentation in the Layout section

Once the database is correctly selected, it’s time to change the layout section of the database.

You can change the layout by clicking on Layout and changing the option as shown below.

Once you click on the Layout, you will see a lot of options to choose from. 

Select Gallery from the listed options as shown below.

Once a Gallery mode is selected, you will be able to change the presentation from Table view to Gallery view as follows:

Now you are required to change a few properties from the Layout presentation as highlighted below, to align the overall presentation correctly shown above.

Showing the desired properties and hiding the other properties

Once you have the entire presentation set up correctly, it’s time to enable certain properties and hide certain properties to show the overall presentation correctly.

But before this, we need to create 3 views to show 3 sources of income, i.e. Salary, Side Hustle, and Other Sources as shown below.

Under each view, we are going to enable the following respective properties, i.e.:

Particulars	Displays the 4 options, i.e. Total Actual Income, Total Estimated Income, Difference, and the Change (in %)
Final Output (For Salary/ Side Hustle/ Other)	Displays the Total Actual Income, Total Estimated Income and Difference for all types of Income.
Final Output in % (For Salary/ Side Hustle/ Other)	Displays the Change (in %) for all types of Income.

Here’s a screenshot of what we would have visible for each source of income (salary displayed over here):

Note: All these properties originate from the Income Distribution Variance Database as we discussed earlier.

Once the above properties are enabled, the rest of the properties can be hidden as they are not required for the purpose.

Now, it’s time to move on to the next section.

How to represent Quarterly Income Overview in the dashboard?

In order to represent the information from the database view to the dashboard view, we need to follow 3 steps:

4. Linking the desired database to the dashboard page.
5. Select the right presentation in the Layout section (such as List, Gallery, Calendar, etc)
6. Showing the desired properties and hiding the unnecessary properties.

Here’s how…

Linking the Month of Income Database

First, we need to create a linked database in the primary dashboard.

In order to create a linked database, one needs to type “/linked” in order to show the options for linking a database.

Once this option pops up, select the database you want to link to, over here it is the Month of Income Database.

Once the desired database is selected, you will be able to link the database as desired on the primary dashboard.

Essentially linking to a database creates a copy of the database onto a new page where editing on the new page can create changes in the original page as well.

Selecting the right presentation in the Layout section

Once the database is correctly selected, it’s time to change the layout section of the database.

You can change the layout by clicking on Layout and changing the option as shown below.

Once you click on the Layout, you will see a lot of options to choose from. 

Select Gallery from the listed options as shown below.

Once a Gallery mode is selected, you will be able to change the presentation from Table view to Gallery view as follows:

Now you are required to change a few properties from the Layout presentation as highlighted below, to align the overall presentation correctly shown above.

Showing the desired properties and hiding the other properties

Once you have the entire presentation set up correctly, it’s time to enable certain properties and hide certain properties to show the overall presentation correctly.

But before this, we need to create 4 quarters to show a quarterly view of income for 3 months of each quarter, i.e. as follows:

Q1	Jan, Feb and Mar
Q2	Apr, May, and June
Q3	July, Aug and Sep
Q4	Oct, Nov, and Dec

Here’s a screenshot of what we meant from above:

Under each view, we are going to enable the following respective properties, i.e.:

Month	Shows the month for which we are finding the income details
Actual Income (Roll up)	Displays the rolled up actual income for the month selected above from the linked database, i.e. Month of Income
% of Budgeted Income	Displays the proportion of the actual income to the budgeted income (shown in %)

Here’s a screenshot of what we would have visible for each quarter of income (Q2 displayed over here):

Note: All these properties originate from the Month of Income Database as we discussed earlier.

Once the above properties are enabled, the rest can be hidden as they are not required for the purpose.

Now, it’s time to move on to the next section.

How to represent the Frequency of Income database

In order to represent the information from the database view to the dashboard view, we need to follow 3 steps:

1. Linking the desired database to the dashboard page.
2. Select the right presentation in the Layout section (such as List, Gallery, Calendar, etc)
3. Showing the desired properties and hiding the unnecessary properties.

Here’s how…

Linking the Frequency of Income Database

First, we need to create a linked database in the primary dashboard.

In order to create a linked database, one needs to type “/linked” in order to show the options for linking a database.

Once this option pops up, select the database you want to link to, over here it is the Frequency of Income Database.

Once the desired database is selected, you will be able to link the database as desired on the primary dashboard.

