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Reminders

Managing Your Financial Reminders

The Reminders feature helps you stay on top of important financial events, ensuring you never miss a payment or financial opportunity.

What are Financial Reminders?

Reminders in Cognito Money are notifications that alert you about important financial events, such as:

  • Upcoming bill payments
  • Subscription renewals
  • Pending financial goals
  • Irregular but important financial tasks (tax filing deadlines, insurance renewals, etc.)
  • Budget reviews
  • Account balance checks
Benefits of Using Reminders

Setting up reminders helps you:

  • Avoid late payment fees
  • Maintain a good credit score by paying bills on time
  • Stay mindful of your financial obligations
  • Remember important but infrequent financial tasks
  • Keep your financial management proactive rather than reactive
How to Access Reminders

You can access the Reminders feature by clicking on More>Reminders in the main navigation menu.

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Reminder
  1. Navigate to the Reminders page and click the Add Reminder button
  2. Fill in the required information:
    • Title: Enter a clear, descriptive title for the reminder
    • Description: (Optional) Add more details about what needs to be done
    • Due Date: Select when the task is due
    • Amount: (Optional) Add a dollar amount if the reminder is for a payment
    • Category: (Optional) Associate the reminder with a financial category
    • Notification Date: Choose when you want to be reminded (typically a few days before the due date)
    • Recurring: Toggle on if this reminder should repeat
    • Recurrence Pattern: If recurring, select Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly
  3. Click Save to create the reminder
Reminder Types and Examples
Reminder Type Example Title Suggested Timing
Bill Payment Pay Credit Card Bill 5 days before due date
Subscription Review Netflix Subscription 7 days before renewal
Financial Review Monthly Budget Review Last day of each month
Tax-Related Submit Quarterly Tax Payment 1 week before deadline
Insurance Renew Auto Insurance 14 days before expiration
Tip:

For bills that already exist in your Accounts Payable, reminders are automatically created. Manual reminders are best for irregular events or bills not tracked in the system.

Setting Up Recurring Reminders

For financial tasks that happen regularly, recurring reminders save you from creating multiple entries:

Recurrence Patterns
  • Daily: Repeats every day (useful for daily financial check-ins)
  • Weekly: Repeats on the same day each week
  • Monthly: Repeats on the same day each month (e.g., 15th of every month)
  • Yearly: Repeats on the same date each year (ideal for annual renewals, tax deadlines)
Setting End Dates

You can configure when a recurring reminder should stop:

  • No end date: Continues indefinitely until manually deleted
  • End after X occurrences: Stops after a specific number of reminders
  • End by date: Stops on or before a specific date
How Completed Recurring Reminders Work

When you mark a recurring reminder as complete:

  1. The current instance is marked as completed
  2. A new instance is automatically generated for the next occurrence
  3. The completed instance moves to your reminder history
Important:

Editing a recurring reminder affects all future occurrences, but not past ones. If you need to change just one instance, consider creating a separate one-time reminder instead.

The Reminders Page

The Reminders page organizes your reminders into three main sections:

1. Overdue Reminders

This section appears at the top with a red header when you have reminders that are past their due date. Each reminder displays:

  • Title
  • Due date
  • Amount (if specified)
  • Category (if assigned)
  • Recurrence pattern (if applicable)
  • Action buttons (complete, edit, delete)
2. Upcoming Reminders

This section shows reminders due in the near future, sorted by date, with the same information as overdue reminders.

3. Completed Reminders

Shows reminders you've marked as completed, allowing you to review your financial activity history.

Reminder Actions

For each reminder, you can perform these actions:

  • Mark as Complete - Marks the reminder as done and moves it to the Completed section
  • Edit - Modify reminder details
  • Delete - Remove the reminder completely

For recurring reminders, marking as complete will automatically generate the next occurrence based on the recurrence pattern.

How Reminder Notifications Work

Cognito Money reminds you of important dates through the in-app reminder system:

In-App Reminders

When you log in to Cognito Money, you can view your reminders on the Reminders page, which organizes them into sections:

  • Overdue Reminders - shown in red for immediate attention
  • Upcoming Reminders - sorted by due date
  • Completed Reminders - your reminder history
Notification Dates

When creating or editing a reminder, you can set two important dates:

  1. Due Date: When the task or payment is actually due
  2. Notification Date: When you want to be reminded (typically a few days before the due date)
Tip:

For critical financial deadlines like tax payments, we recommend setting the notification date at least 7 days before the due date to give yourself ample preparation time.

Viewing Reminders in the Calendar View

Cognito Money includes a financial calendar that displays various financial events:

  • Navigate to the Calendar page from the main menu
  • Your reminders will appear alongside other financial events like bills and income
  • Different types of events are color-coded for easy identification
  • You can view reminders for the current month and upcoming months
Calendar Navigation

The Calendar interface allows you to:

  • View multiple months at a time
  • Navigate forward and backward through time using the navigation buttons
  • See at a glance which days have financial events scheduled
Reminder Visibility in Calendar

Both one-time and recurring reminders will display in the calendar view:

  • Due dates appear as reminder events
  • Notification dates appear with a bell icon
  • Recurring reminders display with an indicator of their recurrence pattern
Tip:

Use the calendar view for a comprehensive look at your upcoming financial events and deadlines. It helps you visualize when bills, income, and reminders occur together.

Coming Soon:

A dedicated "Upcoming Reminders" widget is planned for the Dashboard to provide at-a-glance visibility of your most important reminders without having to navigate to the Reminders page.

Tips for Effective Reminder Management
  1. Use clear, action-oriented titles - "Pay Home Insurance Premium" is better than "Insurance"
  2. Set appropriate notification dates - Give yourself enough time to prepare for financial tasks
  3. Include amount information - Adding the payment amount helps with financial planning
  4. Assign categories - Categorizing reminders helps organize your financial life
  5. Use the description field - Add account numbers, website URLs, or specific instructions
  6. Mark complete promptly - Update reminders as soon as you complete tasks to keep your system accurate
  7. Review periodically - Regularly review and update your reminders to ensure they're still relevant
Creating a Comprehensive Reminder System

For a complete financial reminder system, set reminders for these key financial activities:

Weekly Reminders
  • Review recent transactions
  • Check account balances
  • Process any pending bills
Monthly Reminders
  • Pay all monthly bills
  • Review budget performance
  • Transfer money to savings
  • Check credit card statements
Quarterly Reminders
  • Pay estimated taxes (if applicable)
  • Review investment performance
  • Check credit reports
  • Adjust budget as needed
Annual Reminders
  • File tax returns
  • Renew insurance policies
  • Review financial goals
  • Conduct annual financial review
  • Check for unused subscriptions to cancel

Common Issues and Solutions
Problem: Recurring reminders not generating properly
Solutions:
  1. Check that the recurrence pattern is set correctly
  2. Verify that the end date hasn't been reached
  3. Ensure the reminder is marked as completed (not deleted) to trigger the next occurrence
  4. Try editing the reminder to reset the recurrence pattern
Problem: Reminders not appearing in calendar view
Solutions:
  1. Verify that the reminder's due date falls within the months currently displayed in the calendar
  2. Check that the reminder is not marked as completed
  3. Try refreshing the page or navigating to a different month and back
  4. Ensure the reminder was saved successfully by checking the Reminders page