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Paycheck Allocation System

A payday system that splits pay automatically into bills, spending, savings and goals accounts: the account map, the transfer plumbing, payday checks and the reviews that keep it running without willpower.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Then open the Marketplace in the app, search for Paycheck Allocation System, and click Install. It goes into your own files, and works offline from then on.

Before you start: this plan is general information to help you organise your own money decisions. It is not financial, investment, tax or legal advice. Check decisions that matter with a qualified, licensed adviser in your country, and remember that investing and trading can lose money.

What it installs.

1

Pillar

1

Area

50

Projects

202

Starter tasks

💷 Personal Finance

Paycheck Allocation System

Splitting each paycheck automatically into bills, spending, savings and goals accounts so the system runs without willpower.

  1. Map of where your pay goes today
  2. Pay date and net amount record for every income
  3. Deciding how many accounts the system needs
  4. Choosing a bank that handles pots and scheduled transfers
  5. Monthly bills transfer worked out to the unit
  6. Setting the split for each payday
  7. Opening and naming the allocation accounts
  8. Moving direct debits to the bills account
  9. Payday standing orders built and tested
  10. Starter float for the bills account
  11. Payday ten-minute transfer check
  12. Weekly spending allowance drip
  13. Bills account balance reconciliation
  14. Month-end sweep of unspent allowance
  15. Quarterly split review
  16. Price rise rule for the bills transfer
  17. Annual audit of every standing order
  18. Payday allocation log
  19. Shifted paydays calendar for the year ahead
  20. Standing orders, direct debits and scheduled transfers
  21. Fixed amounts versus percentage splits
  22. Transfer timing and payment clearing times
  23. Payslip changes that should change the split
  24. Pay yourself first, worked through with your numbers
  25. Automation features in your banking apps
  26. Payday allocation calculator spreadsheet
  27. Asking payroll to split pay across two accounts
  28. Bills money kept at a separate bank
  29. Yearly savings rate step-up
  30. Trimming the system down to fewer accounts
  31. Regular giving line in the split
  32. Fixing a bills account that keeps running short
  33. Low-balance and failed-payment alerts
  34. Surplus order for money the split did not plan
  35. First full payday cycle review
  36. Three-payday stability check
  37. Pay rise reallocation day
  38. Changing employer without breaking the system
  39. Switching your main bank without losing a transfer
  40. Preset split for bonuses and tax refunds
  41. Allocation calendar for weekly or four-weekly pay
  42. Two incomes feeding one bills account
  43. Pension income allocation in retirement
  44. Temporary split for a reduced-pay period
  45. Base pay split with overtime held back
  46. Teenager's first wage split set up together
  47. Payday transfer cascade by priority
  48. Late payday stress test
  49. Allocation system manual for a trusted person
  50. Annual allocation ratio analysis

Where it starts.

Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.

Map of where your pay goes today

Before splitting anything, you need to see the current plumbing: which account your pay lands in, which direct debits and card payments leave it, and which transfers already run. Most people find two or three forgotten standing orders and a bill paid from the wrong card. A one-page map turns a vague sense of the money into a diagram you can redesign.

First tasks

  • List every account you hold with its bank and what you use it for
  • Download the last two months of statements for your main account
  • Mark each regular payment on the map with the account it leaves
  • Circle anything paid from the wrong account or that you do not recognise

Pay date and net amount record for every income

An allocation system fires on a date, so it needs the exact day money arrives and the amount it can rely on. Pay that lands on the last working day, a pension that arrives every four weeks and a benefit paid on a Monday each need different transfer dates. Writing them down once stops transfers firing before the money is there.

First tasks

  • Find the last three payslips or remittance notices for each income
  • Record the lowest net amount from each set of three
  • Check whether your employer pays early or late when payday hits a weekend
  • Write each income's earliest safe transfer date in the system notes

Deciding how many accounts the system needs

Too few accounts and bills money gets spent; too many and you spend Sunday evenings shuffling between nine pots. Most working systems settle on three to five: an income landing account, a bills account, a spending account, a savings account and perhaps one for goals. Choosing the structure on paper first saves opening and closing accounts twice.

First tasks

  • Sketch a three-account, four-account and five-account version of the system
  • Score each sketch on monthly effort and how well it protects bill money
  • Write one line describing the job of each account you choose
  • Match your existing accounts to the new jobs and list what is missing

Make it yours.

Install Paycheck Allocation System, then tell Aurum the date you're aiming for. It checks whether the plan fits the weeks you actually have.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Blueprints are general information to help you organise your own work. They are not medical, financial, legal or other professional advice. See the Terms.