Engadget has been testing and reviewing consumer tech since 2004. Our stories may include affiliate links; if you buy something through a link, we may earn a commission. Read more about how we evaluate products.
Bills Forecast is a new forecasting tool for your personal and business finances
Similar to a weather forecast that gives you a snapshot of the future weather, Bills Forecast from Minus 4 Degrees provides you with an overview of your financials for the next 12 months.
Bills Forecast is a budgeting app that lets you log your bills and see how your expenses fluctuate each month. To get the best financial profile, you will need to enter in all your bills, not just the recurring monthly bills that are always the same. By entering in once off expenses like repairs, taxes and car registrations, you can view an overview of your future finances. It'll help you budget by allowing you to save in the months that your bills are low and dip into savings during those months when your expenses are high.
Entering your bills is very easy. Just tap the big "+" button in the bottom tool bar and fill in all the details on the bill entry screen. The app allows you to assign a category to a bill and make it recurring. You also can add the bill to your default iOS calendar so you have a reminder of when it is due. If you decide not to use the calendar feature, the Bills Forecast app will send you a push notification when an expense is due. You'll also receive notifications with a weekly and monthly summary of your expenses.
The app has four main views -- the main screen that shows the summary of your bills each month, a monthly detail screen that lists your bills for that specific month, a graph overview that shows your bills for the next 12 months and a "Next 14 days" view that lists your bills in the next 14 days.
Bills Forecast look at your monthly bills for the next year and uses color to show you the relative amount of expenses you have each month. A month that is has very few expenses is shown in blue, while a month that is high is shown in red. A medium expense month is green. Months are also labeled as "Low", "Med" or "High", allowing you to see where each month falls on this scale with just a quick glance.
Keep in mind when you are using Bills Forecast that it is not a bill tracker that shows you which bills you've paid and which ones are still due. It is a forecast and bill reminder tool only and is best used for estimating your budget. That being said, the ability to track your bills as you pay them would be a feature that I would love to see in a future version of the app.
Bills Forecast is available for $1.99 in the iOS App Store. It's compatible with the iPhone and iPad and requires iOS 6.0 or later. There are no ads and no in-app purchases.
