Vestrus Documentation

Vestrus — Local Portfolio Tracker

Vestrus is a local-first portfolio recordkeeping and analysis application for self-directed investors. It provides holdings, account and cash views, transactions, portfolio history, charts, gain/loss analysis, reports, reconciliation, and Wealth Outlook while keeping the authoritative portfolio record under the user's control.

Current release: Vestrus Release 1.0 · Build 1.84.8.50.14

On this page

Getting Started · Portfolio Organization · Transactions · Manual & Connected Mode · Charts & History · Reports & Reconciliation · Wealth Outlook · Backup & Recovery · System Guidance · In-App Help

Getting Started

Vestrus is delivered as a single HTML application file. No traditional software installation or Earth Shack account is required.

  1. Download the Vestrus HTML file provided after purchase.
  2. Place the file in a stable folder on your computer.
  3. Open it in a supported modern browser.
  4. Review and accept the License Agreement / EULA.
  5. Complete the brief Start Here orientation.
  6. Build your starting portfolio using Starting Position.

Your starting portfolio represents what you already own when Vestrus begins tracking. Enter the investments, accounts, shares, purchase costs, purchase dates, cash, and other information needed to establish that opening record.

After the starting portfolio is established, use transactions to record activity that occurs from that point forward.

Portfolio Organization

Vestrus organizes information into portfolios, accounts, holdings, lots, cash balances, transactions, saved values, and related portfolio records.

  • Portfolios are independent user-defined management boundaries.
  • Accounts may represent brokerage accounts, IRAs, or other user-defined account names.
  • Holdings belong to accounts and may contain one or more purchase lots.
  • Lots retain their own share count, purchase cost, and purchase date.
  • Cash is maintained by account.

Use Manage portfolios to add, rename, or remove eligible portfolios. Accounts may also be moved between portfolios. Vestrus preserves the underlying account records when an account is moved and does not invent retroactive combined portfolio history.

Vestrus analyzes one portfolio at a time and does not automatically create an all-portfolios consolidated portfolio.

Transactions & Recordkeeping

After the starting portfolio is established, use the transaction tools to record later portfolio activity.

Vestrus supports portfolio activity including buys, sells, and cash-related entries. Cash entry behavior follows the selected transaction type: withdrawals and fees reduce cash, while deposits, dividends, and interest increase cash.

The portfolio ledger and related records provide a local audit trail of portfolio activity. Holdings, lots, cash, transaction records, realized activity, reconciliation information, and saved portfolio values remain part of the authoritative local record.

Vestrus does not connect to a brokerage or bank, does not request brokerage credentials, and does not place trades.

Manual Mode & Connected Mode

Manual Mode is the standalone, privacy-first operating mode. You maintain holdings, prices, classifications, transactions, cash, dated values, and other portfolio information yourself.

Connected Mode is optional. You may supply credentials from your own Finnhub and/or Tiingo accounts to obtain supported market information such as quotes, news, price history, asset context, sector information, and other provider-supported data.

  • Finnhub and Tiingo accounts are obtained directly from those providers.
  • Provider availability, eligibility, pricing, licensing, rate limits, and terms are controlled by the provider.
  • Vestrus does not require Connected Mode to maintain the portfolio record.
  • Connected market information is used as display and analysis context rather than replacing the user's authoritative portfolio records.

Provider observations are held in volatile session memory. Closing or reloading Vestrus discards that connected-data cache, and the information may need to be fetched again. Provider observations are not written into holdings, lots, cash records, transaction records, saved manual prices, or ordinary Vestrus backups.

Charts, Prices & Portfolio History

Vestrus provides asset charts and a Portfolio Value history built from the portfolio information available to the application.

Manual prices and user-owned saved values remain authoritative for durable portfolio records. Connected provider observations can provide additional current or historical context during the running session but are not silently converted into permanent portfolio records.

