How Notion Finance Tracker Works: Full Database Breakdown

Most Notion finance templates are just expense trackers with extra pages. A real finance tracker connects everything: accounts update when you add transactions, budgets track progress automatically, and net worth reflects your actual position.

This page breaks down what a complete Notion finance system looks like: the databases, how they connect, and what each property does.

The database structure

There are 2 core databases and 6 transaction databases:

Core databases:

• Accounts — your financial accounts (checking, savings, credit cards, investments, property, loans)
• Budget — your budget categories (income sources, expense categories, savings goals)

Transaction databases:

• Incomes — money coming in
• Expenses — money going out
• Transfers — money moving between your accounts
• Trades — buying/selling investments
• Valuations — manual value updates for property or assets
• Recurring — scheduled transactions that repeat

How they connect:

Every transaction links to an Account (so balances update automatically). Most transactions also link to a Budget Category (so budget progress updates automatically).

Transaction → Account     → Balance updates
Transaction → Budget      → Progress updates

This is the core pattern that keeps everything in sync.

1. Accounts

The foundation. Every financial account you have—checking, savings, credit cards, investments, property, loans.

Account types and when to use them:

2. Incomes

Money coming in.

When you add an income, the linked account's balance increases automatically.

3. Expenses

Money going out.

When you add an expense, the linked account's balance decreases and the budget category's progress updates.

4. Transfers

Money moving between your own accounts.

Transfers handle:

• Moving money between checking and savings
• Paying off credit cards
• Funding investment accounts
• Cross-currency moves (EUR checking → USD brokerage)

The system creates matching entries on both accounts so balances stay accurate. For cross-currency transfers (e.g., EUR → USD), leave Exchange Rate✨ empty and the app fetches the current rate automatically—or enter a specific rate if you transferred at a known rate.

5. Trades

Buying and selling investments. This is a simple database that allows you to track your stock or crypto trades and their impact on your investment accounts.

Trades update your investment account's holdings. In Notion Finance Tracker, prices for stocks/crypto update automatically.

6. Recurring

Transactions that repeat on a schedule, like rent, subscriptions, or salary.

Instead of manually adding rent every month, create one Recurring entry. The app generates actual transactions on schedule.

7. Budget

Categories for planning and tracking. Budgeting is not only for expenses, you can also use it to track your income and savings goals.

Budget categories are first-class objects. Transactions link to them, and progress calculates automatically.

8. Valuations

Manual value updates for assets that don't have market prices.

Use this for real estate, vehicles, or any asset where you periodically update the value yourself.

How net worth is calculated

Net worth = Assets − Liabilities

The system sums:

• Assets: Cash + Investment + Property + Receivable + Insurance accounts (positive balances)
• Liabilities: Loan accounts + Credit Card accounts (negative balances)

If you have accounts in multiple currencies, values convert to your base currency using current exchange rates.

What you get vs a typical free template

Start with what you need

You don't have to use everything. Start simple:

Just budgeting? →

Just expense tracking? →

Want net worth? →

Want investments? →

Multiple currencies? →