Custom Report

Overview

Generate tailored financial reports by specifying date ranges, category filters, transaction types, and output format. Combine spending summaries with transaction-level detail in a single report.

Wilson Tools Used

• spending_summary — aggregate spending by category for the specified period
• transaction_search — pull detailed transactions matching filters
• export_transactions — export report data to CSV or Markdown

Workflow

1. Ask the user what the report should cover:
   • Date range: specific dates, "last 3 months," "Q1 2025," "year to date"
   • Categories: all, specific categories, or exclude certain categories
   • Transaction type: expenses only, income only, or both
   • Minimum amount: optional threshold (e.g., "only transactions over $50")
2. Use spending_summary to generate category-level aggregates for the date range.
3. Use transaction_search to pull individual transactions matching the filters.
4. Compile the report with:
   • Summary table (category totals, percentages)
   • Top transactions by amount
   • Transaction count and average per category
   • Date range and filter parameters noted at the top
5. Ask the user for output format: terminal display, Markdown file, or CSV export.
6. If Markdown or CSV, use export_transactions to write the file.

Without Wilson

You can build custom reports in a spreadsheet:

Google Sheets / Excel Setup

1. Import or paste your transactions into a sheet with columns: Date, Description, Amount, Category.
2. Date filtering: Add a filter or use =FILTER(A:D, A:A >= DATE(2025,1,1), A:A <= DATE(2025,3,31)) for Q1 2025.
3. Category summary pivot table:
   • Select your data > Insert > Pivot Table
   • Rows: Category
   • Values: SUM of Amount, COUNT of Amount
   • Filter: Date range
4. Manual summary formulas:

   Total Expenses:  =SUMIFS(C:C, C:C, "<0", A:A, ">="&DATE(2025,1,1), A:A, "<="&DATE(2025,3,31))
   Total Income:    =SUMIFS(C:C, C:C, ">0", A:A, ">="&DATE(2025,1,1), A:A, "<="&DATE(2025,3,31))
   Category Total:  =SUMIFS(C:C, D:D, "Groceries", A:A, ">="&DATE(2025,1,1), A:A, "<="&DATE(2025,3,31))
   

5. Top transactions: Sort by Amount (ascending for biggest expenses) and take the top 10.

CLI Alternative (csvkit)

# Filter by date range
csvgrep -c Date -r "2025-0[1-3]" transactions.csv | csvsort -c Amount | head -20
# Summary by category
csvstat -c Amount --group Category transactions.csv

Important Notes

• Date ranges are inclusive on both ends.
• Spending summary shows absolute values (positive numbers) for expenses to improve readability.
• Reports can be re-run with different parameters without re-importing data.
• Markdown export includes a YAML header with report metadata (date generated, filters applied).