The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has paved the way for intelligent financial management tools, including AI-powered expense trackers. This paper presents the development and evaluation of an AI-based expense tracking system designed to automate and optimize personal and small business financial management. Leveraging machine learning algorithms, natural language processing, and real-time data analytics, the system categorizes expenses, detects anomalies, predicts future spending, and provides actionable insights to users. The research explores the integration of AI with user interfaces to enhance usability and engagement, while also addressing challenges such as data privacy, model interpretability, and integration with existing financial ecosystems. Empirical results from user testing and system performance evaluations demonstrate the system\'s accuracy and efficiency compared to traditional expense tracking methods. The study concludes with recommendations for future enhancements and the broader implications of AI in personal finance management.
Introduction
Managing personal and business finances has become increasingly complex due to digital transactions and subscription services. Traditional expense tracking tools like spreadsheets and basic apps are inefficient and fail to provide meaningful insights, leading to poor budgeting and missed financial opportunities. Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers a promising solution by automating transaction categorization, detecting anomalies, forecasting expenses, and providing personalized recommendations through machine learning, natural language processing, and real-time analytics.
This research develops an AI-powered expense tracker using Agile methodology, incorporating features such as automatic transaction classification, anomaly detection, forecasting, a user-friendly dashboard, and strong privacy protections. The system integrates multiple financial data sources and uses machine learning models trained on transaction data to improve accuracy and adaptability.
While AI enhances financial management by reducing manual effort and offering deeper insights, challenges remain, including data quality issues, model generalization across diverse users, anomaly detection precision, forecasting limitations, privacy concerns, and the risk of overreliance on technology.
Conclusion
Overall, the study demonstrates that combining advanced AI techniques with usability and security considerations can create a scalable, intelligent expense tracking system that empowers users to manage their finances more effectively.
References
[1] S. A. Sabab, S. S. Islam, M. J. Rana, and M. Hossain, \"eExpense: A Smart Approach to Track Everyday Expense,\" in Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Electrical Engineering and Information & Communication Technology (iCEEiCT), Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2018, pp. 136–141. DOI: 10.1109/CEEICT.2018.8628070.
[2] V. Ashraf, A. Jain, V. B. Sree Kumar, V. Patwari, R. S. L. Rajesh, and C. Saini, \"Fynbot: Artificial Intelligence System for Personal Expense Management,\" International Journal of Advance Research, Ideas and Innovations in Technology, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 1575–1580, May 2018.
[3] S. Garugu, G. Belide, R. Bandari, and K. Bejjenki, \"Spend Analyzer AI: A Comprehensive Expense Tracker with Predictive Modelling for Financial Management,\" International Journal of All Research Education and Scientific Methods (IJARESM), vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 1709–1713, Jan. 2025.
[4] C. H. Tan, \"iReceipt: An Intelligent Expense Tracker Based on Receipt Analysis and Machine Learning,\" B.Eng. thesis, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/140196.
[5] Y. H. Ong, \"AI Enabled Mobile Expense Tracking for Sole-Proprietor Businesses,\" B.Eng. thesis, School of Computer Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/171988.
[6] S. Pawar, A. Dhole, D. Jaybhaye, and T. Gosawi, \"ExpenseXpert: Transforming Financial Management with AI-Driven Predictive Analytics and Efficient Tracking,\" Indian Journal of Computer Science and Technology, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 26–32, May 2024. DOI: 10.59256/indjcst.20240302026.
[7] S. Aishwarya and S. Hemalatha, \"Smart Expense Tracking System Using Machine Learning,\" in Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Internet of Things: Accelerating Innovation in Industry and Consumer Electronics (AI4IoT), 2023, pp. 634–639. DOI: 10.5220/0012613900003739.
[8] R. Sahni and V. R. K. Kolla, \"Design of Daily Expense Manager Using AI,\" International Journal of Sustainable Development in Computing Science, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 10–15, 2023.