Essentially linking to a database creates a copy of the database onto a new page where editing on the new page can create changes in the original page as well.

Selecting the right presentation in the Layout section

Once the database is correctly selected, it’s time to change the layout section of the database.

You can change the layout by clicking on Layout and changing the option as shown below.

Once you click on the Layout, you will see a lot of options to choose from. 

Select List from the listed options as shown below.

Once a Gallery mode is selected, you will be able to change the presentation from Table view to List View as follows:

Now you are required to change a few properties from the Layout presentation as highlighted below, to align the overall presentation correctly shown above.

Showing the desired properties and hiding the other properties

Once you have the entire presentation set up correctly, it’s time to enable certain properties and hide certain properties to show the overall presentation correctly.

Here, we will have one view and rename it to “All” that will show 2 types of frequency of income, i.e. Recurring and One Time as follows:

Recurring	Shows the income which is earned on a repeated basis month on month
One Time	Shows the income which is earned for one time only.

Here’s a screenshot of what we meant from above:

Under each view, we are going to enable the following respective properties, i.e.:

Actual Expenses	Shows the actual expenses incurred for each type of frequency of income
Total Expenses (in %)	Displays the proportion of frequency of income to the total income (in %)

Here’s a screenshot of the properties to display for each frequency of income:

Note: All these properties originate from the Frequency of Income database as we discussed earlier.

Once the above properties are enabled, the rest can be hidden as they are not required for the purpose.

Now, we have setup the entire Income Details section correctly in the primary dashboard view as we required.

It’s time to move on to the next section, i.e. Expense Details.

Build the Expense Details Database (Step – 2)

Creating the Expense Details Database is similar to the Income Details Database that we discussed now.

The only difference is the properties and the database names are different in comparison to the Income Details database.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the databases to be used in the Expense Details and how they can be created like the Income Details database we discussed now.

Expense Details Database	Purpose	Similar To
Expense Source Details	Enter all the details related to Expenses	Expected Income Source Details
Month of Expense	Summary of expense sources month-wise	Month of Income
Type of Expense	Summary of expense sources as per the different types of expenses	Frequency of Income of Budget
Expense Type	Summary of the expense details as per different sources such as Entertainment, Loans and Debts, Travel and Transportation, Utility Bills, Food and Groceries, or Others	Income Type
Expense Variance Analysis	Calculate Total Budgeted Expense, Total Actual Expenses, Difference, and Change (in %) for each source of expense	Income Variance Distribution

Important Note: We will create all these databases under one page, i.e. Expense Details Database.

Building Expense Source Details Database

This database is similar to the approach we had taken for creating the Expected Income Source Details database, but only for the fact that the property’s names would be different.

Why do we need to create the Expense Source Details Database

We need to create the Expense Source Details database in order to create the Expense Details section as seen above.

Now, let’s learn how to create and add a new property to a Database.

What are the properties of the Expense Source Details Database

Here’s a quick comparison of the properties of the Expense Source Details database and its similarity to properties in the Expected Income Source Details database.

Properties	Property Type	Purpose	Similar To (Expected Income Source Details)
Expense Source	Title	Enter relevant information related to Expenses such as Electricity Expense for Jan 2023	Income Details
Month of Expense	Relation	Specify the month of the expense creating a relation to another database, i.e. Month of Expense	Month of Income
Expense Classification	Relation	Categorize the different sources of Expense creating a relation to another database, i.e. Expense Type	Income Type
Expense Type	Relation	Specify the type of the expense creating a relation to another database, i.e. Type of Expense	Frequency of Income of Budget
Budgeted Expense	Number	Enter the budgeted expense you expect to spend for a specific head of expense for a month	Expected Income
Actual Expense	Number	Enter the actual expense you made during a specific  month for a particular head of expense	Actual Income
Difference	Formula	Create a formula to find the difference between Budgeted Expense and Actual Expense	Difference

The rest of the approach for creating this database would be similar to Expected Income Source Details database.

Building the Month of Expense database

This database is similar to the approach we had taken for creating the Month of Income database, but only for the fact that the property’s names would be different.

Why do we need to create the Month of Expense Database

We need to create the Month of Expense database in order to create the Quarterly Expense Overview section as seen above.

Now, let’s learn how to create and add a new property to a Database.

What are the properties of the Month of Expense Database

Here’s a quick comparison of the properties of the Month of Income database and its similarity to properties in the Month of Expense database.

