Personal Financial Management and Prediction Tool

This article describes a personal financial management and prediction tool that helps in tracking recurrent expenses and predicting future spending. It includes functional and non-functional requirements, use case diagrams, classes, collaboration, and activity diagrams. The tool can run on almost all portable devices and generate reports in regard to specific user’s convenient.

Personal financial management and prediction tool for personal use
Name
Institution
Professor
Course
Date

Part A – Requirements
Functional requirements
R1. System would allow user to determine expenses over a given period of time.
R2. The tool should allow setting of a new user and update relevant details.
R3. The tool would be used to determine or predict future expenses.
R4. It should provide an opportunity to enter and evaluate recurrent personal expenditures.
R5. System should be able to produce a report that suites individual needs.
R6. The tool should provide an opportunity to compare expenses over a given period of time in
months.
R7. The system should provide individual with an interactive interface which is simple and easy
to use. System is required to provide users with simple and robust interface that is attractive as
well as simple to use. It has to meet some requirements such as usability, reusability and
R8. System should provide user with validations which minimize possibility of incorrect data.
Validation determines the nature of data captured by the system in terms of characters and
numbers. Where integers are required, no other values should be accepted by a specific field.
Proper validation makes sure data captured into the system is consistent and accurate.
R9. The tool should offer required security to any data captured by the system. The data can be
protected through several mechanisms such as; data encryption which can be initiated from data
entry point while on forms. The next data protection mechanism is through authentication and
authorization. Both authentication and authorization are quite important as they determine who
access the data and manipulation accorded to each user.
Non-Functional requirements
NF1. The application specification is to run on windows systems which is common platform to
many system users.
NF1. The tool would be used to generate desirable reports as instructed by the user. User can
generate report for different uses in regard to available options.

NF1. Implementation would developed on Vb.Net framework and its associated windows forms.
Part B – Use Case Diagrams
1. Use cases
2. Use cases description
Use case Register Expenses
Id UC_001
Description Enter personal recurrent expenditure
Primary Actor System owner
Supporting actor None
Stakeholders and Interests System owner
Pre-conditions Expenses must be recorded
Post conditions Capturing expenses and generating reports
Triger Register expenses, Print report
Main scenario (steps) 1. Login to the system
2. Enter date of the expenses
3. Register/Update expenses
4. Systems updates/saves new records
5. Total expenses gets updated
Variations Users can register single expense at a time

Part C – Classes
1. CRC
Class Name Type Responsibility Collaboration
Expenses Model It’s a collection of all expenses details Expenses details
Reports Views or
query
Data query or view to update or update
expenses
Design a view
display table
Users Model Register system administrators Login
2. Domain in model

Part D – Collaboration

Part E – Activity diagram
Part F – Self assessment form and Report

1. Self-assessment form
Section Description
Part A Used to capture all system requirements; both functional and non-
functional. It involves form design, security of the system and
data validation
Part B This section captures user interaction with the system. To
describe how user interacts with system at different modules, use
case diagram has been used to illustrate the entire process.
Part C Data in any system is captured in relation to classes. A class is a
representation of an entity. In this case, class has been used to
map the exact system database.
Part D Collaboration process has been designed in order to demonstrate
on flow of information. All process are imitated by system users
when filling the expenses or viewing a report.
Part E Activity diagram demonstrates working of the entire system. It
captures both data flow and all validations which are
implemented with the system.
2. Design implementation suitability
This design would be very useful to any person willing to keep track of recurrent
expense as well as long term expenses. The design is simple and easy to implement
with variety of technologies without any limitations (Khemani & Diamond 2005, p.
16-17). Since design is not so complex, it can be organized in such a way that it can
be installed in mobile smart phones as well as computers. Considering many people
do not keep track of their expenses budget, this can be used as a tool to determine
individual expenses over a given time as well as predict future spending. The
prediction would be based on expectations of future events. These events may be;
trips, official, personal celebrations and unplanned events (Karim 2011, p. 462). As a
manager, getting such a design would be a great opportunity to help in understanding
the amount of money I spend on various events and normal situations over a given
period of time. Managers are involved in several activities that involve minor

expenses resulting to huge recurrent expenditure without manager’s knowledge. With
this tool being able to run on ether mobile smartphones and tablets as well as laptops,
managers would be able to track the expenses without need for supporting assistant.
As a manager with this tool, it would be good to have it installed in a mobile phone as
this would help fill it in real time when expenses happen (Mohammed & Hu 2015, p.
69). If it’s in a hotel, the expenses would be filled on order to avoid failing to capture
them later.
The strengths of this tool are; it can run on almost all portable devices such as
smartphones, tablets and laptops. It is obvious that most of the applications either run
online or embedded in computers but not in other devices such as smartphones and
tablets (Al-Mamary, Shamsuddin & Hamid 2015, p. 66). The next aspect is its ease of
use because it would have very simple and attractive interface. This tool would be
usable by people with just normal mobile skills operations. Anyone who can write a
simple message on a mobile phone would be an ideal user of this tool. Users would
be able to fill them at ease of their comfort as if writing a simple message. It involves
very few steps consolidated into a single form. Finally, it would be able to generate
reports in regard to specific user’s convenient. If users want to view the nature and
amount spent over a given period of time, system users would be able to specify the
nature of report they want to generate. The reports can be either daily, weekly, on
demand or even yearly depending on users need (Rogulenko et al. 2016, p. 4106).
The only disadvantage with this application is that, it would be difficult to be used by
illiterate people. Illiterate people would not be able to use the tool unless they get
trusted and relevant aids to maintain for them.

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