Notion Expense Tracker in 2023 (Complete How To Guide)

Hi, there 👋. Welcome to the accountantguy. 

Today, we are going to learn how we can create this fantastic minimalistic Notion Expense Tracker to easily track your expenses, sources of expenses, and types of expenses and assess how much you can save each month!

Our tracker seamlessly integrates with your Notion account and allows you to easily categorize your expense sources, set the type of expenses, and much more.

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

Benefits of Notion Expense Tracker

Here are 6 prominent benefits of using this minimalistic Notion Expense Planner:

1. Keep track of your expenses in one central location 🛒
2. Fix your monthly expense budgets to assess your overall performance ✔
3. Categorize your payments as per Needs, Desires, and Wants to allocate spending in the right areas 📃
4. Top 10 Highlights showing highest expenses, least expenses, and Recent expenses 🔝
5. Set the frequency of payments throughout the year to assess your performance 🔁
6. Gain access to your monthly expense tracker from any device and from anywhere in the world..💻

Where can I download this Notion Expense Tracker?

You can download this Notion Expense Tracker from here. 

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

Check it out NOW!!! 🔥

Related: How to build Notion Budget Tracker

Features of using this Notion Expense Tracker

This minimalistic Notion Expense Tracker has the following 6 segments in the dashboard:

Overview of Total Expenses

This shows a complete overview of all the expenses which is shown under 3 segments as shown above.

1. Needs – Expenses which fall as a necessity in life. This shows the total expenses and the proportion of the expenses to the total expenses.

2. Desires – Expenses which fall as a desire in life. This shows the total expenses and the proportion of the expenses to the total expenses.

3. Wants – Expenses which fall as a want in life. This shows the total expenses and the proportion of the expenses to the total expenses.

Alongside above, the overview shows Total Budgeted Expenses, Total Actual Expenses, Difference and the Change (in %) for all the expenses combined.

Top 10 Highlights

This shows the Top 10 highlights of the following items:

1. Top 10 Expenses – This shows the Top 10 highest expenses for the period.
2. Least 10 Expenses – This shows the least 10 expenses incurred for a period.
3. Recent Expenses – This shows 10 recent expenses incurred during a period.

Actual vs Budgeted Expenses

This shows the Total Budgeted Expenses, Total Actual Expenses, Difference, and the Change (in %) under 6 different heads of expenses, i.e.:

• Utility Bills
• Loans and Debts
• Travel and Transportation
• Entertainment
• Food and Groceries
• Others 

Expenses Overview (Period)

This shows the Expenses of each month shown in different quarters for the period.

For each month, this shows the total expenses for a month and the proportion of each month’s expenses to the total expenses (in %).

Expenses Overview (in %)

This shows the total expenses and the proportion of each head of expenses to the total expenses under 6 heads:

• Utility Bills
• Loans and Debts
• Travel and Transportation
• Entertainment
• Food and Groceries
• Others 

Frequency of Expenses

This shows how frequently you incur an expense during a period.

Under each mode of frequency of expense, it shows the following details:

• Total Expenses incurred for that mode of frequency.
• The number of sources from which you incur an expense.

How to create a minimalistic Notion Expense Tracker?

We need to fill in the Expense Details onto a database to help us create a minimalistic Notion Expense Tracker.

For this, first, we need to create a page to store the necessary information related to Expense Details as shown below.

Alongside this, we need to create the following databases to help us create this minimalistic Notion Expense Tracker:

Database	Purpose
Expense Source	Helps us analyze expense details with reference to different sources of expense such as Utility Bills, Loans and Debts, Entertainment, Food, and Groceries etc.
Frequency of Expense	Helps us analyze expense details with reference to various frequencies of expense such as Monthly, Annually, Quarterly, Half Yearly, and One Time.
Total Expenses	Helps us analyze expense details related to Total Expenses
Period of Expense	Helps us analyze expense details related to each month during a period such as Jan 2023, Feb 2023, Mar 2023 etc
Expense Budget Classification	Calculate Total Budgeted Expenses, Total Actual Expenses, Difference, and Change (in %) for each head of expense
Expense Categories	Analyze the expenses incurred as per the different category of expenses such as Needs, Desires and Wants

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

Building Expense Details Database

First, let’s create a new database and name it “Expense Details 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.