Properties	Property Type	Purpose	Similar To (Month of Income)
Month	Title	This will help to store the month details during a period, such as Jan 2023, Feb 2023, Mar 2023 etc (default property)	Month
Source	Relation	This is the related property that is created while building the Expense Source Details database.	Source
Budgeted Expense	Rollup	This shows the Budgeted Expense expected from rolling the same information from the Expected Source Details database.	Expected Income (Rollup)
Actual Expense	Rollup	This shows the Actual Expense you incur from rolling the same information from the Expected Source Details database.	Actual Income (Rollup)
% of Budgeted Expense	Formula	This shows the proportion of the Actual Expense to the Total Budgeted Expense, specified in percentage.	% of Budgeted Income

The rest of the approach for creating this database would be similar to the Month of Income database.

Building the Type of Expense Database

This database is similar to the approach we had taken for creating the Frequency of Income of Budget database, but only the fact that the property’s names would be different.

Why do we need to create the Type of Expense Database

We need to create the Type of Expense database in order to create the Type of  Expense section as seen above.

Now, let’s learn how to create and add a new property to a Database.

What are the properties of the Type of Expense Database

Here’s a quick comparison of the properties of the Type of Expense database and its similarity to properties in the Frequency of Income database.

Properties	Property Type	Purpose	Similar To (Frequency of Income)
Type of Expense	Title	Enter the type of expense such as Fixed Expense or Variable Expense	Frequency of Income
Expense Source Details	Relation	Created by default while setting up a relationship property during the creation of the Expense Source Details database.	Income Source Details
Total Expense Details of Budget	Relation	Created by default while setting up a relationship property during the creation of the Total Expense Details of Budget database.	Total Income Details of Budget
Actual Expense	Rollup	Create a Rollup property rolling the Actual Expense property from the Expense Source Details database.	Actual Income (Rollup)
Budgeted Expense	Rollup	Create a Rollup property rolling the Budgeted Expense property from the Expense Source Details database.	Expected Income (Rollup)
Total Expense	Rollup	Create a Rollup property rolling the Total Actual Expense property from the Total Expense Details of Budget database (to be discussed in the allocated of funds section)	Total Income
Total Expense (in %)	Formula	Find the proportion of the actual expense of each type of expense to the Total Actual Expenses.	Total Income (in %)

The rest of the approach for creating this database would be similar to the Frequency of Income database.

Building the Expense Type database

This database is similar to the approach we had taken for creating the Income Type database, but only the fact that the property’s names would be different.

Why do we need to create Expense Type Database

With the help of the Expense Type Database, we will be able to find additional information to help create the Actual vs Estimated Expense part in the Expense Details section (as discussed later)

What are the properties of the Expense Type database?

Here’s a quick comparison of the properties of the Expense Type database and its similarity to properties in the Income Type database.

Properties	Property Type	Purpose	Similar To (Income Type)
Type	Title	Enter the category of expense such as Utility Bills, Entertainment, Loans and Debts etc	Type
Relation	Relation	This is the related property that is created while building the Expense Source Details database.	Expected Income Source Details
Budgeted Expense (Reqd)	Rollup	This shows the Budgeted Expense expected from rolling the same information from the Expense Source Details database.	Total Budgeted Income
Actual Expense (Reqd)	Rollup	This shows the Actual Expense expected from rolling the same information from the Expense Source Details database.	Total Actual Income
Difference	Formula	This calculates the difference between Total Actual Expense and Total Budgeted Expense for each head of Expense.	Difference
Change (in %)	Formula	This shows the change between the Total Actual Expense and the Total Budgeted Expense, specified in percentage.	Change (in %)

The rest of the approach for creating this database would be similar to the Income Type database.

Building the Expense Variance Analysis Database

This database is similar to the approach we had taken for creating the Income Variance Distribution Database Analysis database, but only the fact that the property’s names would be different.

Why do we need to create Expense Variance Analysis Database

With the help of the Expense Variance Distribution database, we will be able to create the Actual vs Budgeted Expense part in the Expense Details section.

What are the properties of the Expense Variance Analysis database?

Here’s a quick comparison of the properties of the Expense Variance Analysis Database and its similarity to properties in the Income Variance Distribution Database.

