The current version of ClearCheckbook (v4) was built on code and technologies from around 2009. While we still adhere to the latest in security and privacy measures, many of the frameworks and software versions we're using are getting old and will soon stop being supported. We've run into several cases where we want to implement a new feature or tool but are limited by our older code not being supported.

About a year ago we started planning a huge upgrade that will put ClearCheckbook on the latest frameworks with better infrastructure for future-proofing the site and apps. Our goal was to keep the front facing website (what you see and interact with on a daily basis) the same, all while taking advantage of the new framework to optimize speed, performance and security.

We’re finally at the point where we’re beginning testing of ClearCheckbook v5 on the same hosting platform the site is currently running on. We’ll be running v5 through a whole slew of testing over the next few months to make sure it’s ready for you to use.

Aside from having to rewrite the backend of the site, we’ve also taken this opportunity to add several new features, tools and updates.

New Features:

• ‘Trusted Devices’ feature in conjunction with 2 factor authentication


• Asset tracker - Manage and track assets such as homes, vehicles and other tangible assets.


• Account Text Reports - reports similar to the Category text reports but for accounts.


• Payee Text Reports - again, reports similar to the Category text reports but for payees.


• Dark CSS theme - ClearCheckbook can be switched into dark mode to make it easier on the eyes


• Net Worth Reports - See how your net worth has changed over the past 2 years with this new report.


• ClearCheckbook Knowledge Base - We've rebuilt the Help / Support section to make a much more informative Knowledge Base with screenshots and much more detailed instructions on how to use the site.

Updates / Bug Fixes:

• Auto-complete updated to show more information (such as which account/category will be auto-filled)


• Ability to disable auto-complete auto-fill features so it only fills the text


• Manually enter ‘last price’ for investments that aren’t automatically updated


• Hide suggestions in the Import auto-categorization tool


• Reminders will post deposits before withdrawals


• Payee beta reports - ability to sort by sum column


• Monthly Summary - fixed bug that was preventing accounts and categories from showing up alphabetically


• Transaction History tool - link to view the current transaction so you can see what changed


• Debt snowball - additional payments can now have a date associated with them


• Reconcile tool - you can now edit or delete reconciliations


• Separate withdrawals and deposits sums in a reconciliation report


• If you change the number of transactions to view per page on the register, that setting is saved instead of resetting each time you log out.


• Profit & Loss report - updated colors to make it easier to identify positive and negative numbers


• Latest Transactions gadget - selection to view only transactions for a specific account


• You can now categorize transfers when creating them


• Updated how the 'lost password' form works to make it more secure


• Budgets - you can now see a breakdown of how the amount spent is being calculated


• Payee reports - export to CSV functionality


• 2FA bypass - allows you to have a bypass code sent to a trusted contact method in case you can't access your authenticator app


• Investment Portfolio - autocomplete for symbol and note fields in Add Investment form


• Income Budgets - show the amount differently if you generate more income than the budget limit


• Debt Snowball - you can now see how much you've paid toward principal and interest for each budget by expanding the history


• Debt Snowball - you can now see which snowball methods will save you the most money or be paid off the fastest


• Ability to assign all No Account transactions to an existing account from the search results page


• Made it easier to delete all No Account transactions


• Ability to quickly delete all expired reminders


• Ability to turn an existing transaction into a recurring transaction


• Tweaks + Bug fixes - Over 45 small tweaks and bug fixes to help make the site perform as expected

We’ve also greatly optimized and reduced the number of database calls made from each page load. This will help dramatically speed up the response time of the website.

As mentioned earlier, now that we’ve got the new version running on the same hosting platform as ClearCheckbook currently is, we’ll be doing our own internal testing. After we’re happy with that we’ll be asking for some beta testers to run the new code through its paces and look for any issues we might not have come across. We’ll keep you updated on progress as it goes on!

Updated on August 5, 2020 to reflect more updates and feature additions