I just released Update 3 of my Account Balances Template. If you're not familiar, this is a database you can use to track all of your account balances, like your credit cards, your bank statements, and the recurring payments that go with them. In Update 3, we're going to parse pending payments. I'll explain what that means in a minute.

I designed a script editor so you can load up a webpage from your bank or credit card, and it will automatically get the information you need off the text of that page with one click. It's really cool; I'll show it to you in a second. And I added an Auto Filter feature so that it'll only show you the transactions and stuff for the account that you're working on.

So what does "parse pending payments" mean? Well, some websitesand I'm not going to name names, Amazonif you have the Amazon credit card, for example, you'll see this. They don't total up the pending activity for you, right? They'll give you a balance and they'll tell you what your credit available is, but they don't add up the pending activity. So you've got to come and type this all in. That's why we made it in the Account Balances Template, so you can type in 125 plus 6 plus 100 plus 30whateverand then the database adds it all up for you, just like an Excel spreadsheet would.

Well, now, this little feature here, "parse pending payments," allows you to copy and paste that text and drop it right in. So, come over to your web browser, just copy all this text, Ctrl+C, come back here, paste it in, and then hit Parse and it does that work for you. There they are. There's an option to ignore negative values because they put payments in there too, which they shouldn't, but they do. Okay, hit Save Pending, and it puts it right up in there for you. You don't have to sit here and do any typing.

Now, speaking of not doing any typing, I also created this feature called the Script Editor. This has a bunch of actions in it. The first thing you're going to do is go "Get Text from Window." Now, you've got to log in manually; I don't have that automated yet. But this will save you some typing. So, you log on to whatever your bank or credit card statement is. The name of the window up here will be in the tab. This one is "Amazon Billing Activity." It doesn't have to be exact; just any part of it, as long as it's unique, right?

Once you've got the window picked, the next step is to look at the text and copy it to the clipboard, then analyze it to find that current balance. Each bank, credit card, or website is different, but the information is always there in the text.

Now, I've been using this for a couple of weeks and it's working great for me. I've also added an Auto Filter feature; when you click on it, it shows only the transactions related to the selected account, another time saver.

Remember, every time I add features, the price goes up because the database is doing more. If you've already purchased it, you're grandfathered in. So, if you're interested, don't wait; get in on the ground floor. Check it out on the website, and if you have any questions or comments, post them down below.

Live long and prosper, my friends. I'll see you next time.