Properties	Property Type	Purpose	Similar To (Income Variance Distribution)
Particulars	Title	Specify the Total Budgeted Expense, Total Actual Expense, Difference and Change (in %)	Particulars
Loans and Debts	Relation	This helps to create a link to the Expense Type database and extract information related to Loans and Debts for the above 4 discussed things.	Salary
Final Output (Loans and Debts)	Formula	This is used to calculate the Total Budgeted Expense, Total Actual Expense, and the Difference in Loans and Debts.	Final Output (For Salary)
Final Output (Loans and Debts in %)	Formula	This is used to calculate the Change (in %) of Total Budgeted Expenses, Total Actual Expenses, and the Difference in Loans and Debts.	Final Output of Salary (in %)
Total Budgeted Expense (Loans and Debts)	Rollup	This shows the Total Budgeted Expense by rolling the same information from the Expense Type database for the type of expense source selected (in this case Loans and Debts from the Loans and Debts property).	Total Estimated Income
Total Actual Expense (Loans and Debts)	Rollup	This shows the Total Actual Expense by rolling the same information from the Expense Type database for the type of expense source selected (in this case Loans and Debts from the Loans and Debts property).	Total Actual Income
Difference	Rollup	This shows the difference in between the Total Actual Expense and the Total Budgeted expense by rolling the same information from the Expense Type database for the type of Expense source selected (in this case Loans and Debts from the Loans and Debts property).	Difference
Change (in %)	Rollup	This shows the change (in %) in between the Total Actual Expense and the Total Budgeted expense by rolling the same information from the Expense Type database for the type of Expense source selected (in this case Loans and Debts from the Loans and Debts property).	Change (in %)

The rest of the approach for creating this database would be similar to the Income Variance Distribution Database.

Note: Once we have created the relation for Loans and Debts for the above property, we need to repeat the above steps for other heads of expenses as well such as Entertainment, Travel & Transportation, etc.

Here we have completed creating all the required databases for the Expense Details section.

For the representation of all the databases in the respective section in the dashboard, we will follow the same approach as discussed earlier.

Next up, we are required to present the same onto the primary dashboard as shown below.

For this, we simply need to follow the above-discussed 3-step approach to represent the information on the dashboard, i.e.:

• Linking the desired database to the dashboard page.
• Select the right presentation in the Layout section (such as List, Gallery, Calendar, etc)
• Showing the desired properties and hiding the unnecessary properties.

Here’s a quick overview of the respective databases to link for the following sections in the Expense Details part:

1. Actual vs Budgeted Expense – Link Expense Variance Analysis database
2. Quarterly Expense Overview – Link Month of Expense database
3. Type of Expense – Link Type of Expense database

For the remaining steps, i.e. Layout and enabling the desired properties we need to follow the same approach as discussed in the Income Details section earlier.

Now we are left with the Allocation of Funds part which is the final section of this minimalistic Notion Budget Tracker.

Build the Fund Allocations Database (Step – 3)

In order to create the Fund Allocation database, we will require the following databases for our analysis:

Database	Purpose
Funds Database	Enter the primary details related to funds available for allocation to different units
Available Funds Calculation	Displays the funds that are available for each month
Allocation of Funds	Shows the allocation of funds onto the different units
Total Allocation	Shows the total allocation amount for all units combined
Total Income Details of Budget	Shows the total actual income earned for each month considered for allocation
Total Expense Details of Budget	Shows the total expenses incurred for each month considered for allocation
Funds Allocation Summary	Summary of the funds allocated and available for allocation

We will discuss how to create each database one by one.

Important Note: We will create all these databases under one page, i.e. Allocation of Funds.

Building Funds Database

Create a new database and name it “Funds Database”.

In order to create a new database, simply type “/database” and then select “Database-Inline” to create a database for storing the income details.

Once an Inline Database is created, it’s time to add the necessary properties to store information for use in the Notion Budget Tracker for the fund’s allocation section.

Here, the “Funds Database” has been created that stores the necessary properties as discussed below.

