IncomeLens

Make sense of the money coming in.

What is IncomeLens? How do I use Sandbox?

How to connect a test bank

Plaid is the service that supplies bank transactions. Sandbox is its testing environment: all accounts and payments here are simulated.

Click Connect Sandbox at the top of the page.
If asked for a phone number, skip that step if offered. Otherwise use 415-555-0136 and verification code 123456. No text message will arrive.
Search for First Platypus Bank. For a transaction-focused test account, use username user_transactions_dynamic and password pass_good. Select a checking account.
Return here and press Refresh if history is still loading.

Test banks can return no transactions, no paychecks, or only a short history. A successful connection does not guarantee income data. Sample data includes regular paychecks so you can explore every view.

Use test details only. This version cannot connect your real bank. Plaid test-account documentation ↗

Sample data · Generated locally. Connect Plaid Sandbox to use test-bank records.

Data pipeline

Export JSON

Follow a bank record from its original description to its cleaned name and classification. Every result has a rule you can inspect.

Inspect 7 records flagged for review → Unknown credits and pending records are kept out of income totals.

How the data is processed

Ingest: request records from Plaid Sandbox, or load the sample dataset.
Clean: remove duplicate IDs and invalid records; normalize source names.
Classify: posted credits count as income when the category or description supports it. Exclude transfers, refunds and pending payments; flag unknown credits.
Summarize: group income by month, source and currency.

Plaid uses negative amounts for incoming money. Below, each original description is paired with its cleaned result and the rule used.

Stability and recurring income rules

Stability = max(0, 100 × (1 − standard deviation ÷ average income)). We use completed months with records and require at least three. Months with activity but no income count as zero; missing history is excluded. This is descriptive, not a prediction.

A source is recurring when it appears in at least three distinct months. Grouping uses text rules and can make mistakes.

