Question 1

What is PesaInsights?

Accepted Answer

PesaInsights turns bank and mobile-money statements into a clean spending dashboard, converts them between formats (Excel, CSV, OFX, QIF and more), and gives small businesses invoices, reports and analytics. Everything runs in your browser: your statement is parsed on your device and is not uploaded to read it.

Question 2

What can PesaInsights do for a small business?

Accepted Answer

Start with a statement: upload it for a spending dashboard, or convert it to Excel, CSV, QuickBooks, Xero, Quicken or JSON. Then run the paperwork in the same place — invoices with line items, tax and partial payments, recurring invoice drafts, payment reminders, a receipt vault, and cash-basis business reports. With an account you also get cross-device sync, workspaces for separate books, API keys, and a weekly summary email. Everything is optional; nothing stops working because you skipped a feature.

Question 3

How do I analyse my first statement?

Accepted Answer

Click "Analyze Statement", then drop in your file. Supported formats include bank PDF statements, CSV/Excel exports, OFX and QIF files — and M-Pesa PDFs including password-protected ones. The dashboard opens automatically with your money in, money out, categories and charts. Upload more statements any time — they stack into one view instead of replacing each other.

Question 4

What am I looking at on the dashboard?

Accepted Answer

The headline cards show total money in, money out, net cash flow and fees for the selected time window. Below them: spending by category, cash-flow over time, and your list of uploaded statements. Use the time-window buttons to narrow the view — every chart and total follows the window you pick.

Question 5

Where is my data stored?

Accepted Answer

On your device, in your browser's local storage — that is the default and it never changes silently. Clearing browser data removes it, and the "Clear all data" button removes it on demand. If you create an account and log in, your statements are additionally synced to your account so you can open them on another device. Without an account, nothing leaves your browser except what you explicitly send (see the Privacy section).

Question 6

Does PesaInsights work with my bank?

Accepted Answer

The answer depends on the file, not the bank. Any bank's CSV, Excel, OFX or QIF export parses cleanly — those formats are structured, and essentially every bank with online banking offers at least one. Excel files are read from their first sheet. PDF statements are layout-driven: standard tabular layouts parse well, and the parser reports its confidence so you know how the extraction went. Scanned or photographed statements are detected and rejected with guidance, because there is no text layer to read — export a text-based file instead.

Question 7

Does PesaInsights work outside Kenya?

Accepted Answer

Yes — worldwide. The formats banks export are the same everywhere, and the parsing is format-driven rather than bank-driven: CSV, Excel, OFX, QIF, and text-based PDF statements from any country. Currencies are auto-detected across 150+ ISO codes, European number conventions (semicolon-separated CSVs, decimal-comma amounts like 1.500,00) and day-first dates are handled, and when your statements mix currencies the totals are converted using exchange rates from each transaction’s own date.

Question 8

Which mobile-money providers are supported?

Accepted Answer

M-Pesa parses natively: drop the full statement PDF — password-protected included — and it is read directly, charges split onto their own rows the way the statement reports them. Any other provider works through its CSV or Excel export, the same way any bank does; the columns are matched automatically and a manual mapper covers unusual layouts. Mobile-money parsing covers M-Pesa today; more providers are added as we see real samples.

Question 9

My CSV uses semicolons and decimal commas — will it parse?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The delimiter (comma, semicolon, tab, or pipe) is sniffed from the rows of each file, and amounts written the continental-European way — "1.500,00" or "1 500,00" — are detected file by file, so a German bank’s export and a Kenyan one can sit in the same dashboard. Detection is deliberately conservative: a file has to prove the decimal-comma convention before it is applied, and an ambiguous file is read the standard dot-decimal way rather than guessed at. If the column headers are unusual, a manual column mapper lets you point at the date, description, and amount columns yourself.

Question 10

Do I need an account?

Accepted Answer

No. Everything on the dashboard, converter, transactions and analytics works without one, on this device only. An account adds: cross-device sync of your statements, categories, projects and saved analytics; invoices; stored receipt documents; and API keys for integrations.