Here’s a quick overview of all the properties to be used in the Funds Database in the Notion Budget Tracker:

Properties	Property Type	Purpose
Month	Title	Enter the month for which allocation of funds is carried out
Allocated To	Relation	Specify the allocation unit to which funds are allocated, such as Investment, Savings or Others
Total Available Funds	Formula	Find the total available funds by deducting the Total Expense from the Total Income amount
Investment Allocation	Number	Allocate funds to the Investment section
Savings Allocation	Number	Allocate funds to the Savings section
Other Allocation	Number	Allocate funds to the Others section
Total Allocation	Formula	Find the sum of all of above 3 allocations
% of Allocation	Formula	Find the proportion of funds allocated to the available funds
Total Income	Rollup	Create a roll-up and pull up Actual Income from the Month of Income database
Total Expense	Rollup	Create a roll-up and pull up Actual Expense from the Month of Expense database

Why do we need to create the Funds Database

Creating the Funds database will help to find the total monthly allocations for each month divided into respective quarters as seen above in the Quartely Allocation Overview.

What are the properties of the Funds database?

Let’s understand each property to create in the Funds database in the Notion Budget Tracker database:

1. Month

This is the default property that is created while building the Funds database.

This will have a Title-type property assigned which is used to specify month of allocation such as Jan 2023, Feb 2023 etc.

2. Allocated To

This helps to create a relation with Allocation of Funds database and setup the allocation details for 3 sources of allocation.

In here, we can manually add the 3 allocations, i.e. Investments, Savings and Others for each month in the aboe database.

This has a Relation property and is shown in the Allocation of Funds database (both ways)

3. Total Available Funds

This calculates the Total Available Funds from the Total Income less Total Expenses that we will see later on.

Here’s the formula we will specify for the property:

prop(“Total Income”) – prop(“Total Expense”)

We have specified US Dollar as the Number Format to fix the currency over here.

4. Investment Allocation

This specifies the allocation made to the Investment unit for each unit from the available funds calculated above.

This will have a Number property in the Type section and we need to enter the allocation amount manually to the filed.

Again, we need to specify the Number format as US Dollar for the currency in use.

Note: One can repeat the same process for Savings Allocation and Other allocation and complete all units of allocation as well.

5. Total Allocation

This calculates the Total Allocation made for the month for all the units specifies above.

Here’s the formula we will specify for the property:

prop(“Investment Allocation”) + prop(“Savings Allocation”) + prop(“Other Allocation”)

We have specified US Dollar as the Number Format as we are to calculate the Total Allocation over here.

6. % of Allocation 

This specifies the percentage of available funds allocated onto different units for each month.

Here’s the formula we will specify for the property:

round(prop(“Total Allocation”) / prop(“Total Available Funds”) * 100) / 100

We have specified the Number Format as Percent to calculate the percentage of the total allocation to the total available funds as seen above.

7. Total Income

This is a roll-up property which pulls out the Actual Income for each month from the Month of Income database as specified in the Month property earlier.

For this we need to setup a relation with the Month of Income database first and then use the rollup option over here to find the information.

Here we again need to specify Sum in the Calculate section to find the sum total value of the above property.

Note: We can repeat the above step to calculate the Total Expense by using a roll up to pull out Actual Expense from Month of Expense database

Now let’s move onto the next database.

Building Available Funds Calculation database

Now we are going to build the Available Funds Calculation database. 

This database essentially helps to give us an Available Funds figure starting with January where we can specify any additional funds (available in hand).

Why do we need to create the Available Funds Calculation database

This database essentially helps to give us the Available Funds amount which has been created in the Budget Overview section as seen above.

What are the properties we need to create in the Available Funds Calculation database

Let’s understand each property to create in the Available Funds Calculation database in the Notion Budget Tracker database:

1. Month

This is the default property that is created while building the Available Funds Calculation database.

This wil have the default Title-Type property where you can specify the month for which you are calculating the Available Funds.

2. Available Funds (Income – Expense)

This will calculate the Total Available Funds, i.e. Income fewer Expenses for each month.

This will have a Formula property and will be essentially Total Income less Total Expenses for the specific month.

Here’s the formula we will use for this property:

prop(“Total Income”) – prop(“Total Expense”)

In here, we will set the Number format as US Dollar to specify the desired currency for our calculation.

3. Additional Funds (if any)

This is simply any available funds (in hand) before allocating the funds for each month.

This will have a Number property assigned to it and we can manually enter the value over here.

Here, we can specify the Number format as US Dollar as our currency over here for the purpose of our calculation.

4. Total Available Funds

This is a calculation of the Total Available Funds we have at the beginning of each month, i.e. Available Funds and Additional Funds as well.

Here’s the Formula we will use over here.

prop(“Available Funds (Month End)”) + prop(“Total Funds (Post Addition)”) + prop(“Additional Funds (if any)”)

This is a Formula-driven property, set in US Dollar as shown below.

