NUURA NAJATI BINTI MUSTAFA

DAILY EXPENSE TRACKER MOBILE APPLICATION

NUURA NAJATI BINTI MUSTAFA

BACHELOR OF COMPUTER SCIENCE (SOFTWARE

DEVELOPMENT) WITH HONOURS

UNIVERSITI SULTAN ZAINAL ABIDIN

2021

Daily Expense Tracker Mobile Application

NUURA NAJATI BINTI MUSTAFA

BACHELOR OF COMPUTER SCIENCE (SOFTWARE

DEVELOPMENT) WITH HONOURS

Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin

2021

i

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the report is based on my original work except for quotations and

citations, which have been duly acknowledged. I also declare that it has not been

previously or concurrently submitted for any other degree at Universiti Sultan Zainal

Abidin or other institutions.

NUURA

_______________________________

Name: Nuura Najati Binti

Mustafa

Date: 2nd February 2021

ii

CONFIRMATION

This is to confirm that:

The research conducted and the writing of this report were under my supervision.

_______________________________

Name: Pn. Norlina Binti Udin @

Kamaruddin

Date:

iii

DEDICATION

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful.

Alhamdulillah, I thank God for His grace and grace, I can prepare and complete this

report successfully.

First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor, Pn. Norlina Binti Udin @ Kamaruddin

Shamsudin because with guidance, the advice, and the thoughtful ideas are given g me

the opportunity to prepare this report successfully.

Besides, my gratitude is also to my colleagues who share ideas, opinions, knowledge,

and reminders. They helped me answer every question that was important to me in

completing this report.

Thanks also to my beloved mother and father always support and motivated me to

prepare for this report for Final Year Project.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank all lecturers of the Informatics and

Computing Faculty for their attention, guidance, and advice in helping and sharing ideas

and opinions in making this report successful.

May Allah SWT bless all the efforts that have been given in completing this

report.

Thank you.

iv

ABSTRACT

Daily Expense Tracker Mobile Application is an application meant for all type of people

concerned and cautious about their daily expenses. With the help of this application,

users will be able to more careful of their spendings and save more. Also, this

application is an easier alternative to keeping track of users’ use of money than the

traditional way of writing their expenses in their diary. This application implements

least squares method which helps to predict an outcome by finding the best fit line for

a set of data. The use of the least squares method will help users in obtaining a successful

budget planned with the prediction of the outcome of the budget based on expenses. In

conclusion, this application will incorporate the function of generating a monthly

expense report and budget outcome predictions.

v

ABSTRAK

Daily Expense Tracker Mobile Application adalah dihasilkan untuk sekumpulan

masyarakat yang bimbang dan berhati-hati mengenai perbelanjaan harian. Pengguna

akan lebih berhati-hati akan perbelanjaan dan menyimpan lebih banyak dengan

bantuan aplikasi ini. Selain itu, aplikasi ini adalah alternatif yang lebih mudah untuk

mengawasi penggunaan wang pengguna daripada cara tradisional menulis

perbelanjaan pengguna di buku catatan. Aplikasi ini menggunakan kaedah Least

Squares yang membantu meramalkan hasil dengan mencari garisan yang paling tepat

untuk sekumpulan data. Penggunaan kaedah Least Squares membantu pengguna

merancang bajet belanjawan yang berjaya dengan peringatan mengenai ramalan hasil

bajet belanjawan berdasarkan perbelanjaan. Kesimpulannya, aplikasi ini merangkumi

fungsi-fungsi iaitu menghasilkan laporan perbelanjaan bulanan dan ramalan hasil

bajet belanjawan.

vi

CONTENTS

PAGE

DECLARATION i

CONFIRMATION ii DEDICATION iii ABSTRACT iv ABSTRAK v

CONTENTS v

LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Project Background 1 1.3 Problem Statement 3 1.4 Objectives 3