  • Dated price records a manual price for a security on a selected date.
  • Update portfolio with EOD prices can update current valuations and build dated local history.
  • Saved value can add a known portfolio or account value for a particular date without changing holdings or lots.
  • When qualifying manual prices are complete, Vestrus can maintain a durable Portfolio Value point for the day.

Manual history takes precedence over connected data for the same date.

Reports & Reconciliation

Vestrus includes reporting and reconciliation tools for reviewing the portfolio record.

Reports are read-only views. Depending on the report, you can select fields, preview the output, export CSV data, or print/save the report as a PDF.

Exportable valuation information uses saved manual/user-owned prices rather than volatile connected-provider observations.

Reconciliation tools allow you to compare the Vestrus record with an external statement or known account value and retain notes explaining differences.

Wealth Outlook

Wealth Outlook provides a forward-looking portfolio planning workspace based on user-defined objectives and assumptions.

It can be used to explore:

  • portfolio objectives;
  • growth and contribution assumptions;
  • projection scenarios;
  • inflation-adjusted context;
  • Gap Analysis; and
  • projection-related report output.

Wealth Outlook is a planning and analysis tool. Its projections depend on the assumptions entered by the user and are not guarantees of future investment performance.

Backup, Restore & Data Safety

Vestrus stores its working portfolio records locally in the browser profile on your computer. Maintaining a current backup is therefore an important part of using the application.

Use Export backup to create a restorable JSON backup. The JSON backup is the primary file used to restore Vestrus records or move them to another browser or computer.

  • JSON backups contain the restorable portfolio records and ordinary application settings.
  • Finnhub and Tiingo API credentials are intentionally excluded from backups.
  • CSV exports and reports are useful for review but are not substitutes for the Vestrus JSON restore file.
  • Different browsers and browser profiles maintain separate working copies of Vestrus data.

The Data Safety area shows information such as local save status, known backup status, import status, browser-storage condition, and backup reminders.

Important: maintain a current JSON backup after establishing your portfolio and after meaningful portfolio changes.

Restart recovery

After an abnormal or forced Windows/browser restart, Vestrus may rarely reopen without the previously stored portfolio appearing.

If this occurs:

  1. Do not begin rebuilding or overwrite your existing information immediately.
  2. Confirm that you opened the same Vestrus HTML file from its normal location.
  3. Confirm that you are using the same browser and browser profile normally used with Vestrus.
  4. If the portfolio does not reappear, restore your most recent Vestrus JSON backup.

Browser & System Guidance

  • Browser: Current Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari. Chromium-based browsers are recommended where applicable.
  • Operating system: Windows 10+, macOS 11+, or a modern Linux distribution.
  • Display: 1080p or larger is recommended. Larger displays provide the best experience for Vestrus's information-dense workspace.
  • Internet: Not required for maintaining the local portfolio record. Required for optional connected market/news information.
  • Installation: None. Vestrus runs from its HTML application file in the browser.

Help Inside Vestrus

Vestrus includes extensive built-in help and contextual guidance. The in-app Help should be considered the most detailed operational reference for the installed release.

Useful shortcuts include:

  • G — Getting Started
  • N — Starting Position
  • A — Record a transaction
  • K or ? — Keyboard Shortcuts
  • H — Workspace Help
  • F1 — Context Help
  • Shift + P — Manage Portfolios
  • F or F11 — Fullscreen

Supported charts and cards may also be expanded for larger viewing.

Privacy & Product Boundaries

  • Vestrus is a portfolio recordkeeping and awareness tool.
  • It does not connect to brokerage or banking accounts.
  • It does not execute trades.
  • Connected market-data providers are optional.
  • Authoritative portfolio records remain local to the user's browser unless the user exports or imports a backup.
  • Vestrus does not provide investment, tax, legal, or financial advice.

Need Help?

If you need assistance with Vestrus, downloading the application, restoring a backup, or unexpected application behavior, contact Earth Shack Software Support.

→ Contact Support

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