5. Allocation Amount

This shows the total allocation for each month rolled up from another database. 

Essentially, we are pulling this amount from another database, i.e. Available Funds, and pulling in the Total Allocation value from there.

Note: We have selected the Sum in the Calculate section to get the sum total value of the allocation of the amount from the database.

Now, we have completed the database, it’s time to move to the next one.

Building the Allocation of Funds database

This database helps to find the total allocation amount and the allocation for each type of allocation.

Along with this, we will be able to find the percentage of allocation for each type of allocation as well.

Why do we need to create the Allocation of Funds database

This will help to create Fund Allocation Overview as we can see above.

What are the properties we need to create in the Allocation of Funds database

Let’s understand each property to create in the Fund Allocation Overview database in the Notion Budget Tracker database:

1. Allocation

This is the default property that is created while resting the Allocation of Funds database.

This will have the Title-Type property where we can specify the sources of allocation, i.e. Investments, Savings, and Others.

2. Allocation Amount

This helps us to calculate the Allocation amount for each type of allocation as specified earlier.

This will be a Formula property that will calculate the value based on the following formula:

if(prop(“Allocation “) == “Investments”, prop(“Total Allocation”) – prop(“Savings Allocation”) – prop(“Other Allocation”), if(prop(“Allocation “) == “Savings”, prop(“Total Allocation”) – prop(“Investment Allocation”) – prop(“Other Allocation”), prop(“Total Allocation”) – prop(“Investment Allocation”) – prop(“Savings Allocation”)))

Essentially, it does the following thing:

1. If the Particulars field is Investments, then it deducts the Savings and Others allocation from the Total Allocation.
2. If the Particulars field is Savings, then it deducts the Investments and Others allocation from the Total Allocation.
3. If the Particulars field is Others, then it deducts the Investments and Savings allocation from the Total Allocation.

Again, this will have the formula US Dollar in the Number property as the specified currency.

Note: Here we have rolled up the values for Investments, Savings, and Others from the Available Funds database and used the figures in the above formula.

3. Total Allocation Amount

This property reflects the Total Allocation Amt considering all the 3 sources of allocation we have over here, i.e. Investments, Savings, and Others.

This is a roll-up property that is derived from another database and that is Total Allocation from which we capture the Total Allocation value.

Note: We have specified Sum in the Calculate section as seen above to find the total sum of value.

4. % of Allocation

This is the last property where we would calculate the proportion of the funds allocated to the Total Available Funds for the allocation type.

This would be a Formula-based property, which is as follows:

round(prop(“Allocation Amount”) / prop(“Total Allocation (Amt)”) * 100) / 100

This has a Number Format as Percent as shown above and we would calculate the Percentage.

Along with this, we will show the same in Bar format in Gray color as shown above.

Building the Total Allocation database

In this database, we will calculate the Total Allocation Value for the different units of allocation as shown above.

Why do we need to create the Total Allocation database

Creating the Total Allocation database helps to find the Total Allocation, Available Funds and percentage of allocation values to be used in the Allocation section as shown above.

What are the properties we need to create in the Total Allocation database

Let’s understand each property to create in the Total Allocation database in the Notion Budget Tracker database:

1. Allocation

Specifies the type of allocation for each allocation made, i.e. Savings, Investments and Others as shown above.

This is a default property that is created while building the Total Allocation database and it has the Title-Type as a property.

2. Source

This is used to specify the source of the allocation, i.e. Savings, Investments, and Others.

This is a Related property that is related to the Allocation of Funds database.

3. Total Allocation

This is a roll-up property that rolls up the Allocation Amount from the Source property, i.e. Allocation of Funds which is linked over here.

Here the relation is established to the Allocation of Funds database as seen over here.

4. Available Funds

This is a roll-up property that rolls up the Available Funds from the Funds Database with the use of a property.

Here the relation is established to the Funds database which uses the Month property to find the related values as seen over here.

5. % of Allocation

This helps to calculate the percentage of total available funds that have been allocated.

This uses a Formula property to calculate the desired value.

Here’s the Formula that is used for the above calculation:

round(prop(“Total Allocation (Reqd)”) / prop(“Available Funds (Reqd)”) * 100) / 100

As we can see, here Percent has been specified in the Number Format to calculate the desired Percentage value.