1.5 Scope 4 1.6 Limitation of Work 4

1.7 Expected Result 4

1.8 Activities, Milestones (Gantt Chart) 5-6 1.9 Summary of the Chapter 7

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 8 2.1 Introduction 8

2.2 Research Based on Article 8-9

2.3 Research Based on Existing System 9-12

2.4 Least Squares Method 13

2.5 Summary of the Chapter 14

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 15 3.1 Introduction 15

3.2 Project Methodology 15-16

3.2.1 Requirement Gathering 16

3.2.2 Designing Requirements 16

3.2.3 Development 17

3.2.4 Testing 17

3.2.5 Deployment 17

3.3 Framework 17-18

3.4 Hardware and Software Requirements 18

3.4.1 Hardware 18-19

3.4.2 Software 19

3.5 System Design 19

3.5.1 Context Design 20

3.5.2 Data Flow Diagram (DFD) Level 0 21

3.5.3 Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) 22

3.6 Database Design 23-24

3.7 Summary of the Chapter 24

REFERENCES 25-26

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table No. Title Page

Table 1.8: Table Task Analysis 5

Table 2.2: Researched Based on Article 8-9

Table 2.3.1: Existing Table 1Money 10

Table 2.3.2: Existing Table Wallet 11

Table 2.3.3: Existing Table Expense Manager 12

Table 3.6.1: User Table 22

Table 3.6.2: Expense Table 22

Table 3.6.3: Income Table 22

Table 3.6.4: Report Table 23

viii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure No. Title Page

Figure 1.8: Gantt Chart 6

Figure 2.3.1: Existing System 1Money 10

Figure 2.3.2: Existing System Wallet 11

Figure 2.3.2: Existing System Expense Manager 12

Figure 2.2.1: Least Squares Method Formula 13



Figure 3.2: Agile Development Methodology 16

Figure 3.3: Framework 18

Figure 3.5.1: Context Diagram 20

Figure 3.5.2: Data Flow Diagram 21

Figure 3.5.3: ERD 22

ix

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

DFD Data Flow Diagarm

ERD Entity Relationship Diagram

LSM Least Squares Method

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

Money management is a topic people of all age are used to hear. From an early age, the

subject money is introduced to toddlers in a way that they should really be mindful of

how they spend and saves up their money. Parents would literally prepare their child a

piggy bank so that their child would learn to save money. The reason for teaching their

child on how to save up money is very valid. It has been reported from The Star

newspaper dated 22 June 2015 that close to 25,000 Malaysians below the age of 35 have

become bankrupt since 2010. (Adzis et al, 2017)

Since then, saving money has been a lot easier with the evolving use of

technologies such as mobile devices that helps peole keep track of daily expenses. It

has been predicted that mobile devices will add up to 5.6 billion. (Wang et al, 2018)

Mobile devices has become more engaging for users because of the installation of

applications are now available. It has now may seem that an application has now taken

over the job of many daily things such as writing down on notebook as a reminder, a

planner, a tracker and many others. Therefore, it is best to intergrate mobile application

and tracking expenses together for the combination of money management application

that everyone needs.

2

1.2 Project Background

Mobile devices and applications are known to bring crucial additional benefits in terms

of usability for users which includes accessibility, portability and location awareness.

(Nayebi et al, 2012) As what most technology-literate would, an application with a

specified use of their daily life would be necessarily installed for the full extent of

convenience. Similarly, to other applications, an income tracking application would

bring more benefit when it comes to improving the lifestyle of users.

Thus, “Expense Tracker Mobile Application” is introduced as an application,

beneficial for users to handle their expense on a daily when they are reminded of it. It

comes in handy when users have trouble being consistent in tracking their expenses,

especially when they forget to note their expenses. (Thanapal et al, 2016) In this

application, users can identify expenses such as food bills, taxation, phone bills and

electricity bills. By inserting the bills into the application, users can balance out their

income and usage with the automated feature so that users do not have to calculate on

their own and end up miscalculating. (Thanapal et al, 2016) Tracking expenses when

done for personal matters, helps users to exercise organizing receipts and outline their

cash flows for budget drafting. (Corena & Ohtsuki, 2012) Thereafter, the least square

method is used to find the best prediction of monthly budget.

3

1.3 Problem Statement

Keeping track of expenses these days is not an easy job for people with busy lifestyle.

Making sure each and every purchase is jotted is already a hassle but making sure the

right outcome of savings after being deducted with expenses is even harder. Therefore,

an easy solution for these issues is to find the right medium for users to maintain a better

expense tracking diary.

This mobile application is proposed to help users overcome the struggles they

have to endure when they do not track their expenses or track their expenses manually

or even have troubles with the current existing expense tracker that they are using.

The common issues that occurs when users track their expenses manually are

that, they tend to overspend and users will not know where their money go which will

consequently interfere with their future plans. But the problems with the existing

applications are the fact that some are not user friendly, outdated and does not solves

the users’ difficulties in planning their budget. When tracking expenses manually, users

tend to miscalculate their expenses to the point that their cash flow does not make sense.

Therefore, this proposed project will help users solve these issues.

1.4 Objectives

The objectives of this mobile application are proposed to solves the issues below:

• To study the limitations of the previous expense trackers and develop a more

dated system.

• To develop an improved system in terms of the system being user-friendly.

• To test the functionality of least square technique in an expense tracker.

