Building My Own Automated Budget Tracker Using Notion

I'll be honest: I never thought I'd ditch Xero. It's the industry standard, right? Every accountant recommends it. But after years of dealing with clunky interfaces, limited reporting flexibility, and watching my subscription cost creep up year after year, I started questioning whether I really needed all of Xero's features—or if I was just paying for vendor lock-in.

The breaking point came when I realized I was maintaining two separate systems: Xero for my financial data, and Notion for literally everything else in my business. I had project docs in Notion, client notes in Notion, strategic planning in Notion—but my financial dashboard was stuck in Xero's rigid reporting interface. Every time I needed to combine financial metrics with other business data, I was exporting CSV files and manually piecing things together.

That's when I discovered BankSync. It's not trying to be Xero—it's something better. It's the data layer that syncs your bank transactions, account balances, and receipts directly into the tools you already use. For me, that's Notion. And the switch has completely transformed how I handle my business finances.

Why I Left Xero

Before I dive into how BankSync works, let me explain what drove me away from Xero in the first place.

1. Limited Customization

Xero's reports are... fine. They're predefined, polished, and probably work great if your business fits into their template. Mine doesn't. I wanted to build custom dashboards that combined financial data with project milestones, client retention metrics, and revenue forecasts. Xero couldn't do that. Every time I tried to customize a report, I hit a wall.

With Notion, I can build literally any view I want. I can create formulas, relations, rollups—I can make my financial data dance. But only if I could get the data into Notion in the first place.

2. Annual Price Hikes

Let's talk about pricing. When I first signed up for Xero, I was paying $15/month for the Starter plan. That seemed reasonable. But every year, like clockwork, the price went up. By year three, I was paying closer to $20/month for the same features. And if I wanted more advanced reporting? That would be $37/month or more. Plus, they were constantly pushing upsells and add-ons.

BankSync costs $7/month. That's it. No hidden fees, no annual increases, no pressure to upgrade. For a solo founder watching every dollar, that difference matters.

3. Vendor Lock-In

This was the big one. My financial data was trapped in Xero's ecosystem. Sure, I could export it, but that meant manual work every single time. And once it was out of Xero, I was dealing with messy CSV files that didn't integrate with anything.

I wanted my data to live in my tools—tools I own and control. Tools that aren't going to suddenly change their pricing model or sunset features I depend on. I wanted data portability, and Xero wasn't giving me that.

4. I Didn't Need Full Accounting Features

Here's the thing: I'm a freelancer and small business owner. I don't need invoicing (I use Stripe for that). I don't need payroll (it's just me). I don't need inventory management (I sell services, not products). What I needed was simple: automatic transaction syncing, receipt tracking, and the ability to build my own reports.

Xero was overkill. I was paying for a Ferrari when all I needed was a reliable Honda.

How BankSync Works (And Why It's Better for My Workflow)

BankSync isn't accounting software. It's a data layer that connects your banks to your Work OS—whether that's Notion, Airtable, or Google Sheets. Here's what it does:

Bank Feeds: Automatic Transaction Syncing

Just like Xero, BankSync connects to 10,000+ banks using secure OAuth 2.0 authentication. Once connected, it automatically syncs transactions, account balances, and even investment holdings to your destination of choice.

For me, that destination is Notion. I created a "Transactions" database with columns for Date, Merchant, Amount, Category, and Notes. BankSync syncs new transactions daily, and they just... appear. No manual entry, no CSV imports, no copy-pasting. It's seamless.

The difference from Xero: Instead of logging into a separate app to view my transactions, they're right there in my Notion workspace alongside my projects, clients, and goals. I can link transactions to specific projects, tag them with custom properties, and build views that Xero could never support.

Receipt Extractor: AI-Powered OCR That Actually Works

This feature alone justified the switch for me. BankSync's receipt extractor uses AI-powered OCR to automatically extract data from receipts and sync it to Notion.

Here's how it works:

1. Email Forwarding: BankSync gives you a unique email address (like [e-mail]). Whenever I get a receipt email—from Amazon, Home Depot, Uber, wherever—I just forward it to that address.

2. AI Extraction: BankSync's AI reads the receipt (even from attachments like PDFs or images) and extracts all the important data: merchant name, date, total amount, tax, line items, and even the receipt image itself.

3. Automatic Sync: All that data gets synced to my Notion "Receipts" database automatically. No manual entry, no typing, no mistakes.

The extraction accuracy is insane—I'd estimate 95%+ success rate. And when there are minor errors, I can just fix them directly in Notion.

The Xero comparison: Xero has receipt capture, but it's nowhere near this smooth. You have to use their mobile app, manually snap photos, and hope the OCR works. With BankSync, I'm just forwarding emails I'm already getting. Zero friction.

Email Verification Forwarding: The Detail That Matters

This might sound like a small thing, but it's incredibly thoughtful. When you set up email forwarding (like forwarding receipts from Gmail to BankSync), your email provider (Gmail, Outlook, etc.) sends a verification email to confirm the forwarding address.

The problem: That verification email gets sent to BankSync's inbox, not yours. So you never see the verification code.

BankSync's solution: Their system automatically detects verification emails, extracts the verification code or link, and forwards it back to you with a beautifully formatted email explaining what's happening.

Unlike Xero, which doesn't even support this kind of workflow, BankSync handles the edge cases. It's the kind of attention to detail that makes me trust the product.