Important Note: Repeat the above process for creating other databases as mentioned above such as Period of Expense, Frequency of Expense, Expense Categories, Expense Budget Classification etc.

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

Here, the “Expense 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 Expense Details database in the Notion Expense Tracker:

Properties	Property Type	Purpose
Expense Details	Title	Enter relevant information related to Expenses such as Hotel Dine Out, Netflix Subscription, House Rent etc
Period of Expense	Relation	Specify the month of the expense creating a relation to another database, i.e. Period Database
Expense Source	Relation	Specify the different sources of Expense creating a relation to another database, i.e. Expense Source
Expense Categories	Relation	Specify the different categories of expenses such as Needs, Desires, Wants etc creating a relation to another database, i.e. Expense Categories
Frequency of Expense	Relation	Specify how frequently you incur an expense such as Monthly, Daily, Weekly etc creating a relation  to another database, i.e. Frequency of Expense
Actual Expense	Number	Enter the actual expense you incurred during a specific  month for a particular source of expense
Budgeted Expense	Number	Enter the budgeted expense you budgeted for during a specific  month for a particular source of expense
Change (in %)	Formula	Create a Formula specifying the change in % in relation to the actual expense and the budgeted expenses.

Why do we need to create the Expense Details database?

Creating this database will help to form a relationship with other subsequent databases that can help in building the entire Expense Tracker in Notion.

We need to create the Expense 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.

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 Expense Details 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 Expense Details database in the Notion Expense Tracker database:

1. Expense Details

This is a default property that is created while creating a database.

This has a Title-Type property which is used to record the entire details related to expenses incurred such as Dine Out Expenses, Grocery Expenses, Subscription Expenses etc

2. Period of Expenses

This has a Relation property and is used to record the month for which an Expense is incurred, such as Jan 2023, Feb 2023 etc.

This is related to the Period database and is shown both ways as evident from the option Show on Period, which is turned on.

3. Expense Sources

This is created to keep a track of the different sources of expenses in another database.

We have created 6 different heads of expenses over here, i.e. Entertainment, Loans and Debts, Utility Bills, Travel and Transportation, Others, Food and Groceries etc.

This is related to another database which is Expense Source and over here it is also shown both ways (i.e. Show on Expense Source is turned on).

4. Frequency of Expense

This property depicts how frequently you can incur an expense, such as Monthly, One Time, Half Yearly, etc.

This is again a Related property that is connected to another database, i.e. Frequency of Expense. 

Note: Here the relation is established and shown both ways on both the databases (as Show on Frequency of Expense is turned on).

5. Expense Categories

This property depicts the categories of an expense you incur during a period based on your Needs, Wants, and Desires in life. 

This is again a Related property that is connected to another database, i.e. Expense Categories. 

Note: Here the relation is established and shown both ways on both the databases (as Show on Expense Categories is turned on).

6. Actual Expenses

Now we have another property, i.e. Actual Expenses. This is a Number property and here we would enter the details related to the Expense incurred.

Here, we have represented the Number format in US Dollars for easy representation purposes while the Type is selected as a Number.

7. Budgeted Expenses

This is the last property, i.e. Budgeted Expenses. This is a Number property and here we would enter the details related to the budgeted expense for a period.

Here, we have represented the Number format in US Dollars for easy representation purposes while the Type is selected as a Number.

Now we have created the Expense Details database, let’s move on to the next database.

Building Expense Source Database

This database helps to record the various sources of expenses and their respective expense amounts.

Why do we need to create the Expense Source database?