4

1.5 Scope

The system is divided into two (2) scope which are admin and user. These scopes give

an overview of the functions of the system.

1. User:

- Log into application

- Input expenses daily and income monthly

- View expense report and budget

1.6 Limitation of Work

This project has potential limitations in terms of accessibility and system. For

the aspect of accessibility, the system is only limited for mobile application. Therefore,

users are incapable to access the system through web browser. This limitation is

something to look into moving forward. In terms of the system itself, since the method

being used is least square method, is that it is very sensitive to deviations. Hence, it

could drastically effect the outcome.

1.7 Expected Result

The expected result of the “Daily Expense Tracker Mobile Application” system

would be the improvement of the functionality, usability and real life problems. It is

expected to have a more user-friendly interface for the ease of users. The interface will

be easier for users to understand and less complicated. All the functionality of a digitally

automated financial diary will be inserted with the additional of a statistical graph for a

better expense planning.

5

1.8 Activities, Milestones (Gantt Chart)

A Gantt Chart of the following outline is made, in order to keep the development on

track:

Task Start Date

(Date-Month)

Days to Complete

(Days)

Title Discussion & Selection 21-Oct 14

Title Registration 8-Nov 1

Proposal Writing 10-Nov 53

Literature Review 11-Nov 7

Proposal Progress Presentation 26-Nov 1

Methodology 13-Dec 4

Model Prototype Development 15-Dec 5

Proposal Drafting 30-Dec 5

Preparation for Final Presentation

10-Jan 7

Final Proposal Presentation

17-Jan 1

Amending 17-Jan 7

Submission of Proposal Report 24-Jan 1

Table 1.8; Table Task Analysis

6

Month Oct Nov Dec Jan

Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Activities

Title Discussion & Selection

Title Registration

Proposal Writing

Literature Review

Proposal Progress Presentation

Methodology

Model Prototype Development

Proposal Drafting

Preparation for Final Presentation

Final Proposal Presentation

Submission of Proposal Report

Figure 1.8; Gantt Chart

7

1.9 Summary of the Chapter

The summary of this chapter includes the following items being covered:

• project background

• problem statement

• objectives

• project scope

• limitation of work

• expected results

• milestone

8

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

In this chapter, the technique proposed which is least square method is reviewed in the

previous articles written and similar systems are discussed.

2.2 Research Based on Article

A research based on articles were done to gain information on the technique used. The

articles are summarized as following;

Authors Title Objectives Method Result

Jiang, B. N.

A Least-

Squares

Approach to

Prediction The

Future Sales of

Pharmacy

-To determine

the future sales

of pharmacy for

year 2019,2020

and 2021 using

Least-Squares

Method

Least-Squares

Method

It seem that

LSM is

deemed to be

effective and

widely

utilized in

data fitting,

with the best

fit reducing

the residual

squared sum.

Jabeur, S. B.

Bankruptcy

prediction

using Partial

Least Squares

Logistic

Regression

To improve the

Logistic

Regression in the

presence of

highly correlated

data

Partial-Least-

Squares

Method

This study

demonstrated

that

the empirical

application of

the PLS

approach to

firms

belonging to

9

2.3 Research Based on Existing System

Some research based on existing system is required in order to build a system that is

equivalent to the standard of the system or even more reliable that the previous.

Therefore, three existing systems with similar objectives are reviewed.

various

activity areas

provides

good results.

Zhao, D.,

Ding, S. X.,

Karimi, H. R.,

Li, Y., &

Wang, Y.

On robust

Kalman filter

for two-

dimensional

uncertain linear

discrete

time-varying

systems: A

least squares

method

To investigate

the problem for

two-dimensional

uncertain linear

discrete time

varying system

with stochastic

noises.

Least-Squares

Method

The robust

2-D state

filter has been

obtained by

solving a

robust

regularized

least squares

problem

Table 2.2; Researched Based on Article

10

2.3.1 1Money

Figure 2.3.1; Existing System 1Money

The advantages and disadvantages on 1Money application are as follow:

Existing System Advantages Disadvantages

1Money - User can put different

values of budget on each

type of purchase

- Colourful interface

- Complex interface

- No prediction if user

might overspend

Table 2.3.1; Existing System 1Money

11

2.3.2 Wallet

Figure 2.3.2; Existing System Wallet

The advantages and disadvantages on Wallet application are as follow:


Wallet : Personal

Finance, Budget &

Expense Tracker

- User-friendly interface

- User can insert different

budget for different time frame

- Has prediction whether user

will overspend based on

previous spendings

- Cannot manage

categories properly

Table 2.3.2; Existing System Wallet

12

2.3.3 Expense Manager

Figure 2.3.3; Existing System Expense Manager

The advantages and disadvantages on Expense Manager application are as follow:


