AI Assist

AI Assist lets you manage your finances using plain English commands. Describe what you want to do, review the interpreted actions, and confirm. New to Doughsense? Complete the Getting Started guide first to set up your accounts.

Getting Started

AI Assist is accessible from any screen in Doughsense:

1. Click the AI Assist button (wand icon) or press Cmd+K (Mac) / Ctrl+K (Windows/Linux)
2. Type your command in natural language
3. Review the interpreted actions
4. Confirm to execute or refine as needed

How It Works

Every command goes through a review step before anything changes. You type a command, the AI interprets it, and you see exactly what will happen before confirming. If something isn't right, refine it in plain English.

Command Examples

Income Management

"Add £5000 monthly salary starting next month"
"Record €500 freelance income for this month"
"Update my salary to $6000"

Expense Tracking

"Add £50 for groceries"
"Create monthly rent expense of €1200"
"Add Netflix subscription £15.99 per month"

Asset Management

"Add savings account with £10,000 balance"
"Create investment account worth $25,000"
"Add my car valued at €15,000"

Liability Management

"Add credit card with £2000 balance at 22% APR"
"Create car loan £15,000 at 5% interest"
"Add mortgage £250,000 at 3.5% rate"
"Add credit card with £5000 at 0% for 18 months then 24% APR"

Financial Goals

"Create emergency fund goal of 3 months expenses"
"Set retirement goal of £500,000 in today's money"
"Define your own criteria for financial independence"
"Track progress towards £20,000 house deposit"

Credit Transfer Offers

"Add balance transfer offer for 0% for 24 months with 3% fee"
"Create transfer offer from Barclays 0% for 18 months"

Multi-Command Operations

Process multiple financial actions in a single command:

"Add £1500 rent, £200 utilities, and £100 internet as monthly expenses"
"Create checking account with £5000 and savings with £10000"
"Add £50 groceries, £30 transport, and transfer £200 to savings"

Command Types

Create Operations

Add new financial entities to your portfolio:

• Income: Salaries, freelance work, investments
• Expenses: Bills, subscriptions, purchases
• Assets: Bank accounts, investments, property
• Liabilities: Credit cards, loans, mortgages with promotional rates
• Plans: Financial goals with achievement conditions
• Physical Assets: Vehicles, property, valuables
• Credit Transfer Offers: Balance transfer opportunities with promotional rates

Update Operations

Modify existing entries:

"Update my rent to £1600"
"Change Netflix to £17.99"
"Increase savings account to £12,000"

Delete Operations

Remove entries you no longer need:

"Delete Netflix subscription"
"Remove old gym membership"
"Delete cancelled insurance"

Understanding the Review Screen

After processing your command, the AI presents a detailed review:

Summary Section

• What's happening: Plain English description of all operations
• Operations count: Number of actions to be performed
• All-or-nothing: Every operation in a command succeeds together or none are applied

Operations Details

Each operation is expandable to show:

• Type: Create, Update, or Delete
• Entity: What's being affected (income, expense, asset, etc.)
• Details: All relevant information (amounts, dates, currencies, linked entities)
• Smart defaults: AI-applied categorisation and settings

Refinement Options

Not quite right? Use the natural language refinement feature:

• Type adjustments like "make it £60 instead"
• Add context like "starting next month"
• Correct details like "it should be monthly, not yearly"
• Add missing information like "link it to my savings account"

The AI will reprocess your command with the refinements, maintaining context from the original request.

Currency Handling

AI Assist handles multiple currencies:

• Automatic detection: Recognises £, €, $, and other symbols
• Default currency: Uses your profile's primary currency when not specified
• Multi-currency support: Mix currencies in multi-command operations

Examples:

"Add $50 USD for online purchase"  → USD currency
"Add £50 for groceries"            → GBP currency
"Add 50 for groceries"             → Your default currency

Understanding Dates

The AI understands various date formats and relative references:

• Relative dates: "next month", "yesterday", "next Friday"
• Specific dates: "25th December", "1st January 2025"
• Recurring patterns: "monthly", "weekly", "annually"
• Date ranges: "from January to March"

Examples:

"Add rent starting next month"           → First day of next month
"Record payment from last Tuesday"       → Specific past date
"Create weekly grocery budget"           → Recurring weekly

Working with Your Accounts

AI Assist recognises your existing accounts and links to them automatically:

Automatic Recognition

• References existing accounts: "pay from my savings"
• Links to credit cards: "pay £200 on Visa"
• Updates known expenses: "increase my rent"

Duplicate Prevention

• Checks for similar entries before creating new ones
• Suggests updates instead of duplicates
• Maintains data consistency

Best Practices

Be Specific

• ✅ "Add £45.50 for weekly groceries at Tesco"
• ❌ "Add some money for food"

Include Relevant Details

• ✅ "Create monthly rent £1200 due on 1st"
• ❌ "Add rent"

Use Natural Language

• ✅ "I paid £30 for petrol yesterday"
• ✅ "Transfer £500 from current to savings"
• ✅ "My salary increased to £4000 per month"

Batch Related Commands

• ✅ "Add £50 groceries, £30 petrol, and £20 coffee this week"
• ❌ Three separate commands for related expenses

Advanced Features

Promotional Rate Management

AI Assist handles credit cards with promotional rates:

"Add credit card with 0% APR for 18 months"
"Create balance transfer at 0% for 24 months with 3% fee"
"Update credit card promotional rate expires next month"

Multi-Command Processing

Handle complex financial setups in a single command. All operations succeed together or none are applied:

"Add income of 3k per month, with monthly outgoings: mortgage 650,
council tax 150, energy 150, groceries 400. My house is worth 280k
and as 145k left on the mortgage. I have an emergency fund of 10k"

This single command creates income, multiple expenses, assets, liabilities, and links them together appropriately.

Account Transfers

"Transfer £500 from current account to savings"
"Move €1000 to investment account"

Bill Payments

"Pay £200 towards credit card"
"Pay off £500 from car loan"

Budget Allocation

The AI automatically categorises expenses:

• Needs: Rent, utilities, groceries
• Wants: Entertainment, dining out
• Savings: Transfers, investments

Recurring Patterns

"Add £50 weekly groceries"
"Create £15.99 monthly Netflix"
"Set £500 monthly savings transfer"

Privacy & Security

• Secure processing: Commands are processed using AI services hosted in EU data centres. Your financial data is transmitted securely via encrypted connections and is not stored by the AI provider beyond the session.
• Review before execution: Nothing happens without your confirmation
• Full audit trail: Track all AI-executed operations

Troubleshooting

Command Not Understood

• Try rephrasing with more specific details
• Break complex commands into simpler parts
• Check currency symbols and amounts

Incorrect Interpretation

• Use the refinement feature to adjust
• Cancel and rephrase if needed
• Add more context to clarify intent

Missing Entities

• Ensure accounts/categories exist first
• Create base entities before linking
• Check entity names match exactly

Tips for Success

1. Start simple: Begin with single commands before trying complex operations
2. Review carefully: Always check the interpretation before confirming
3. Use refinements: Adjust commands rather than starting over
4. Build familiarity: You'll find your preferred command patterns quickly
5. Batch operations: Combine related commands for efficiency

What You Can Manage

AI Assist covers everything in your Doughsense portfolio: income, expenses, assets, liabilities (including promotional rates), financial goals, physical assets, credit transfer offers, account transfers, and bill payments. It handles one-time and recurring entries, relative dates like "next month", and 150+ currencies.

For a full overview of how these entities work together, see Managing Your Finances.