Question 11

How does sync work across devices?

Accepted Answer

When you are logged in, your uploaded statements, category corrections, projects and saved analytics questions are mirrored to your account. Log in on another device and they appear after a moment. If the same item was edited on two devices, the most recent edit wins.

Question 12

I forgot my password — what now?

Accepted Answer

Use "Forgot password?" on the login page. We email a single-use reset link that lasts 30 minutes. Completing a reset also signs out every other session of your account, for safety.

Question 13

Why should I verify my email?

Accepted Answer

Password reset only works with an address that can receive our email. Verifying proves the address is really yours. Use "Resend verification email" on your account page if the first mail did not arrive.

Question 14

How do I delete my account?

Accepted Answer

On the account page (open Log in while logged in), the "Danger zone" erases your account after you confirm your password. Your synced statements, categories, projects, invoices and stored documents are erased from our servers, and your email becomes usable for a fresh registration immediately. Data stored on your device is deliberately untouched — use "Clear all data" on the dashboard if you want that gone too.

Question 15

What is the weekly summary email?

Accepted Answer

An optional once-a-week email — "Your PesaInsights week" — sent to verified account addresses that opted in under Settings. Each account gets at most one per week, and a quiet week is only reported once you have had a real one. Opting out is one click and takes effect immediately; nothing is queued in advance.

Question 16

What can I do with an API key?

Accepted Answer

Push data in from your own tools: two authenticated JSON endpoints accept transactions and invoices, so a till system or a script can write into your account without touching the UI. Keys are created in Settings, shown once, and revocable at any time. The full request shapes, caps and error answers are on the API page.

Question 17

A transaction has the wrong category — how do I fix it?

Accepted Answer

Click the category badge on any transaction row and pick the right one. Your correction is remembered and always wins over the automatic categoriser, including after new uploads.

Question 18

Can I create my own categories?

Accepted Answer

Yes — open the category picker on any transaction and use "New category". Custom categories are unlimited, appear at the top of the picker everywhere, and sync with your account when logged in.

Question 19

What are projects?

Accepted Answer

Projects group transactions across categories — "Chama 2026", "House build", "Business". On the Transactions page, search for related payments and tag all matches into a project at once; then filter by project or analyse it on the Analytics page.

Question 20

Can I edit many transactions at once?

Accepted Answer

Yes. On the Transactions page, type a search (a merchant name, a till number). A bar appears offering to recategorise all matches, tag them into a project, or mark them business/personal — one click for the whole set.

Question 21

How do I separate business money from personal?

Accepted Answer

Search for your business payments on the Transactions page and click "Mark business". Everything else stays personal by default. Business-tagged transactions power the Business page (profit and loss, revenue, tax estimate) and can be analysed separately on the Analytics page using the scope filter.

Question 22

How do I use Analytics?

Accepted Answer

Start with the ready-made questions at the top — "What did I spend on supplies last month?", "How much went to fees and charges?" — and tap one to see your own numbers. Every answer says what it counted, and tapping a figure opens the transactions behind it. To ask something of your own, use the builder below: choose what to show, what to group it by, and how it should look. Add filters (dates, project, business or personal, or words in the description) and the result updates live. Everything is worked out on your device.

Question 23

Can I save a question I ask often?

Accepted Answer

Yes — name it and click Save. Saved questions can be opened again in the builder, and pinning one turns it into a dashboard card at the top of the Analytics page. You can also save the filters themselves under a name — "Salon supplies", "Rent" — and put them on any question, including the ready-made ones. Saved questions and saved filters sync with your account when logged in, and stay on this device when you are not.

Question 24

Can I analyse invoices, not just transactions?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Use "Ask about" in the builder to switch between Transactions and Invoices. Invoice questions support totals, counts and outstanding amounts, grouped by party, type, status, month or currency.

Question 25

Why do some totals show a ≈ sign?