We would need the Expense Source database, in order to create the sources section where we would represent each source alongside expenses and its proportion to the total expenses.

How to add properties to the Expense Source database in Notion Expense Tracker?

Let’s understand each property to create in the Expense Source database in the Notion Expense Tracker database:

1. Name

This is a default property that is created while creating the database.

This has a Title-Type property which is used to record the sources of expenses incurred i.e. Utility Bills, Entertainment, Food and Groceries etc.

2. Actual Expense

This is a roll-up property which is a rolled-up value deriving the total expense incurred for each source of expense.

This is rolled up from another database, i.e. Expense Details database. From here, we will derive the Actual Expense property we discussed earlier.

Note: we are using the Sum in the Calculate section to find the total value of the actual expense over here.

3. Budgeted Expenses

This is a roll-up property which is a rolled-up value deriving the total budgeted expense incurred for each source of expense.

This is rolled up from another database, i.e. Expense Details database. From here, we will derive the Budgeted Expense property we discussed earlier.

Note: we are using the Sum in the Calculate section to find the total value of the budgeted expense over here.

4. Total Expenses

This is a roll-up property which is a rolled-up value deriving the total expenses incurred for all sources of expense combined.

This is rolled up from another database, i.e. Total Expenses database. From here, we will derive the Total Actual Expenses property we discussed earlier.

Note: we are using the Show Original in the Calculate section to find the total value of all the expenses over here.

5. Difference

Next up, we have the Difference column, which reflects the difference between the Budgeted Expenses and Actual Expenses.

Any difference in negative would mean overspending beyond the budget and any difference in positive would mean savins and spending within the budget.

This has a Formula property associated to it.

Here’s the formula we will use for the above purpose:

prop(“Budgeted Expenses”) –  prop(“Actual Expenses”)

It is reflected in US Dollars as a common denominator of currency for all our purposes so far.

6. Change (in %)

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

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

round(100 * prop(“Difference”) / prop(“Budgeted Expenses”)) / 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.

Building Frequency of Expense Database

Now we need to set up a database that will help store the information related to the different frequencies of expense and give further analysis.

Why do we need to create the Frequency of Expense database?

We will need this database to calculate the expenses belonging to different types of frequencies of expenses as shown above.

How to add properties to the Frequency of Expense database in Notion Expense Tracker?

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

1. Frequency

This is a default property that is created while creating the database.

This has a Title-Type property which is used to record the frequency of expenses earned i.e. Monthly, One Time, Half Yearly etc.

2. Sources of Expense

This is the next property that depicts the number of sources of expense for each type of frequency of expense.

This has a Formula property to do the same.

Here’s the formula we will use for the above purpose:

if(prop(“Count of Unique Sources”) == 1, format(prop(“Count of Unique Sources”)) + ” Source”, if(prop(“Count of Unique Sources”) == 0, “No Source”, format(prop(“Count of Unique Sources”)) + ” Sources”))

This formula essentially counts the following:

1. If Unique Sources is 3, then the total sources counted is 3 sources.
2. If Unique Sources is 2, then the total sources counted is 2 sources.
3. If Unique Sources is 1, then the total sources counted is 1 source.
4. If Unique Sources is 0, then the total sources counted is No Source.

3. Relation

This helps to set up a relationship with Expense Details database to help us with roll-up properties as discussed earlier.

Note: Again this is set up both ways and thus the property is created once we complete the Expense Details database.

  

Building Total Expenses Database

This database will help to keep a track of the Total expenses for the purpose of assessment of the total expenses during the period.

Why do we need to create the Total Expenses database?

We need to create the Total Expenses database to help to create this Overview of Total Expenses dashboard.

How to add properties to the Total Expenses database in Notion Expense Tracker?

Let’s understand each property to create in the Total Expenses database in the Notion Expense Tracker database:

1. Name

This is a default property that is created while creating the database.

