A MOBILE APPLICATION FOR PERSONAL FINANCE ACCOUNTING
Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich
Student, Department of Information Control Systems,
Saint Petersburg State University of Telecommunications
named after prof. M.A. Bonch-Bruevich,
Russia, Saint Petersburg
E-mail: po4ta@gmail.com
Petrov Ivan Ivanovich
Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Saint Petersburg State University of Telecommunications named
after prof. M.A. Bonch-Bruevich,
Russia, Saint Petersburg
E-mail: po4ta@gmail.com
МОБИЛЬНОЕ ПРИЛОЖЕНИЕ ДЛЯ УЧЕТА ПЕРСОНАЛЬНЫХ
ФИНАНСОВ
Иванов Иван Иванович
студент, кафедра Информационных управляющих систем,
Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет телекоммуникаций
им. проф. М.А. Бонч-Бруевича,
РФ, г. Санкт-Петербург
Петров Иван Иванович
канд. физ.-мат. наук, Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет
телекоммуникаций им. проф. М.А. Бонч-Бруевича,
РФ, г. Санкт-Петербург
ABSTRACT
In the context of growing consumer demand and the need for effective personal
finance management, mobile applications for financial tracking play a crucial role.
The aim of the study is to identify the most significant functionality criteria for such
applications based on user preferences. The methodology includes a survey of 87
respondents of different ages and income levels, as well as statistical data processing
using expert evaluation methods. The results indicate that users prefer applications
with an intuitive interface, automatic synchronization with bank accounts, advanced
analytics, a free version with extensive functionality, and a reminder system. The
expert consensus coefficient (0.82) confirms the reliability of the obtained data. The
identified criteria can be utilized in the development and enhancement of mobile
applications, increasing their demand and user convenience.
АННОТАЦИЯ
В
условиях
растущего
потребительского
спроса
и
необходимости
эффективного управления личными финансами особую роль приобретают
мобильные приложения для учета финансовых потоков. Цель исследования –
выявление наиболее значимых критериев функциональности таких приложений
с
учетом
пользовательских
предпочтений.
Методология
включает
анкетирование 87 респондентов различного возраста и уровня дохода, а также
статистическую обработку данных методом экспертной оценки. Результаты
показали, что пользователи отдают предпочтение приложениям с интуитивно
понятным интерфейсом, автоматической синхронизацией с банковскими
счетами, расширенной аналитикой, наличием бесплатной версии с широким
функционалом и системой напоминаний. Коэффициент согласованности
экспертов (0,82) подтверждает надежность полученных данных. Выявленные
критерии могут быть использованы при разработке и улучшении мобильных
приложений, что повысит их востребованность и удобство для пользователей.
Keywords: personal finance management, mobile applications, functionality, user
preferences.
Ключевые
слова: управление
персональными
финансами,
мобильные
приложения, функциональность, пользовательские предпочтения.
Introduction
The era of consumption is flourishing in the modern world. For each person, there is
a huge temptation to go on vacation to warm countries, make repairs, open their own
business, engage in creative activities. But this requires a financial foundation, startup capital and further financing. Here a dilemma arises, it is necessary to make a
difficult choice between sometimes opposite decisions. On the one hand, you can
easily and affordably take out a loan here and now for a beautiful life, business
development, or, on the other hand, create a financial safety cushion yourself,
preventing many risks, but losing in time.
"Frugality is an important source of well-being" [1, p. 47] - this truth was realized in
Ancient Rome, when the great orator Marcus Tullius Cicero noted it in his works.
Benjamin Franklin in his book "On Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain" also
wrote: "Beware of small expenses: a small leak sinks a great ship" [4, p. 115]. It is
not for nothing that his image is on the front side of the hundred-dollar bill; he is
known for his achievements in various fields and economic ideas.
One of the ways to build your wealth is to save and increase your personal finances.
In the modern world, there are many ways to do this, one of which is to use various
electronic products for managing finances, such as mobile applications. This allows
you to make a person's life as easy as possible, focus on truly significant life goals
and tasks, start saving money, which in the future may even lead to investing [3;4].
Most of the existing modern products for managing finances do not always have a
user-friendly interface. Some of them are simple and understandable to the average
person, but at the same time, their functionality is quite “cut” in the free version.
Given the growth of inflation, the desire of people to save their finances, not to spend
money on paid versions of products, users pay attention to them without enthusiasm.
