Polaris User Guide

1. What Polaris Helps You Do

Polaris helps you plan and monitor household cash flow by combining:

• accounts (checking, savings, credit cards)
• transactions (manual, imported, or synced)
• recurring items (income and expenses)
• forward projections

2. Quick Start

1. Create your account and verify your email.
2. Complete Setup Wizard (or skip and do it later).
3. Add at least one account:
   • Accounts tab → Add (manual account), or
   • Accounts tab → Connect (bank connection via Plaid)
4. Add recurring income/expenses in the Recurring tab.
5. Open Dashboard to review your projected cash flow.

3. How Projections Work

Polaris calculates a rolling 90-day forecast of your checking cash flow.

• It starts from your current checking balances.
• It applies enabled recurring items on their scheduled dates.
• It applies credit card due-date payments as projected checking outflows.
• The chart is future-focused; historical transactions are not replayed as future events.
• If projected checking balance drops below zero, Polaris surfaces a warning.
• Pro users can run what-if simulations without overwriting baseline projections.

4. Navigation Map

• Dashboard: balance summary, projection chart, timeline, what-if scenario (plan-gated)
• Accounts: list of accounts, connect bank, add account, reconnect notices
• Recurring: recurring income/expense/payment items
• Assistant tab: AI assistant (Pro + enabled + API key)
• Settings (header menu): profile, preferences, subscription, AI, household sharing, legal, account actions

5. Core Tasks

Add an account manually

1. Go to Accounts → Add.
2. Choose account type (Checking, Savings, or Credit Card).
3. Fill in name, institution, and current balance.
4. Save.

For credit cards, you can also add optional details:

• statement closing day
• due day
• credit limit

Connect a bank account (Plaid)

1. Go to Accounts → Connect.
2. Complete the Plaid flow.
3. Select accounts to import.

Notes:

• Pro is required for bank connections.
• Pro includes up to 2 connected accounts.
• Elite unlocks unlimited connected accounts.

Reconnect a bank account

If a connection needs attention, Polaris shows a reconnect banner in Accounts or Account Details.

1. Tap the reconnect prompt.
2. Complete the Plaid reconnect flow.

Add and manage recurring items

1. Go to Recurring tab.
2. Tap + Add.
3. Set type, amount, frequency, and account.
4. Enable/disable recurring items as needed.

Recurring items directly impact projected cash flow.

Review and edit transactions

From Account Details:

1. Open an account.
2. Tap a transaction to open Transaction Details.
3. Edit description, amount, date, category, and notes.
4. Save or delete.

You can also link/unlink transactions to recurring items from account flows.

Import PDF statements

For supported plans:

1. Open an account.
2. Tap Import Statement.
3. Select a PDF file.
4. Review parsed results in Review Transactions.
5. Confirm import.

Tips:

• Use text-based PDFs when possible.
• Keep file size under 10 MB.
• If parsing returns no transactions, try another statement format.

Share a household

From Settings:

1. Open Share Household to invite users.
2. Open Invitations to accept or decline received invites.

Household members can collaborate with shared financial data.

6. Subscription and Feature Access

Feature availability depends on your plan:

Feature	Free	Basic	Pro	Elite
Statement imports (PDF)	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bank connections (Plaid)	No	No	Yes (up to 2)	Yes (unlimited)
AI Assistant	No	No	Yes	Yes
What-if scenarios	No	No	Yes	Yes
Manual accounts/transactions/recurring	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Household sharing	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

7. AI Assistant Setup

1. Open Settings → AI Assistant.
2. Enable assistant.
3. Choose provider (OpenAI or Gemini).
4. Add API key.
5. Pick a model.
6. Use the Assistant tab.

If Assistant is unavailable, check:

• your plan (Pro or higher required)
• API key is saved
• assistant toggle is on

8. Privacy and Security

Polaris includes:

• optional biometric app lock
• screenshot prevention toggle
• account deletion scheduling with grace period

For AI assistant usage:

• your questions and summarized financial context are sent to your selected provider
• avoid sharing highly sensitive data in prompts

See Settings → Privacy Policy and Terms of Service for legal details.

9. Troubleshooting

I can’t connect another bank

Possible reasons:

• you are not on Pro or Elite
• you reached Pro’s connection limit (upgrade to Elite for unlimited connections)

Plaid account stopped syncing

1. Open Accounts or Account Details.
2. Use the reconnect banner.
3. If still failing, disconnect and reconnect.

My projection looks wrong

• Review recurring items for correct amount, frequency, start date, and account.
• Check whether the item is enabled.
• For variable recurring items, confirm the estimated amount.
• For credit cards, verify closing day/due day metadata and payment items.

Dashboard chart is empty

• Add at least one checking account.
• Add recurring items so forecast events exist.
• Pull to refresh and reopen Dashboard.

Assistant says API key required

Go to Settings → AI Assistant → API Key, then add or update your key.

Import statement fails

• Verify the PDF is readable and under 10 MB.
• Try a newer statement export from the bank portal.

I can’t delete an account

• Only the account owner can delete an account.
• Shared household members with editor or viewer roles cannot delete owner-owned accounts.

10. Account Management

From Settings → Account:

• schedule account deletion (confirmation required)
• cancel scheduled deletion before final removal
• sign out

11. FAQ

Does Polaris read my bank credentials?

Bank credentials are entered in the Plaid connection flow, not directly into Polaris forms.

What happens to my data if I cancel a subscription?

Canceling a subscription removes paid feature access, but your account data remains unless you delete your account.

Can I share with more than one person?

Yes. Use Settings → Share Household to invite multiple members and manage roles.

How do I change my password?

Use Forgot Password on the login screen to send a reset email.

12. Where To Get More Help

• In-app: Settings → About Polaris, Privacy Policy, Terms of Service
• Support: support@polariscashflow.com
• Privacy/data requests: privacy@polariscashflow.com