This has a Title-Type property where we can type out 4 things for our comparison purposes in creation on the Notion Expense Tracker:

1. Total Actual Expenses
2. Total Budgeted Expenses
3. Difference
4. Change (in %)

2. Expense Source

This is a property that is related to another database, i.e. Expense Source. 

Once the relationship is established we can specify the 6 heads of expenses for further analysis i.e. Travel and Transportation, Entertainment, Food and Groceries, Utilities Bills, etc.

3. Total Actual Expenses

This is a roll-up property which is a rolled-up value deriving the total expense incurred for each source of expense.

This is rolled up from another database, i.e. Expense Source database. From here, we will derive the Actual Expense property we discussed earlier.

Note: we are using the Sum in the Calculate section to find the total value of the actual expense over here.

4. Total Budgeted Expense

This is a roll-up property which is a rolled-up value deriving the total budgeted expense budgeted for each source of expense.

This is rolled up from another database, i.e. Expense Source database. From here, we will derive the Budgeted Expense property we discussed earlier.

Note: we are using the Sum in the Calculate section to find the total value of the actual expense over here.

5. Amount

This property helps to find the Total Actual Expenses, Total Budgeted Expenses, Difference relating to all forms of expenses as listed in the Expense Source database.

Thus a formula is used to derive the values as required from above.

Here’s the formula we need to use for the same:

if(prop(“Name”) == “Total Actual Expenses”, prop(“Total Actual Expenses “), if(prop(“Name”) == “Total Budgeted Expenses”, prop(“Total Budgeted Expenses “), if(and(prop(“Total Budgeted Expenses “) < prop(“Total Actual Expenses “), prop(“Name”) == “Difference”), prop(“Total Budgeted Expense (in $)”) – prop(“Total Actual Expenses “), if(and(prop(“Total Budgeted Expenses “) > prop(“Total Actual Expenses “), prop(“Name”) == “Difference”), prop(“Total Budgeted Expense (in $)”) – prop(“Total Actual Expenses “), if(prop(“Name”) == “Change (in %)”, toNumber(“NA”), toNumber(“NA”))))))

Essentially, in this formula we check if the Name property is Total Actual Expenses, then we show Total Actual Expenses belonging to all heads of expense.

If the Name property is Total Budgeted Expenses, then we show Total Budgeted Expenses belonging to all heads of expense.

If the Name property is Difference, then we show Difference belonging to all heads of expense.

Again here we present the data in the US Dollar format for representative currency as shown below.

6. Change (in %)

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

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

if(prop(“Name”) == “Change (in %)”, round(100 * (prop(“Total Budgeted Expense (in $)”) – prop(“Total Actual Expenses “)) / prop(“Total Budgeted Expenses “)) / 100, toNumber(“NAN”))

Essentially, in this formula we check if the Name is Change (in %), then we need to calculate the overall change from the Budgeted Expense amount.

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.

Building Period of Expense Database

This database helps to capture all the expense details in relation to specific periods for each source of Expense.

Why do we need to create the Period database?

The Period database helps us to calculate the Overview section as shown above.

How to add properties to the Period database in Notion Expense Tracker?

Let’s understand each property to create in the Period database in the Notion Expense Tracker database:

1. Month

This is a default property that is created while creating the database.

This has a Title-Type property where we can create the month of expenses such as Jan 2023, Feb 2023 etc. 

2. Expense Details

This is a related property that was created earlier and is related to the Expense Details database as we discussed earlier.

This is related both ways and is thus the Show on Expense Details feature is turned on.

3. Expenses

This is a Rollup property created that rolls up the information related to the expenses over a period of time from another database, i.e. Expense Details.

We are linking here the “Actual Expenses” from the related database and calculating the Sum over here to find the sum total of the values concerned.

4. Total Expenses

This shows the Total Expenses incurred which is again rolled up from another database, i.e. “Total Expenses”. 

Again we have selected here Show Original in the calculate section to find the original values associated with this related property.

