Fintola - Financial Analytics Backend

Fintola is a robust backend system designed for financial analytics, featuring a secure Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) architecture. It enables organizations to manage transactions, generate real-time financial insights through MongoDB aggregations, and maintain a strict administrative approval workflow for elevated privileges.

Live URL: https://fintola.onrender.com

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🔑 Demo Credentials

For testing purposes, you can use the following admin credentials to access restricted routes:

• Role: Admin
• Email: codingbudies@gmail.com
• Password: 12345678

Note: These credentials provide full access to user management, admin request approvals, and transaction CRUD operations.

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🚀 Features

• Authentication & Authorization: Secure JWT-based authentication with role-specific access (Viewer, Analyst, Admin).
• Admin Approval Workflow: Automated system where users can request Admin status, subject to approval/rejection by existing admins with integrated email notifications.
• Financial Insights: High-performance analytics including income/expense tracking, category breakdown, and trend analysis using MongoDB Aggregation Pipelines.
• Transaction Management: Full CRUD operations with soft-delete functionality and advanced filtering (category, type, date range).
• User Management: Centralized dashboard for Admins to manage user statuses (Active/Inactive) and update profiles.
• Standardized API: Unified response and error handling patterns for predictable client-side integration.

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🛠 Tech Stack

• Runtime: Node.js
• Framework: Express.js
• Database: MongoDB with Mongoose ODM
• Security: JWT (Authentication), Bcrypt (Password Hashing)
• Email: Custom Mailer Utility with dynamic templates

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📂 Project Structure

src/
 ├── config/        # Database and Environment configurations
 ├── controllers/   # Request handling logic
 ├── models/        # Mongoose schemas (User, Transaction, AdminRequest)
 ├── routes/        # API endpoint definitions
 ├── middlewares/   # Auth, RBAC, and Global Error handlers
 ├── utils/         # asyncHandler, ApiError, ApiResponse, Mailer
 ├── app.js         # Express app configuration
 └── index.js       # Server entry point

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🛡 API Reference

Authentication

Method	Endpoint	Access	Description
POST	/api/v1/auth/signup	Public	Register a new user
POST	/api/v1/auth/signin	Public	Login and receive JWT
POST	/api/v1/auth/signout	Authenticated	Invalidate session
GET	/api/v1/auth/me	Authenticated	Get current user profile

Admin Management

Method	Endpoint	Access	Description
GET	/api/v1/admin/	Admin	Fetch all users
GET	/api/v1/admin/requests	Admin	Get pending admin requests
PATCH	/api/v1/admin/requests/:id	Admin	Approve/Reject admin request
PATCH	/api/v1/admin/users/:id/status	Admin	Toggle user active/inactive
PATCH	/api/v1/admin/users/:id	Admin	Update user details

Transactions & Analytics

Method	Endpoint	Access	Description
POST	/api/v1/transactions/create	Admin	Create a new transaction
GET	/api/v1/transactions/view	All	View transactions (Paginated)
GET	/api/v1/transactions/insights	Admin/Analyst	Aggregated financial data
PATCH	/api/v1/transactions/:id	Admin	Update transaction details
DELETE	/api/v1/transactions/:id	Admin	delete transaction

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⚙️ Setup & Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/fintola.git
   cd fintola

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Environment Variables: Create a .env file in the root directory:

   PORT=8000
   MONGODB_URI=your_mongodb_uri
   JWT_SECRET=your_secret_key
   EMAIL_SERVICE=your_email_service
   EMAIL_USER=your_email
   EMAIL_PASS=your_email_password

4. Run the application:

   # Development mode
   npm run dev
   
   # Production mode
   npm start

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📝 Key Implementation Details

• Aggregation Framework: Insights are generated on-the-fly using MongoDB aggregate, ensuring data is always fresh and reducing storage overhead.
• Global Error Handling: A centralized middleware catches all errors passed via asyncHandler, returning a consistent ApiError format.
• Query Parser: Supports complex filtering by category, type, and date range, combined with efficient pagination (page, limit).

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📋 Assumptions

• