Getting set up
Guided setup takes you through fourteen short steps, and every one of them can be skipped and picked up later. What each step is for, and what to do first.
In the app: Guided setup, then Account
The first time you open Clementine it starts guided setup. It goes one step at a time, tells you what each step is for, and lets you skip any of them. Nothing you skip is lost: it waits for you on Home until you do it or dismiss it, and everything can be changed later under Account.
Guided setup
- Your money Bank accounts, Gmail, AI categories, Spending picture, Your plan
- Your tools Bills and subscriptions, Savings goals, Savings plan, Invoices, Tax and receipts
- Stay on track Calendar, Notifications, All set
The three steps that matter most
If you do nothing else on day one, do these. The rest builds on them.
- Get your transactions in. The Bank accounts step brings your banks in through PocketSmith and lets you choose which accounts Clementine uses. If you would rather not connect anything, skip it: you can add spending by hand, or import a CSV file from your bank, under Spending, Transactions.
- Check the spending picture. Once there are transactions, Clementine shows where the money went. This is worth a slow look. It is what your limits are built from.
- Turn it into a plan. The Your plan step suggests a limit for each category from your own history. Change any of them. A limit is a line you set for yourself; nothing happens at your bank.
The optional connections
- Gmail. Lets Clementine find subscriptions in billing emails, read payslips into your tax records and send invoices from your own address. It is optional, and read access and permission to send are asked for separately.
- AI categories. Sorts each payment into a category so you only check the unclear ones. Today it uses a Google Gemini key that you supply. It is sent a business’s public name and your category names, never amounts or dates. What the AI sees
Your tools
The middle of setup is the things you will open Clementine to do. Set up the ones you need and skip the rest.
- Bills and subscriptions. Regular payments found in your accounts. Keep the ones you want to track.
- Savings goals. Give a goal a target and a date and Clementine works out what to put aside each month.
- Savings plan. Compares what your goals need with your income and spending. Nothing moves automatically.
- Invoices. Add your business details once. Every invoice uses them. Only if you work for yourself.
- Tax and receipts. Say how you earn, so deductions and tax to set aside can be tracked.
Staying on track
- Calendar. A private feed that puts due dates in Apple or Google Calendar. Names and dates only, no amounts.
- Notifications. A short notice for one thing at a time: a bill due, a trial ending, a limit passed. Names and amounts stay in Clementine.
If you skipped something
Each skipped step leaves one reminder on Home with a button that takes you to the right place: Connect a bank, Add Gmail, Set limits, Add a goal and so on. A reminder goes away by itself as soon as the thing exists, and you can dismiss any you do not want.
To go through setup again at any time, open Account, then Setup.
What to do next
Tell Clementine when you are paid. That one answer turns Home into a single number you can use every day. Your first fortnight
Keep reading.
- Household or side hustle
Clementine shows the sections that fit how you earn. How it decides, what the Work section adds, and how to switch it on or off.
- Your first fortnight
Tell Clementine when you are paid and Home becomes one number: what is safe to spend until pay day. How the pay cycle works and exactly how the number is worked out.