SOLVENT

Mission

Build a complete, production-ready full-stack SaaS web app called SOLVENT — tagline: "It solves your problems." Solvent is a fractional CFO and bookkeeping platform built exclusively for solopreneurs, sole proprietors, freelancers, gig workers, coaches, consultants, designers, contractors, and one-person businesses who have no accounting background, no CFO, and no time to manage their finances. The entire product philosophy is: powerful financial tools wrapped in the simplest, most human interface possible. No jargon. No confusion. Just clarity. 🎯 THE PROBLEM SOLVENT SOLVES: Solopreneurs make money but don't track it. They miss tax deductions, forget to invoice clients, have no idea what their monthly profit actually is, and panic every quarter when taxes are due. They can't afford a real CFO or accountant on retainer. Solvent is their CFO, bookkeeper, invoice manager, tax estimator, and financial coach — all in one app — for $12/month. 👤 TARGET USER: Solo business owners of all kinds — the common thread is they run their business alone, they are not accountants, and they need financial clarity without complexity. The app must use plain English everywhere. Replace every accounting term with a human equivalent. Instead of "accounts receivable" say "money owed to you." Instead of "net revenue" say "what you actually made." Always. 🏗️ FULL FEATURE BUILD — Build all phases: ONBOARDING (build first): Welcome screen with tagline "It solves your problems" 5-step onboarding wizard: (1) Business name + type, (2) Industry selection from visual tiles, (3) How they get paid (hourly / per project / recurring / mix), (4) Tax filing status (single, married, etc.), (5) Connect bank account via Plaid OR skip to manual mode After onboarding, land on the main dashboard with a celebratory empty state: "You're all set. Let's get your finances under control." DASHBOARD (main screen): Monthly snapshot card: Total Income, Total Expenses, Net Profit — all in large, bold numbers Financial Health Score (0–100) displayed as a circular progress gauge, color-coded (red 0–40, yellow 41–70, green 71–100) with a single plain-English tip below it (e.g. "You're spending more than you're saving. Try logging your next 5 expenses to get a clearer picture.") Cash flow mini chart (last 6 months, bar or line) Quick action buttons: + Add Income, + Add Expense, + Create Invoice Upcoming alerts strip: overdue invoices, upcoming tax deadline, unusual spending Recent transactions list (last 10, with category icon, merchant name, amount, date) INCOME & EXPENSE TRACKING: Manual entry form: amount, date, category, note, attach receipt photo Bank sync via Plaid API: auto-import and auto-categorize transactions Category system using plain-English IRS Schedule C categories (e.g. "Software & Tools", "Travel", "Marketing", "Meals", "Home Office", "Contractors Paid") Ability to split a transaction across multiple categories Monthly and yearly views with filterable category breakdown Visual pie chart of spending by category Export to CSV at any time INVOICE GENERATOR: Create invoice in under 60 seconds: client name, email, line items, due date Auto-calculate totals, support for tax rate toggle Brand the invoice with business name and optional logo upload Send invoice directly via email from the app Track status: Draft, Sent, Viewed, Paid, Overdue Automatic overdue reminders sent to client at 1 day, 3 days, 7 days past due Dashboard widget showing total outstanding invoices Recurring invoice option for retainer clients TAX ESTIMATOR: Automatically calculates estimated quarterly self-employment tax (15.3% SE tax + federal income tax based on bracket) from net income in real time Displays "Set aside this much" recommendation — a dollar amount to save for taxes Quarterly deadline countdown with push/email reminders 14 days and 3 days before: Jan 15, Apr 15, Jun 15, Sep 15 Annual tax summary: total income, total deductible expenses by Schedule C category, estimated tax owed "Tax Ready" export: formatted PDF for handing to a CPA AI FINANCIAL INSIGHTS (Pro tier): Monthly AI-generated plain-English financial summary (e.g. "October was your best month — $4,200 profit. Your biggest expense was software at $340. You have 2 unpaid invoices totaling $1,800 — chase