Expense Manager - User can insert different

budget for different time

frame

- User can put different

values on each type of

purchase

- Has estimation on the

amount for user to use to

stick to budget

- Initial balance, income

and expenses are not

separately categorised by

cash and bank transfer

Table 2.3.3; Existing System Expense Manager

13

2.4 Least Squares Method

The technique used for this project is least square method. This a method of finding the

best fit given to all the variable. In this project, the method is implemented to find a

suitable spending budget after calculating all the input of expenses. It helps to predict

the budget as it is one of the prediction techniques in data mining. Below figure includes

the formulas of least square method and the steps:

Step 1: For each (x,y) point calculate 𝑥2 and 𝑥𝑦

Step 2: Sum all x, y, 𝑥2 and 𝑥𝑦, which gives ∑𝑥 , ∑𝑦 , ∑𝑥2 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ∑𝑥𝑦

Step 3: Calculate Slope m:

Figure 2.2.1; Least Square Method Formula

(N is the number of points)

Step 4: Calculate Intercept b:


Step 5: Assemble the equation of the line


14

2.5 Summary of Chapter

As a conclusion, several articles and journals had been reviewed for a clearer

perspective of least square method to be implemented in the project. The method helps

in predicting a variable by using the best fit outcome. This shows that the method is

suitable in obtaining the objectives of the project.

15

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

In this chapter, the methodology chosen will be discussed for the completion of the

whole project. This project will be implementing agile development methodology, as

this methodology is open for continuous repetition of processes. The repetition of

processes aspect of this methodology will bring great significance to the project for

constant amendment.

3.2 Project Methodology

Agile development is a user focused method that take into consideration of user’s stories

in building a system. It helps to make a system more user friendly in order to satisfy

user’s requirement. In addition to its biggest perks as to being able to continuously

improve, it gives the system the opportunity to adapt to continual changes a system has

to undergo in the ongoing changes and upgrades of technologies. The phases of this

methodology are as mentioned below:

1. Requirements gathering

2. Design

3. Development

4. Testing

5. Deployment

16

Figure 3.2; Agile Development Methodology

3.2.1 Requirements Gathering

The requirements of the built up of an expense and income tracker are gathered.

Reports and articles of previous expense and income tracker are reviewed in

order to understand and gather the needed requirements. In this phase, technical

and usability of previous systems are evaluated to achieve needed information.

3.2.2 Designing Requirements

The gathered requirements from the requirements gathering phase are used in

order to identify and to proceed to the designing requirements phase. This phase

is concluded with diagrams being made such as context diagram, data flow

diagram and activity diagram. The diagrams are made to enlighten the whole

system as to how the workflow of the system works.

17

3.2.3 Development

The development of the system begins in this phase. The system will constantly

undergo numerous changes considering that the system is still at its beginning

phase of development.

3.2.4 Testing

In this phase, the development of the system is at its final stage after the product

of the system has go through a quality assurance test to ensure the system is

performing as it should be.

3.2.5 Deployment

Lastly, in the deployment phase, the system should be performing in a great

condition given that the system has been tested and is expected to ready by the

end of the last presentation.

3.3 Framework

The framework of the Daily Expense Tracker application helps to explain the

functionality of the system. It starts off with users managing their account by inserting

the personal data such as username, email and password. Later on, user will have to

insert their income, expenses and budget in order for the system to operate functionally.

The inserted data will be saved into the database. As per stated of the system,

the data will be manipulated to produce a prediction of the monthly budget for user to

keep track of. This outcome is achieved by implying Least Square Method. It is a

method for finding the best fit line which in this case is found by using date and

18

expenses. For instance, user insert RM 500 as their budget for the month and by

inserting their daily expenses, the method will predict whether the budget entered is

achievable according to the spendings done in the last few days.

Figure 3.3; Framework

3.4 Hardware and Software Requirements

Throughout the process of developing the application, software and hardware

requirements as below are used:

3.4.1 Hardware

Hardware requirement as to develop the application are:

I. Laptop: Asus X441U

19

• Processor: Intel Core I3-6100U,

• Memory: 4GB Ram

• Storage: 1TB SSD+1Tb HDD

• Operating System: Windows 10 Home Single Language

II. Android Mobile Phone: OPPO A93

• Android 10

• Used to run, test and deploy application

3.4.2 Software

Software requirement as to develop this system are:

I. Xampp

II. MySQl

III. Andriod Studio

IV. Cordova

3.5 System Design

The system design is explained through diagrams such as Framework Diagram, Context

Diagram (CD), Data Flow Diagram and Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD).