Other information systems are used as self-promotion, focusing on one platform or
have a completely incomprehensible, non-intuitive design that is difficult to use. Popup windows with advertising and an appeal to purchase a paid version cause the
greatest indignation of users.
The purpose of this work: to identify the most significant criteria for assessing the
functionality of a mobile application for accounting of personal finances.
The object of the study is a mobile application that implements the functionality of
monitoring financial flows. The subject of the study is to analyze the structure of the
object of study, as well as the methods and means of its implementation.
To achieve the goal, it is necessary to complete the following tasks:
1) analyze the subject area of this topic,
2) conduct conceptual design,
3) determine the in-demand functionality.
Materials and methods
The study included, at the first stage, data collection using a questionnaire on the
criteria for evaluating a mobile application. At the second stage, the functionality of
the mobile application was assessed using new criteria. To determine the consistency
of expert opinions, mathematical processing (expertise) of the obtained data was
carried out [2; 5].
The experts were 87 users of different ages and income levels. Of these, users aged
50-65 years old - 4 people, 35-50 years old - 32 people, 25-35 years old - 37 people,
18-25 years old - 14 people. The data were processed using descriptive statistics:
average values, frequency of responses, percentages were calculated.
Results and discussions
As a result of the study, it was possible to determine the most significant functional
characteristics of mobile applications for accounting of personal finances, which
users consider a priority. The analysis of the survey showed that the key requirements
for such applications are a user-friendly interface, automatic synchronization with
bank accounts, advanced analytics and budget forecasting, a free version with wide
functionality, as well as reminders and financial goal setting. As can be seen from
Figure 1, the most popular feature was user-friendly interface and ease of use, which
was supported by 92% of respondents. Users noted that when keeping track of
finances, it is important that the process of entering data on income and expenses
takes a minimum of time, and that the interface is intuitive and visually clear. Among
the most significant functions were named fast data entry, a minimum number of
clicks to perform basic operations, the ability to flexibly customize income and
expense categories, as well as visualization of financial flows in the form of graphs
and diagrams.
Отсутствие рекламы
Разделение трат по секторам
Настройка экрана отображения
трат
Понятный функционал
Бесплатность продукта
93%
59%
65%
73%
87%
Figure 1. Requests for the required functionality of the mobile application
The second most important criterion was automatic synchronization with bank
accounts, which was confirmed by 85% of respondents. Users expressed interest in
the ability to integrate the application with several bank accounts simultaneously,
automatic accounting of transactions and their distribution by category. This
functionality would minimize manual data entry and improve the accuracy of
financial accounting. The third most important criterion was advanced analytics and
budget forecasting, which was supported by 78% of respondents. Many users would
like to see in mobile applications the ability to analyze their expenses and income in
detail, as well as predict the future financial situation based on current data. The need
for notifications and recommendations for budget optimization, allowing you to avoid
unnecessary spending and more consciously manage your finances, was especially
noted. An analysis of the consistency of expert opinions showed a high level of
concordance, the Kendall coefficient was 0.82, which indicates a high degree of
unanimity among respondents. This confirms that the identified criteria are objective
and can be used in the future when developing and improving mobile applications for
accounting for personal finances.
Conclusion
Thus, the obtained results indicate the need to develop a universal mobile application
that will combine the convenience of the interface, automation of financial
accounting, analytics and forecasting, and also provide users with free access to the
main functions. This will increase user satisfaction, simplify the financial
management process and make personal budgeting more effective.
References:
1.
Bogdanova N. Mudrost' vekov. // Moskva: AST. –2016. – 88 s.
2.
Stepanov P. N. Sozdanie instrumentarija dlja optimizacii rashodov za odin
rabochij den'. Interaktivnyj bjudzhet: personal'nyj, semejnyj, dlja malogo
biznesa / P. N. Stepanov // Problemy sovremennoj nauki i obrazovanija. – 2017.
– № 28 (110). – S. 23-28.
3.
Fedotenko M. A. Razrabotka mobil'nyh prilozhenij. // Moskva: Laboratorija
znanij. – 2020. – 335 s.
4.
Franklin Bendzhamin. O svobode i neobhodimosti, naslazhdenii i stradanii. //
M.: Jeksmo-Press. –2016. – 160 s.
5.
Horton Dzhon. Razrabotka Android-prilozhenij s nulja. // Sankt-Peterburg:
BHV-Peterburg. – 2023. – 576 s.