those.") Spending anomaly detection: flags when a category spikes vs. prior months Income trend analysis: "Your income has grown 18% over the last 3 months" Personalized tips based on user's actual data "Ask Solvent" chat box: user can type questions like "Can I deduct my laptop?" and get plain-English answers GOAL TRACKER (Pro tier): Set financial goals: save $X by date, hit $X in monthly revenue, pay off $X in debt Visual progress bar with projected completion date Milestone celebrations with encouraging messages ACCOUNTANT EXPORT (Pro tier): One-click export of full year: income, expenses by category, invoices, tax summary Formats: PDF report + CSV spreadsheet Formatted specifically to hand to a CPA with zero additional prep ALERTS & NOTIFICATIONS: Low cash warning (user sets their own threshold) Invoice overdue nudge Unusual spending spike alert Tax deadline reminders "You haven't logged expenses in 7 days" nudge All alerts via in-app notification center + email 💳 MONETIZATION — STRIPE SUBSCRIPTION BILLING: Three tiers: Free — $0/month: 1 bank account connection, up to 50 transactions/month, basic dashboard, manual entry only, no invoicing, no tax estimator Solo — $12/month: Unlimited transactions, unlimited bank connections, full invoice generator, tax estimator, expense categorization, CSV export, email alerts Pro — $29/month: Everything in Solo + AI financial insights, Ask Solvent chat, goal tracker, accountant export PDF, priority support Annual billing at 20% discount for Solo and Pro. 14-day free trial on Solo and Pro tiers — no credit card required to start trial. Stripe Billing for all subscription management, upgrades, downgrades, cancellations. In-app upgrade prompts when a Free user hits a limit (e.g. "You've hit 50 transactions — upgrade to Solo to keep going"). 🌐 MARKETING LANDING PAGE (build as part of the app at the root URL): Hero section: large bold headline "It solves your problems." with subheadline "The CFO you can't afford — for $12/month." Animated dashboard mockup or screenshot 3 pain point sections: "Stop guessing your profit", "Stop panicking at tax time", "Stop chasing unpaid invoices" Feature highlights with icons Pricing section showing all 3 tiers Social proof section (placeholder testimonials from solopreneurs) FAQ section CTA throughout: "Start Free — No Credit Card Needed" Clean nav: Logo, Features, Pricing, Login, Get Started button 🎨 DESIGN SYSTEM: Primary color: #0A1628 (deep navy) Accent color: #00E676 (electric green) Surface/card color: #FFFFFF with subtle #F4F6FA background Danger/alert: #FF5252 Warning: #FFD740 Typography: Inter font family — Bold for numbers and headings, Regular for body Border radius: 12px on cards, 8px on buttons Shadows: soft, subtle (no harsh drop shadows) Icons: Lucide or Heroicons Tone of copy: confident, direct, warm — like a brilliant friend who happens to know finance Empty states: always encouraging, never blank Loading states: skeleton loaders, no spinners Mobile-first, fully responsive on all screen sizes Dark mode support 🛠️ TECH STACK: Frontend: Next.js 14 (App Router) + Tailwind CSS Backend: Node.js + Express API routes Database: PostgreSQL via Supabase Auth: Supabase Auth — email/password + Google OAuth, magic link option Bank connections: Plaid API (read-only transaction sync) Payments & subscriptions: Stripe Billing + Stripe Customer Portal Email: Resend or SendGrid for invoice emails and alerts AI features: OpenAI API (GPT-4o) for insights and Ask Solvent chat File storage: Supabase Storage (receipt photos, invoice PDFs) Deployment: Vercel (frontend + API) + Supabase (database + auth + storage) Analytics: Posthog for product analytics 🚀 BUILD ORDER: Database schema and Supabase setup Auth (signup, login, Google OAuth) Onboarding wizard Dashboard with financial health score Manual income/expense entry and categorization Plaid bank sync Invoice generator and email sending Tax estimator and quarterly reminders Stripe subscription billing and tier gating Marketing landing page AI insights and Ask Solvent chat Goal tracker and accountant export Dark mode, polish, animations Build the full app end to end. Use real API integrations, not mocks. Every feature described above should be functional. This is a production-ready SaaS product.