20

3.5.1 Context Diagram

The context diagram below shows the boundary of the system and its environment. It

helps to understand the system at a high level view. The diagram shows that for the user

entity, user can register, login, insert income and insert expenses. For outgoing flows,

it shows that the system will then display the predicted outcome of budget and expense

report.

Figure 3.5.1; Context Diagram

21

3.5.2 Data Flow Diagram (DFD) Level 0

The DFD helps represent the system. For Daily Expense Tracker, DFD shows that the

system has one entity which is user. The processes include register, login, manage

income, manage expense and produce report. As for data store, there are two data

store whis user’s information and funds transfer.

Figure 3.5.2; Data Flow Diagram

22

3.5.3 Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)

Entity Realationship Diagram or ERD is a diagram that helps visualize the structure of

the database of the system. For the figure below, shows the structure of database for the

Daily Expense Tracker application. There are user, income, expense and report as

entities. The entities have its own attributes that helps the entites to be related to each

other.

Figure 3.5.3; ERD

23

3.6 Database Design

The database design of Expense Tracker application is based of the database of the

system, expenseDB which include the tables, User, Expense, Income, and Report.

Name Type Null Comment

email Varchar(30) Not Null Primary Key

username Varchar(30) Not Null

password Varchar(30) Not Null

Table 3.6.1; User Table

The table shown above is the user table. The table is used to store the user’s detail when

registering to the application. The details include email, password and username.


expense_date Date Not Null Primary Key

expense int Not Null

email Varchar(30) Not Null Foreign Key

Table 3.6.2; Expense Table

The table above is the expense table. The table consist of expense_date for primary

key, email from the user table as foreign key and expense.


income_date Date Not Null Primary Key

income int Not Null

email Varchar(30) Not Null Foreign Key

Table 3.6.3; Income Table

The table above is the income table. The table consist of income_date for primary key,

email from the user table as foreign key and income.

24


remainingFund_date Date Not Null Primary Key

expense int Not Null Foreign Key

income int Not Null Foreign Key

remainingFund int Not Null

Table 3.6.4; Report Table

The table shown above is the report table. The table has remainigFund_date for

primary key, expense from the expense table and income from income table as foreign

key and remainingFund.

3.7 Summary of Chapter

In conclusion, this chapter discussed the methodology used for this research is agile

development methodology and the hardware and software requirements required. Lastly

the diagrams included are contet diagram, data flow diagram and entity relationship

diagram. These diagrams are included for a better understanding of the flow of the

system.

25

REFERENCES

Abazid, M., & Alkoud, D. A LEAST-SQUARES APPROACH TO PREDICTION

THE FUTURE SALES OF PHARMACY.

Adzis, A. A., Bakar, J. A., & Shahar, H. K. (2017). Factors influencing young adults’

debt in Malaysia. Journal of Business and Retail Management Research, 12(1).

Chandini, S., Poojitha, T., Ranjith, D., Akram, V. M., Vani, M. S., & Rajyalakshmi,

V. (2019). Online Income and Expense Tracker.

Corena, J. C., & Ohtsuki, T. (2012). Secure and fast aggregation of financial data in

cloud-based expense tracking applications. Journal of Network and Systems

Management, 20(4), 534-560.

Jabeur, S. B. (2017). Bankruptcy prediction using partial least squares logistic

regression. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 36, 197-202.

Jahan, N. Z., & Vinodhini, K. I. (2016, April). Personalized Expense Managing

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1513926576.pdf

Jiang, B. N. (1998). On the least-squares method. Computer methods in applied

mechanics and engineering, 152(1-2), 239-257.

Kolhe, V., Basu, B., Shah, V., & Ostwal, A. (2020, February). My Expenses.

Retrieved from https://www.irjet.net/archives/V7/i2/IRJET-V712224.pdf

Lukas, H. L., Henig, E. T., & Zimmermann, B. (1977). Optimization of phase

diagrams by a least squares method using simultaneously different types of

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Thanapal, M. P., Patel, Y., Lokesh, R. T. P., & Satheesh, K. J. (2015). Income and

expense tracker. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 8(S2), 118-122.

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Velmurugan, A., Mayan, J. A., Niranjana, P., & Francis, R. (2020, December).

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Zhang, D., & Adipat, B. (2005). Challenges, methodologies, and issues in the usability

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Zhao, D., Ding, S. X., Karimi, H. R., Li, Y., & Wang, Y. (2019). On robust Kalman

filter for two-dimensional uncertain linear discrete time-varying systems: A

least squares method. Automatica, 99, 203-212.

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