Insights Engine Documentation

How to read this document

Sections move from purpose → concepts → calculation process → worked examples → edge cases. Formula boxes use plain mathematical notation for clarity; they are conceptual summaries, not API contracts.

• Point lists call out operator-visible behaviour.
• Callouts mark warnings, limitations, or important qualifications.
• Worked examples use round numbers so you can reproduce the arithmetic by hand.

Purpose

Insights Engine watches permitted household expense history and produces suggestion cards: patterns worth noticing, items to watch, and optional actions you can preview and confirm. It complements Analytics reports; it does not replace them.

• Spot recurring charges, spikes, budget pressure, and related spending signals
• Review New and History feeds on web Analytics and on Android when enabled
• Act only after an explicit preview/confirm step where actions are offered
• Treat every card as informational — not advice, credit decisions, or accounting

Who sees Insights Engine

Insights Engine is entitlement-gated per household. Members cannot turn it on themselves in Settings. When it is disabled, standard Analytics charts remain available; the Insights tab and mobile Expense Insights surfaces do not appear.

• Enablement is controlled by plan and/or system or household admin flags.
• Web: Analytics → Insights when enabled.
• Android: Home Expense Insights card and Settings → App → Open Expense Insights when enabled.
• If the UI is missing, ask an admin or check plan features — it is not a broken install.

Kinds of findings

Cards are grouped into practical sections such as needs action, patterns, and watch. Exact detector sets can evolve during beta; public documentation describes categories of findings, not proprietary thresholds.

• Recurring or subscription-like charge patterns
• Budget pressure when spend approaches or crosses limits
• Spending spikes versus recent baselines
• Category mismatch or suggested reclassification hints
• Instrument concentration and spending drift signals
• Cash-flow style pressure cues derived from included ledger context

Feeds and guarded actions

• New feed — active suggestions awaiting review.
• History — viewed, dismissed, snoozed, accepted, or otherwise closed items.
• Read, dismiss, and snooze controls help keep the feed useful rather than noisy.
• Where an action is offered (for example creating a recurring pattern), AccountHouse shows a preview and requires confirmation before writing.

When scans run

The engine runs on a household cadence and may also support smarter tracking after new expenses land. Timing depends on entitlement settings and operational capacity. Cards appear after a completed scan — an empty New feed often means the engine has not found high-confidence items yet, not that spending is invisible.

• Initial scans may take longer on large histories.
• Later runs focus on what changed since the last watermark.
• Admin tools may trigger a run for support or beta operations; members still review results themselves.

How it relates to IntelliVis and InteliHouse

• IntelliVis renders the charts and evidence that make a card explainable.
• InteliHouse (when enabled) is a separate conversational assistant with its own consent controls.
• ReceiptVis is a separate capture tool for turning receipts into expense drafts.
• All three are optional entitlements and can be enabled independently.

Privacy, advice limits, and what we do not publish

AccountHouse is a household tracking and organisation tool. It is not a bank, payment processor, tax advisor, or investment advisor. Forecasts, health scores, balances, and alerts are informational.

• Household data is scoped to your household; other families cannot see your ledger.
• Public documentation explains product behaviour and calculation concepts, not proprietary internals.
• Exact scoring weights, anomaly thresholds, cryptography parameters beyond high-level algorithms, and operational detection rules are reserved.
• Insights use household expense context already stored for your account; they do not require you to paste statements into a chat.
• Suggestions can be incomplete or wrong — verify against source expenses before acting.