Quick answers to common questions. Still stuck? Contact us.
The basics
How does budgeting in Plot work?
Plot uses zero-based budgeting: give every dollar a job. Money you've received becomes "Ready to Assign," and you hand it out to categories until nothing's left unassigned.
What is "Ready to Assign"?
It's the money you have that hasn't been given a purpose yet. The goal is to get it to $0 · every dollar working toward something.
How do targets work?
Set a monthly funding target or a balance target on any category. Plot tracks your progress and offers one-click funding when you're short.
What happens if I overspend a category?
Its available balance goes negative (shown in red). Click it to cover the overspending by moving money from another category.
Manual accounts & optional bank sync
Do I have to connect a bank?
No. Add cash, checking, savings, credit-card, and loan accounts manually and keep using them that way for as long as you want. Plaid sync is optional and can be added account by account.
What happens after I connect an institution?
Choose which eligible checking, savings, cash, and credit accounts should create a new Plot account or feed one you already have. Other connected account types can provide balance context; loans remain manual. New transaction activity lands in your Review Inbox and never silently rewrites your plan.
How does Plot avoid duplicate transactions?
Plot checks imported activity against transactions already in your account and can propose a match. You review the match before it becomes part of your approved history.
What if my bank changes or removes a transaction?
Plot shows the bank update in your Review Inbox. You choose whether to apply the change, keep the Plot version, or remove the transaction when appropriate.
What happens when I disconnect?
Future synchronization stops. Transactions you already approved stay in Plot, and you can continue maintaining the account manually.
How do I fix a balance that drifted?
Open the account and choose Reconcile. Plot shows the exact adjustment before posting it, so the register and real-world balance agree without rewriting history.
Accounts & security
How do I turn on two-factor authentication?
Go to Account & Security → Set up 2FA, scan the QR code with your authenticator app, and save your backup codes.
How do I add or remove a passkey?
Open Account & Security → Passkeys. You can add your current device, another phone, or a security key and remove any passkey you no longer recognize. Password and authenticator-app sign-in remain available.
I forgot my password.
Use Reset your password on the sign-in screen. We'll email you a secure, single-use link.
Is my financial data private?
Yes. Plot never sells your financial data. Sensitive connection secrets are encrypted, and budget data is isolated by workspace so only members of that workspace can access it. See Security and Privacy for the precise details.
Benchmarks
How do benchmarks work?
They compare your spending to people in a similar life stage. They're opt-in: your anonymized snapshot joins the pool that powers everyone's comparison, and aggregates only ever cover 5+ people.
Can I leave benchmarks?
Anytime · opt out on the Benchmarks page and your contribution is removed.