Now, it’s time to move on to the next database, i.e. Total Income Details of Budget

Building the Total Income Details of Budget

This database helps to calculate the Total Income for all the months combined which can be used for other purposes as we discussed earlier.

Why do we need to create the Total Income Details of Budget database

This database is required to calculate the Total Income details for various purposes which involves calculation in the percentage of Income earned over Total Income.

In order to obtain the figures for the Total Income for all the months combined, we would require this database.

What are the properties of the Total Income Details of Budget database

Let’s understand each property to create in the Total Income Details Budget database in the Notion Budget Tracker database:

1. Particulars

In this, we only mention the Total Income as this will help us fetch the Total Income value from other properties around.

This has the default Title-Type as the property.

2. Relation

This has a Relation property which is related to the Month of Income database as seen below.

3. Total Income

In here, we calculate the Total Income as a rollup property which is obtained from the Relation property that we related to earlier.

This essentially fetches the Total Income details from the Month of Income database and gives us the complete value for it.

It draws Actual Income from the related database of Month of Income as seen below.

Note: We can repeat the same process to create the Total Expense Details of Budget database as we calculated for the Total Income Details Budget database over here.

Now, its time to cover the last database and that is the Funds Allocation Summary.

Building the Funds Allocation Summary Database

The Funds allocation summary is the summary of all the allocation details in one place.

Why do we need to create the Funds Allocation Summary Database

This database is required to create the Summary of Allocation details in the Budget Overview section as seen above.

What are the properties we need to create in the Funds Allocation Summary Database

Let’s understand each property to create in the Total Income Details Budget database in the Notion Budget Tracker database:

1. Particulars

This is the default property that is created while building the Funds Allocation Summary database.

This will have a Title-type property assigned which is used to find the following 4 things:

• Available Funds
• Allocated Funds
• Unallocated Funds
• Allocation (in %)

2. Allocation Status

This represents the value we can derive from the Particulars that are stated over here, i.e.:

• Available Funds
• Allocated Funds
• Unallocated Funds

This has a Formula property, and here’s how we can calculate the same as well.

if(prop(“Particulars”) == “Available Funds”, prop(“Available Funds”), if(prop(“Particulars”) == “Allocated Funds”, prop(“Allocated Funds”), if(prop(“Particulars”) == “Unallocated Funds”, prop(“Unallocated Funds”), toNumber(“”))))

Essentially, the formula is about the following:

1. If the Particulars is about Available Funds, then display Available Funds.
2. If the Particulars is about Allocated Funds, then display the Allocated Funds.
3. If the Particulars is about Unallocated Funds, then display the Unallocated Funds.

Here we have set US Dollar as the Number format as well for the functional currency.

3. Allocation (in %) (Reqd)

This represents the allocation value in percentage to the total available funds.

This has a Formula setup against it to calculate the desired percentage.

Here’s the Formula we are going to use for the purpose:

if(prop(“Particulars”) == “Allocation (in %)”, prop(“Allocation (in %) 1”), toNumber(“”))

Here, we are checking for the Particulars, if its Allocation (in %), then fetch the value from the rolled up property of Allocation in % which we will discuss now.

Again this has Percent Number Format, which is necessary to calculate the Percentage of the Allocation as calculated above.

4. Available Funds

This shows the total Available Funds which we have calculated from the Roll-up property linking the same to the Total Allocation Database.

Again, we are going to assign Sum in the calculate section to find the sum of the above-required information.

5. Allocated Funds

This shows the Total Allocated Funds which we have calculated from the Roll-up property linking the same to the Total Allocation Database.

Again, we are going to assign Sum in the calculate section to find the sum of the above-required information.

6. Unallocated Funds

This shows the amount of unallocated funds left after the allocation is complete from the Total Available Funds.

This has a Formula property assigned to it and here we will use the following formula to calculate the same:

prop(“Available Funds”) – prop(“Allocated Funds”)

Here we have again assigned US Dollar as the Number property to assign the currency for the same.

7. Allocation (in %) 

This is a roll-up property which helps to calculate the Total Allocation (in %) of the total allocated funds over the total available funds.

The rollup property is linked to the Total Allocation database. 

Again we have assigned Sum in the Calculate section to find the total values for the same.

8. Relation

This is the final property that establishes a relation with the Total Income to help us in the above calculations. 

Again, this is related to the Total Allocation database, one way as shown below.