5. Proportion of Total Expenses

This calculates the proportion of the expenses for each month as compared to the total expenses of all the months combined.

This is again a Formula property, where we simply divide the individual month’s expenses to the total expenses to find the proportion.

Here’s the formula we use for the above purpose:

round(prop(“Expenses”) / toNumber(prop(“Total Expenses “)) * 100) / 100

Essentially this calculates the expenses for each month to the total expenses.

Again we need to represent the same in the Percent format and we have used a Red bar (to denote expenses) over here as well.

6. Total Expenses

This is the final property where we establish the relationship with the Total Expenses database to keep a check on the Total Expenses.

Relating to the database helps to establish the Total Expenses relationship for further analysis.

Building Expense Budget Classification Database

Now it’s time to build the Expense Budget Classification database and relate the same to the Expense Source database.

Essentially, this database will be the crux of all the databases discussed so far for presenting the Expense Details section so far.

In this database, the objective is to get an overall view of the following 4 things for all types of Expenses Types, such as Entertainment, Loans and Debts, Utilities Bills, etc:

1. Total Budgeted Expenses
2. Total Actual Expense
3. Difference
4. Change (in %) 

In the Expense Budget Classification database, we will have the following properties setup:

Properties	Property Type	Purpose
Name	Title	Create 4 properties, i.e. Total Budgeted Expense, Total Actual Expense, Difference and the Change (in %) to find values for 6 heads of Expense.
Travel and Transportation / Utilities Bills / Loans and Debts / Entertainment etc	Relation	Create to establish a link to the Expense Source database to find relevant information
Amount (For Travel and Transportation / Utilities Bills / Loans and Debts / Entertainment etc)	Formula	Formula for deriving the Total Budgeted Expense, Total Actual Expense, Difference for 6 heads of Expenses.
Change (in %) (For Travel and Transportation / Utilities Bills / Loans and Debts / Entertainment etc)	Formula	Formula for deriving the Change (in %) for 6 heads of Expenses.
Total Estimated Expense (For Travel and Transportation / Utilities Bills / Loans and Debts / Entertainment etc)	Rollup	Create a Rollup property rolling the Estimated Expense from the Expense Source database.
Total Actual Expense (For Travel and Transportation / Utilities Bills / Loans and Debts / Entertainment etc)	Rollup	Create a Rollup property rolling the Actual Expense from the Expense Source database.
Difference (For Travel and Transportation / Utilities Bills / Loans and Debts / Entertainment etc)	Rollup	Create a Rollup property rolling the Difference from the Expense Source database.
Change (in %) (For Travel and Transportation / Utilities Bills / Loans and Debts / Entertainment etc)	Rollup	Create a Rollup property rolling the Change (in %) from the Expense Source database.

Why do we need to create the Expense Budget Classification Database

With the help of the Expense Budget Classification Database, we will be able to create the Actual vs Estimated Expense part in the primary dashboard section.

What are the properties of the Expense Budget Classification Database?

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

1. Name

This is the default property that is created while building the Expense Budget Classification database.

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

• Total Budgeted Expense
• Total Actual Expense
• Difference
• Change (in %)

2. Travel and Transportation

This helps to create a link to the Expense Source database and extract information related to Travel and Transportation for the above 4 discussed things.

This has a Relation property and is not shown in the Expense Source database.

Important Notes: 

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

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

3. Travel Amount

This is used to calculate the Total Budgeted Expenses, Total Actual Expenses, and the Difference in Travel and Transportation.

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

if(prop(“Name”) == “Total Actual Expenses”, toNumber(prop(“Travel Actual Expenses (Rollup)”)), if(prop(“Name”) == “Total Budgeted Expenses”, toNumber(prop(“Travel Budgeted Expenses (Roll Up)”)), if(prop(“Name”) == “Difference”, prop(“Travel Difference (Rollup)”), toNumber(“”))))

Essentially, this helps to find Total Budgeted Expenses, Total Actual Expenses, and the Difference in Travel and Transportation based on the value in the Particular field as explained below.