Notion Integration: Total Flexibility

The real magic happens in Notion. Because my financial data now lives in Notion databases, I can:

• Create custom dashboards with monthly expense summaries, year-over-year comparisons, and spending trends
• Link transactions to projects to track profitability on a per-client basis
• Build automated workflows using Notion formulas and relations (e.g., "Flag any transaction over $500 for review")
• Combine financial and business data in ways Xero could never support

For example, I have a "Projects" database in Notion. Each project has a relation to my "Transactions" database, so I can see exactly how much I've spent on that project in real-time. I can also see which expenses are still missing receipts, which ones are tax-deductible, and how they impact my overall budget.

This kind of customization is impossible in Xero. Their reports are rigid, and their integrations with other tools are clunky at best.

The Migration: Easier Than I Expected

Switching from Xero to BankSync took me about an hour. Here's what I did:

Step 1: Export Historical Data from Xero

I exported my chart of accounts, transaction history, and key reports from Xero as CSV files. This gave me a baseline to import into Notion if I needed historical context.

Step 2: Set Up My Notion Databases

I created two main databases in Notion:

1. Transactions Database: Columns for Date, Merchant, Amount, Category, Account, and Notes
2. Receipts Database: Columns for Date, Merchant, Amount, Tax, Category, Receipt Image, and Attachments

I used one of Notion's budget templates as a starting point and customized it to fit my needs. Total setup time: about 20 minutes.

Step 3: Connect My Banks to BankSync

I logged into BankSync, connected my business checking and savings accounts (using the same banks I had in Xero), and mapped the transaction fields to my Notion database columns. BankSync's field mapping interface is intuitive—way easier than Xero's initial setup, honestly.

Step 4: Set Up Receipt Extraction

I created a receipt extractor in BankSync, mapped the extracted fields to my Notion "Receipts" database, and got my unique forwarding email address. Then I set up a Gmail filter to automatically forward receipt emails to BankSync. Now, whenever I get a receipt from Amazon, Stripe, or any vendor, it's automatically processed and synced to Notion.

Step 5: Configure Automatic Syncing

I set BankSync to sync transactions daily at 6 AM. Every morning, when I open Notion, my transactions from the previous day are already there, categorized and ready to review.

That's it. No complicated migration scripts, no data loss, no headaches. Just a straightforward setup process.

What I Gained by Switching

1. Complete Data Ownership

My financial data now lives in Notion—a tool I control. I can export it, back it up, and move it anywhere I want. No vendor lock-in, no proprietary formats.

2. Radical Flexibility

I can build any report, dashboard, or workflow I can imagine. Want to see monthly spending by category? Done. Want to link expenses to specific clients and calculate per-project profitability? Easy. Want to combine financial data with my marketing metrics and OKRs? No problem.

Xero couldn't do any of this without third-party integrations and workarounds.

3. Massive Cost Savings

I went from paying $20/month for Xero (with annual increases) to $7/month for BankSync. That's $156/year in savings. As a bootstrapped founder, that money goes back into growing my business.

4. Investment Tracking

This was a bonus I didn't expect. BankSync supports full investment account tracking—holdings, trades, balances, and trade history. Xero barely touches investment data. Now I can see my entire financial picture (operating accounts + investments) in one place.

5. Peace of Mind

No more dreading Xero's clunky interface. No more fighting with rigid reports. No more worrying about price hikes. My finances are now part of my daily Notion workflow, and it feels effortless.

What I Miss About Xero (Spoiler: Not Much)

I'll be honest—there are a few things Xero does that BankSync doesn't:

• Invoicing: Xero has built-in invoicing, but I use Stripe for that anyway, so it wasn't a loss for me.
• Tax Preparation: Xero has integrations with tax software and accountant collaboration features. I work with an accountant who's perfectly happy with my Notion exports, so this hasn't been an issue.
• Multi-Entity Accounting: If you're managing multiple legal entities or complex accounting scenarios, Xero's structure might be necessary.

But for me—a solo founder who just needs transaction syncing, receipt tracking, and flexible reporting—I don't miss Xero at all.

Who Should Make This Switch?

BankSync is perfect if you:

• Already use Notion, Airtable, or Google Sheets for your business operations
• Don't need full accounting features (invoicing, payroll, inventory)
• Want complete control over your financial data and reporting
• Are frustrated with Xero's pricing, performance, or rigidity
• Value data portability and flexibility over all-in-one solutions
• Need investment account tracking alongside your operating accounts

If you need comprehensive accounting features or your accountant requires Xero, then stick with Xero. But if you're like me—tired of vendor lock-in and ready to build a financial system that actually fits your workflow—BankSync is a game-changer.

Final Thoughts

The financial technology landscape is shifting. We're moving away from monolithic, closed-loop accounting systems and toward modular data layers that integrate with the tools we already use. BankSync represents that future.

By replacing Xero with BankSync, I didn't just save money. I gained control over my financial data, eliminated vendor lock-in, and built a system that actually works the way I think. My transactions, receipts, and reports now live in Notion—right alongside my projects, goals, and strategic planning.

It's not just a better workflow. It's the workflow I should have had all along.

If you're ready to take control of your financial data and ditch the accounting software bloat, give BankSync a try. The 14-day free trial is enough to see if it fits your workflow. And trust me—once you see your bank transactions syncing automatically into Notion, you won't want to go back.