We can create a Start Here section for users entry where we can enter the details related to Income, Expenses and Allocation by linking the respective databases as follows:

Details Related To	Linked Database
Income Details	Expected Income Source Details
Expense Details	Expense Source Details
Allocation Details	Funds Database

Here, we have completed creating all the necessary databases required for the Allocation of Funds part.

Now, let’s understand how we are going to represent all the work done so far in the Summary section (including the Allocation part as well).

How to create the summary part in the dashboard for Notion Budget Tracker?

The summary section of the dashboard has the following 5 sections:

1. Budget Overview
2. Income Sources
3. Expense Sources
4. Fund Allocation Overview
5. Quarterly Allocation Overview

Let’s create each of these.

1. Budget Overview Section

The Budget Overview section comprises 3 sub-sections:

1. Income Section – This represents the Total Actual Income, Total Estimated Income, Difference, and Change (in %).

2. Expense Section – This represents the Total Actual Expense, Total Budgeted Expense, Difference, and Change (in %).

3. Allocation Section – This represents the Available Funds, Allocated Funds, Unallocated Funds, and the Allocation (in %).

Here are the databases we are going to link to in order to fetch the above details in the Summary Section:

Section	Linked To
Income Section	Income Variance Distribution Database
Expense Section	Expense Variance Analysis Database
Allocation Section	Funds Allocation Summary Database

Essentially, we are going to set all the above databases in Gallery mode of view once they are linked to the respective database.

After one database is linked, just duplicate the same database and then link it to another one as specified in the table till you link all 3 of them.

Enable the specific properties which would display the required properties for all the sections as discussed above.

2. Income Sources Section

The Income Sources section comprises 3 sub-sections:

1. Salary Section – Shows the Total Actual Income and proportion of the source of income to the Total Income.

2. Side Hustle – Shows the Total Actual Income and proportion of the source of income to the Total Income.

3. Others – Shows the Total Actual Income and proportion of the source of income to the Total Income.

Here are the steps we need to follow to create the Income Sources section:

1. Create a 3 column view, by typing “/3columns”. This opens a 3-columnar view for working now. 

2. In each of the columns, create a linked view of the database linking the database to the Income Type database.

Set the Layout to the Gallery mode of view as well.

3. Filter the Type to Salary, Side Hustle, and Others for the 3 columns to display the details of respective sources of income.

4. Enable the properties as desired to show the Total Actual Income and the proportion of the income to the Total Income and hide the ones not required.

3. Expense Sources Section

Here we need to follow the above steps similar to Income Sources Section.

The only difference is here we have 6 sources of Expenses and we need to create 3 columns 2 times to show the desired properties.

4. Fund Allocation Overview

The Fund Overview section comprises 3 sub-sections:

1. Investment Section – Shows the Total Allocation Income and proportion of funds allocated for each month.

2. Savings Section – Shows the Total Allocation Income and proportion of funds allocated for each month.

3. Others Section – Shows the Total Allocation Income and proportion of funds allocated for each month.

Here are the steps we need to follow to create the Income Sources section:

1. Create a 3 column view, by typing “/3columns”. This opens a 3-columnar view for working now. 

2. In each of the columns, create a linked view of the database linking the database to the Allocation of Funds database.

Set the Layout to the Gallery mode of view as well.

3. Filter the Type to Investments, Savings, and Others for the 3 columns to display the details of respective sources of income.

4. Enable the properties as desired to show the Allocation amount and the proportion of the funds allocated for each month.

5. Quarterly Allocation Overview

This shows the allocation details of each month for respective quarters of the year.

For each of the month of the quarter, it shows the Total Available Funds and the proportion of the funds allocated for each month of the quarter.

In here we need to create a linked database linking the same to the Funds Database.

Once the above database is linked as stated, its time to apply Filters for each quarter as shown below:

This shows that for Q4, we have filtered the months of Oct, Nov and Dec.

We can apply the same process of filtration for each quarter and filter for each quarter as required.

Finally, we have completed setting up the entire minimalistic Notion Budget Tracker…😀

Let me know if you have any questions regarding the same in the comments section below.

Conclusion

Creating a Notion Budget Tracker is an easy task that simply needs the addition of some databases such as Income details, Expense details, and Allocation of Funds.

We have discussed in detail what needs to be done and followed to create this minimalistic and beautiful Notion Budget Tracker.

Let’s look at some of the popular questions related to Notion Budget Tracker.

FAQ