Accepted Answer

When your statements mix currencies, the headline cards convert everything into one currency using exchange rates from the transaction dates. The ≈ marks a converted figure, and the card notes the rate date. If a rate is unavailable, raw sums are shown with a clear warning instead.

Question 26

Where do the exchange rates come from?

Accepted Answer

From the European Central Bank's published rates, extended by an open dataset for currencies the ECB does not publish (including KES, NGN, GHS, PHP and many others). Conversions use the rate from each transaction's own date — a March payment is converted at March's rate, not today's. Rates are cached once fetched, and when no rate is available the app shows raw sums with a clear warning instead of guessing.

Question 27

Which currencies does PesaInsights support?

Accepted Answer

All 154 active ISO-4217 codes. Detection runs in four tiers, strongest first: an explicit label ("Currency: GHS"), a code touching an amount ("KES 1,200.00"), a bare code in the statement header, and finally unambiguous currency symbols (₦ counts; a bare "kr" does not, because three countries use it). Each transaction keeps its original currency, and mixed-currency totals are converted and marked with a ≈ sign — see "Why do some totals show a ≈ sign?" above for how that conversion works.

Question 28

What does the Business page show?

Accepted Answer

A cash-basis report over your business-tagged transactions: monthly profit and loss (income, expenses, net), the latest month's revenue, and a revenue-tax estimate (called turnover tax in Kenya). The P&L table exports to CSV. Cash-basis means money as it actually moved — what a statement can honestly support.

Question 29

Where does the revenue-tax rate come from?

Accepted Answer

You set it. Tax rates change with national budgets, so PesaInsights never hardcodes one — the estimate is simple arithmetic on the rate you enter. Confirm the current rate with your revenue authority before filing.

Question 30

What is in the reports pack?

Accepted Answer

Five reports on the Reports page, each previewed on screen and exportable as Excel, CSV or PDF: a general ledger (every transaction as ledger lines by category), a profit and loss by month, aged receivables (who owes you, bucketed by how late), a statement of financial position (cash plus receivables), and a tax summary at the rate you set. Everything is cash basis — money as it actually moved through your statements — and honestly named: the position view says plainly that it is cash movements plus invoice receivables, because PesaInsights holds no asset or liability registers. Currencies are always reported separately, never converted or added together. The pack needs a login because the receivables report is built from invoices stored on your account. It is part of the Pro plan where billing is enabled.

Question 31

How do invoices work?

Accepted Answer

On the Invoices page, record receivables (they owe you) and payables (you owe them) in any currency, with numbers, parties, dates and notes. Move them through draft, sent and paid — overdue ones are highlighted, and the tiles show what is open per currency plus an ageing summary. Invoices are stored in your account, so they need a login.

Question 32

Can I load an invoice from a photo or PDF?

Accepted Answer

Yes — "Load from document" reads the file with AI and prefills the party, date, amount and currency for you to confirm. Where document storage is enabled, the original file is kept with the invoice so you can refer back to it.

Question 33

Can invoices carry line items and tax?

Accepted Answer

Yes. An invoice can hold line items, a tax rate with your own label (VAT, GST, Sales Tax), whether the stated amount already includes tax, payment terms, buyer details and notes — in any currency. Credit notes are supported too: a negative document linked to the invoice it reverses, which is exactly what tax authorities expect to see.

Question 34

A customer paid part of an invoice — how do I record it?

Accepted Answer

Record a partial payment on the invoice. Each payment is added to what is already recorded, so a deposit now and the balance next month are two entries against one invoice. The open-amount tiles and the ageing summary always show what is actually still owed, never the face value of a nearly-settled invoice.

Question 35

An invoice was settled in cash, or outside the app — what do I do?

Accepted Answer

Mark it settled externally, with an optional note in your own words — cash, a transfer to an account we never read, a write-off, a swap of services. It is recorded as a settlement, not a payment, so your books never claim money moved that we cannot see. Every correction is reversible: paid in full, partial payment, settled externally, and muting reminders for a disputed invoice can all be undone.