Raw → cleaned records

Date	Original description	Cleaned source	Type	Amount	Rule
2026-10-08	`UNIDENTIFIED DEPOSIT`	Unidentified Deposit	review	+$90	Unrecognized credit; excluded from income until reviewed.
2026-10-07	`TRANSFER SAVINGS`	Transfer Savings	transfer	+$400	Transfer or returned money, not earned income.
2026-10-06	`GROCERY MARKET`	Grocery Market	expense	−$245	Positive Plaid amounts represent money leaving the account.
2026-10-05	`FREELANCE NORTHSTAR`	Northstar	income	+$650	Posted credit with an income category or recognizable income description.
2026-10-02	`RENT GREENWOOD`	Rent Greenwood	expense	−$1,650	Positive Plaid amounts represent money leaving the account.
2026-10-01	`PAYROLL ACME STUDIO`	Acme Studio	income	+$2,400	Posted credit with an income category or recognizable income description.
2026-09-15	`PAYROLL ACME STUDIO`	Acme Studio	income	+$2,400	Posted credit with an income category or recognizable income description.
2026-09-08	`UNIDENTIFIED DEPOSIT`	Unidentified Deposit	review	+$90	Unrecognized credit; excluded from income until reviewed.
2026-09-07	`TRANSFER SAVINGS`	Transfer Savings	transfer	+$400	Transfer or returned money, not earned income.
2026-09-06	`GROCERY MARKET`	Grocery Market	expense	−$257	Positive Plaid amounts represent money leaving the account.
2026-09-05	`FREELANCE NORTHSTAR`	Northstar	income	+$695	Posted credit with an income category or recognizable income description.
2026-09-02	`RENT GREENWOOD`	Rent Greenwood	expense	−$1,650	Positive Plaid amounts represent money leaving the account.
2026-09-01	`PAYROLL ACME STUDIO`	Acme Studio	income	+$2,400	Posted credit with an income category or recognizable income description.
2026-08-15	`PAYROLL ACME STUDIO`	Acme Studio	income	+$2,400	Posted credit with an income category or recognizable income description.
2026-08-08	`UNIDENTIFIED DEPOSIT`	Unidentified Deposit	review	+$90	Unrecognized credit; excluded from income until reviewed.
2026-08-07	`TRANSFER SAVINGS`	Transfer Savings	transfer	+$400	Transfer or returned money, not earned income.
2026-08-06	`GROCERY MARKET`	Grocery Market	expense	−$269	Positive Plaid amounts represent money leaving the account.
2026-08-05	`FREELANCE NORTHSTAR`	Northstar	income	+$740	Posted credit with an income category or recognizable income description.
2026-08-02	`RENT GREENWOOD`	Rent Greenwood	expense	−$1,650	Positive Plaid amounts represent money leaving the account.
2026-08-01	`PAYROLL ACME STUDIO`	Acme Studio	income	+$2,400	Posted credit with an income category or recognizable income description.
2026-07-15	`PAYROLL ACME STUDIO`	Acme Studio	income	+$2,400	Posted credit with an income category or recognizable income description.
2026-07-08	`UNIDENTIFIED DEPOSIT`	Unidentified Deposit	review	+$90	Unrecognized credit; excluded from income until reviewed.
2026-07-07	`TRANSFER SAVINGS`	Transfer Savings	transfer	+$400	Transfer or returned money, not earned income.
2026-07-06	`GROCERY MARKET`	Grocery Market	expense	−$281	Positive Plaid amounts represent money leaving the account.
2026-07-05	`FREELANCE NORTHSTAR`	Northstar	income	+$785	Posted credit with an income category or recognizable income description.
2026-07-02	`RENT GREENWOOD`	Rent Greenwood	expense	−$1,650	Positive Plaid amounts represent money leaving the account.
2026-07-01	`PAYROLL ACME STUDIO`	Acme Studio	income	+$2,400	Posted credit with an income category or recognizable income description.
2026-06-15	`PAYROLL ACME STUDIO`	Acme Studio	income	+$2,400	Posted credit with an income category or recognizable income description.
2026-06-08	`UNIDENTIFIED DEPOSIT`	Unidentified Deposit	review	+$90	Unrecognized credit; excluded from income until reviewed.
2026-06-07	`TRANSFER SAVINGS`	Transfer Savings	transfer	+$400	Transfer or returned money, not earned income.
2026-06-06	`GROCERY MARKET`	Grocery Market	expense	−$293	Positive Plaid amounts represent money leaving the account.
2026-06-05	`FREELANCE NORTHSTAR`	Northstar	income	+$830	Posted credit with an income category or recognizable income description.
2026-06-02	`RENT GREENWOOD`	Rent Greenwood	expense	−$1,650	Positive Plaid amounts represent money leaving the account.
2026-06-01	`PAYROLL ACME STUDIO`	Acme Studio	income	+$2,400	Posted credit with an income category or recognizable income description.
2026-05-15	`PAYROLL ACME STUDIO`	Acme Studio	income	+$2,400	Posted credit with an income category or recognizable income description.
2026-05-08	`UNIDENTIFIED DEPOSIT`	Unidentified Deposit	review	+$90	Unrecognized credit; excluded from income until reviewed.
2026-05-07	`TRANSFER SAVINGS`	Transfer Savings	transfer	+$400	Transfer or returned money, not earned income.
2026-05-06	`GROCERY MARKET`	Grocery Market	expense	−$305	Positive Plaid amounts represent money leaving the account.
2026-05-05	`FREELANCE NORTHSTAR`	Northstar	income	+$875	Posted credit with an income category or recognizable income description.
2026-05-02	`RENT GREENWOOD`	Rent Greenwood	expense	−$1,650	Positive Plaid amounts represent money leaving the account.
2026-05-01	`PAYROLL ACME STUDIO`	Acme Studio	income	+$2,400	Posted credit with an income category or recognizable income description.
2026-04-15	`PAYROLL ACME STUDIO`	Acme Studio	income	+$2,400	Posted credit with an income category or recognizable income description.
2026-04-08	`UNIDENTIFIED DEPOSIT`	Unidentified Deposit	review	+$90	Unrecognized credit; excluded from income until reviewed.
2026-04-07	`TRANSFER SAVINGS`	Transfer Savings	transfer	+$400	Transfer or returned money, not earned income.
2026-04-06	`GROCERY MARKET`	Grocery Market	expense	−$317	Positive Plaid amounts represent money leaving the account.
2026-04-05	`FREELANCE NORTHSTAR`	Northstar	income	+$920	Posted credit with an income category or recognizable income description.
2026-04-02	`RENT GREENWOOD`	Rent Greenwood	expense	−$1,650	Positive Plaid amounts represent money leaving the account.
2026-04-01	`PAYROLL ACME STUDIO`	Acme Studio	income	+$2,400	Posted credit with an income category or recognizable income description.