Amapola · Learn

My first financial model

Ten minutes, three blocks, no spreadsheet.

A financial model is a small machine that answers the question: what happens to my money if something changes? What if rent goes up, or childcare starts in March? A budget tells you where money went.
A model runs forward, so you can see a decision play out before you make it.

This tutorial builds your first one in Amapola, on your phone, in about ten minutes: one account, income in, bills out. At the end you'll change one number and watch the outcome change with it.
The boards on this page are live, so you can drag their playheads as you read. Everything here is in the free part of the app.

The whole vocabulary: boxes, pools, wires

An Amapola model is made of three pieces:

1. Boxes hold money. A checking account, a savings pot, a jar. A box has a balance.
2. Pools set a pace. A salary is money in at $3,500/mo; rent is money out at $1,400/mo. A pool doesn't hold anything, it just sets how fast money moves.
3. Wires connect them. Money flows along a wire, in the direction you drew it.

Every model in the app is built from these three pieces, including the small-business ones. Once you know them, you know the whole app.

Step 1 - Draw the box your money lives in

Open Amapola. The tool bar sits at the bottom; the + tool is already selected.

1. Tap an empty spot on the paper. A block drops, and its editor opens (the very first block opens it for you; after that, tap a block to edit it).
2. Name it Checking. Leave its type on Stock: a stock is a box that holds money.
3. Set Value to 3000, the balance it starts with. Tap Done.

You can use your real numbers if you prefer. The figures here are round so the results are easy to check in your head.

Step 2 - Wire the money in

A box on its own just sits there. Give it an income:

1. Tap another empty spot to drop a second block. Tap it, name it Salary.
2. Switch its type to Pool, and its pool type to Income.
3. Enter 3500 per Month. Tap Done.
4. Now connect it: tap the ↗ tool, then tap Salary, then tap Checking.

The wire runs from your first tap to your second, so the tap order sets the direction money flows. Salary first, then Checking: money flows into the account.

Step 3 - Wire the bills out

Now the bills. They live together in one recurring-costs pool, one line each:

1. Drop a third block, tap it, name it Monthly Costs.
2. Switch its type to Pool; keep the pool type Recurring.
3. Tap Add item. Name the line Rent, set its cost to 1400, billed per Month.
4. Add a second line: Food, 700 per Month. The total under the table reads 2,100 /mo. Tap Done.
5. Connect it, minding the direction: ↗, then Checking first, Monthly Costs second. Out of the account, into the bills.

If you wire something the wrong way round, Amapola doesn't guess what you meant. A wire that can't carry money carries none, and you'll see that on the canvas. Tap the wire, delete it, and redraw it.

Step 4 - Press play: six months in ten seconds

That triangle is a complete financial model. Run it:

1. In the timeline above the tool bar, tap the number and type 6; tap the unit and pick Month.
2. Press ▶.

Salary comes in, bills go out, and Checking climbs from $3,000 to $11,400 over six months: you keep $1,400 of each one. You can drag the playhead to any day and the canvas shows that day. Here is the same board running:

This board also ships with the app, as the Start Here template. Building it yourself means you know where every number lives, and the next step needs exactly that.

Step 5 - Ask it a question

So far the model has told you what you probably already knew. It gets useful when something is about to change. Say childcare is coming, and the good place costs $2,500 a month:

1. Tap Monthly Costs, tap Add item: Childcare, 2500 per Month.
2. Press ▶ again.

Costs are now $4,600 against a $3,500 salary, so the account loses $1,100 a month. Checking now shows a runway: how long the balance lasts at this pace. When it hits zero, the run stops on the day it happens. Tick the box and watch:

With childcare on, the money runs out around day 82. Amapola doesn't soften this. It won't pretend a bill got partly paid, and it won't slow your spending down to keep the line above zero. When the account is empty the run stops and says so: ⚠ CHECKING HIT 0. Day 82 is the number you came for, and now you can plan around it.

From here it's cheap to keep asking. Would $1,800 childcare fit? What if rent dropped to $1,200? Change the number and press play again. Each answer takes about ten seconds.

What you just learned

When you want more, the Templates menu has two worked boards: Personal Finance is a fuller household with savings and an emergency fund, and Small Business is a running cafe. Or start from the decision that's actually on your mind this week.

Common questions

Do I have to link a bank account?

No. Amapola never connects to a bank or any other account. You type the numbers yourself, the model runs on your phone, and nothing leaves it.

Is Amapola a budgeting app?

Not really. A budget records what already happened. Amapola runs what happens next, under assumptions you choose, so you can compare options before committing to one.

What happens when the money runs out?

The run stops on the day it happens and names the account that hit zero. Amapola never smooths over a shortfall.

How much does it cost?

Everything in this tutorial, and all personal modelling, is free. There is a paid Business pack for small-business owners (inventory, per-product profit, payroll), billed monthly with the first month free.

Is this financial advice?

No. Amapola does arithmetic on numbers you typed, and it shows its work: Export CSV in the app produces a statement you can open in any spreadsheet and check yourself.

Download on the App Store