Question 36

How do recurring invoices work?

Accepted Answer

On the Recurring page, a schedule creates a draft in your own invoice list on the dates you choose — monthly rent, a weekly retainer. Nothing is emailed to your customer, nothing is numbered, and no money moves: the draft waits for you to review it and send it yourself. Schedules are stored in your account, so they need a login.

Question 37

Can PesaInsights remind me when an invoice is due?

Accepted Answer

Yes, if you opt in under Settings. We email you — never your customer — when an invoice comes due soon, comes due today, or goes overdue, and each of those is said at most once per invoice. Reminders need a signed-in account with a verified email address, and opting out is one click that takes effect immediately.

Question 38

Where do my scanned receipts go?

Accepted Answer

When the server has document storage enabled, every receipt you scan keeps its original file, and the Documents page is the vault: list, search, preview, upload and remove. Files stored there are scoped to your account. If storage is not configured on the server you are using, the page says so plainly instead of inviting you to fill a vault that does not exist.

Question 39

What is a workspace?

Accepted Answer

One business's books — its statements, invoices and documents — kept separate from your personal money and from other clients. You can invite people into a workspace and control who can open it. Bookkeepers use one workspace per client; a shop owner might use one for the shop and keep personal spending outside it.

Question 40

How many workspaces and members do I get?

Accepted Answer

Your plan sets both limits — how many workspaces you can create and how many people can join each one. When you reach a limit, the app states the boundary plainly right where you hit it, and removing somebody frees a place. There is currently no way to change plans from inside the product; if a limit is in your way, tell us through the feedback form below and we will sort it out directly.

Question 41

What does "Scan a receipt" do with my photo?

Accepted Answer

It sends that one image (or PDF) to the AI provider configured on the server, which reads the vendor, date, total and items. The result only prefills a form — nothing is saved until you confirm it. AI features are always something you trigger; nothing is analysed automatically.

Question 42

What do AI insights send?

Accepted Answer

A compact summary your device computes first: totals, category and monthly aggregates, and your largest expense descriptions — never your full statement. The model returns a financial health check with recommendations.

Question 43

Why do AI features say they are not enabled?

Accepted Answer

AI features need the server operator to configure an AI provider. Until then they decline safely rather than failing halfway. Everything else in the app works without them.

Question 44

The short version of your privacy model?

Accepted Answer

Your statement is parsed in your browser. Without an account, your data lives only on your device, plus an optional anonymised summary you explicitly consent to on first upload. With an account, your real data syncs to our servers so you can read it back — scoped to you alone. Nothing in our database is ever hard-deleted; erasure works by scrubbing, and account deletion erases your synced data. The full write-up is on the Privacy page.

Question 45

Can I export my data?

Accepted Answer

Yes — the Transactions page exports the current view to CSV, the Business page exports the P&L, and the converter turns any statement into Excel, CSV, OFX, QIF, IIF or JSON.

Question 46

How do I report a problem or suggest something?

Accepted Answer

Use the feedback form at the bottom of this page — it goes straight to the team. Include what you were doing and what you expected; a contact address is optional but lets us follow up.

Question 47

My statement won't parse — what can I do?

Accepted Answer

Check the file is an original export (scanned photos of paper statements are not supported). Password-protected PDFs — M-Pesa included — are supported; enter the password when asked. If a supported file still fails, try the Convert page: if conversion also fails, the format may not be recognised yet, and we would like to hear about it.

Question 48

My totals look wrong.

Accepted Answer

Three usual causes: a time window is narrowing the view (check the window buttons); statements overlap and duplicates were merged (this is by design — the same transaction is only counted once); or your statements mix currencies (see the ≈ answer under Analytics).

Question 49

It says my session expired.

Accepted Answer

Sessions last 30 days, and a password reset signs out all sessions. Just log in again — nothing on your device is lost.

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