Particulars	What the formula generates
Total Budgeted Expenses	Get Total Budgeted Expenses from Expense Source database
Total Actual Expenses	Get Total Actual Expenses from Expense Source database
Difference	Get Difference from Expense Source 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 Travel and Transportation property, we need to repeat the above steps for Entertainment, Utilities Bills etc as well (6 heads of expenses)

4. Travel Change (in %)

This is used to calculate the Change (in %) of Total Budgeted Expenses and Total Actual Expenses in Travel and Transportation.

Here’s the formula we will use for the same:

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

Essentially, this helps to find the Change (in %) from the Expense Source 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 Travel and Transportation property, we need to repeat the above steps for other heads of expenses such as Utilities Bills, Loans and Debts etc.

5. Travel Actual Expenses (Roll up)

This shows the Total Actual Expenses by rolling the same information from the Expense Source database for the type of Expenses selected (in this case Travel and Transporation from the Travel and Transportation property).

In order to set up the roll-up property, set the property as roll-up and then select the Expense Source as the database from the Travel and Transporation property defined earlier, as shown below.

Important Note: 

Once we have created the above for Travel and Transportation property, we need to repeat the above steps for other heads of expenses such as Utilities Bills, Loans and Debts etc.

6. Travel Budgeted Expenses (Roll up)

This shows the Total Budgeted Expenses by rolling the same information from the Expense Source database for the type of Expenses selected (in this case Travel and Transporation from the Travel and Transportation property).

In order to set up the roll-up property, set the property as roll-up and then select the Expense Source as the database from the Travel and Transporation property defined earlier, as shown below.

Important Note: 

Once we have created the above for Travel and Transportation property, we need to repeat the above steps for other heads of expenses such as Utilities Bills, Loans and Debts etc.

7. Travel Difference (Rollup)

This shows the difference in between the Total Actual Expenses and the Total Budgeted expense by rolling the same information from the Expense Source database for the type of Expense source selected (in this case Travel and Transportation from the Travel and Transporation property).

In order to set up the roll-up property, set the property as roll-up and then select the Expense Source as the database from the Travel and Transportation property defined earlier, as shown below.

Important Note: 

Once we have created the above for Travel and Transportation property, we need to repeat the above steps for other heads of expenses such as Utilities Bills, Loans and Debts etc.

8. Travel Change (in %)

This shows the Change (in %) in between the Total Actual Expenses and the Total budgeted expenses by rolling the same information from the Expense Source database for the type of expense source selected (in this case Travel and Transporation from the Travel and Transportation property).

In order to set up the roll-up property, set the property as roll-up and then select the Expense Source as the database from the Travel and Transporation property defined earlier, as shown below.

Then select Change (in %) property to derive the change (in %) value from the related database.

Important Note: 

Once we have created the above for Travel and Transportation property, we need to repeat the above steps for Loans and Debts, Utilities Bills etc.

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

Let’s move to the next database.

Building Expense Categories Database

Finally, we have reached to the last database, i.e. Expense Categories database. 

This database will help us to classify the expense as per 3 different types of Expenses which are based on our Needs, Wants or our Desires.

Why do we need to create the Expense Categories Database?

This database is essential to create a 3 columnar view of the Expenses which are divided as per Needs, Desires and Wants as shown above.

What are the properties of the Expense Categories Database?

Let’s understand each property to create in the Expense Categories Database for the Notion Expense Tracker database:

1. Particulars

First of we have Particulars, wherein we are specifying the Expenses as per Needs, Desires and Wants as discussed earlier.

This is the default property which is created while building the Expense Categories database.

This will have a Title-type property assigned to it as well.

2. Expense Details

Next up we have Expense Details section, wherein we relate to the Expense Details database.

Here we pull in the Expenses that we had listed earlier in the Expense Details database and link the same as per the required fields.

This has a Relation property created by default which is shown in the Expense Details database as defined earlier.

3. Expenses Amount 

Next up, we have created a rollup to link the expenses incurred for each of the specified expenses as per different types of expenses.

This is linked through the Expense Details database and captures the actual expenses incurred utlilizing the sum value in the Calculate section.

4. Total Expenses

Finally, we have created a rollup to link the total expenses incurred for all of the specified expenses as per different types of expenses.

This is linked through the Total Expenses database and captures the total actual expenses incurred utlilizing the sum value in the Calculate section.

This brings us to the end of discussion related to building all the databases for the Notion Expense Tracker.

Now its time to create the primary dashboard.

Building the Primary Dashboard of Notion Expense Tracker

The primary dashboard of Notion Expense Tracker consists of 6 sections, i.e. 

• Overview of Total Expenses, 
• Top 10 Highlights, 
• Actual vs Budgeted Expenses, 
• Expenses Overview (Period), 
• Expenses Overview (in %) and 
• Frequency of Expenses.

Here’s how we are going to build each part one by one.

1. Overview of Total Expenses

This has 2 sub-sections presented inside the overview section.

1. The first section has Total Budgeted Expenses, Total Actual Expenses, Difference and Change (in %).

For this we need to create a link to another database.

We need to create a linked database to the Total Expenses database which will help us give the total expenses for the Notion Expenses Tracker.

We need to select the layout to Gallery view to showcase the Total Expenses in a gallery format.

2. The second sub-section has the expenses classified as Desires, Needs and Wants

For this we need to create a link to another database.

We need to create a linked database to the Expense Categories which will help us to give the expenses as per different expenses as shown above for the Notion Expenses Tracker.

We need to select the layout to Gallery view to showcase the above 3 forms of expenses in a gallery format.

2. Top 10 Highlights

For this, we need to create a linked database to Expense Details database and then present the same information in a Listicle-based view.

Then we need to add a sorting option as follows:

Top 10 Expenses	Sort the data highest to lowest and keep the data set limited to 10
Least 10 Expenses	Sort the data lowest to highest and keep the data set limited to 10
Recent Expenses	Sort the data as Created Time and present it in a descending order to reflect the recent expenses. Then keep the data set limited to 10.

Here’s how the filter would look for the Top 10 Expenses. 

Here’s how the filter would look for Recent Expenses.

3. Actual vs Budgeted Expenses

For this we need to link the database to Expense Budget Classification to get the desired properties as reflected above.

Once we have listed the properties as above, we can set the layout in the Gallery mode of view to get the desired database for all 6 heads of expenses.

4. Expenses Overview (Period)

For this, we need to link to the Period database where we can pull the desired values.

Then, we need to present the same in the Gallery format to get the monthly values as shown above.

Moreover, we need to set filters for each quarter as shown below, i.e. as follows:

Q1	Filter the months as Jan, Feb and Mar
Q2	Filter the months as Apr, May and Jun
Q3	Filter the months as July, Aug and Sep
Q4	Filter the months as Oct, Nov and Dec

5. Expenses Overview (in %)

For this we need to link to the database of Expense Source creating a 3-columnar view 2 times.

This again needs to be presented in a Gallery form of view to put the data in the right manner.

In each case, we need to apply the filter for each head of expense such as Travel and Transportation, Food and Groceries, Entertainment etc to filter the expense categories accordingly.

6. Frequency of Expense

Finally, we need to link to the Frequency of Expense database to find the Frequencies of Expenses. 

Once the database is linked, put the database under the Gallery form of view to showcase all the information as desired.

We need to show the actual expense along with the sources of expenses to get the exact view as shown above.

Conclusion

Finally, we have reached the conclusion of how to create a Notion Expense Tracker.

All we need to do is to create Expense Details which can be divided into different ways of presentation as well.

FAQ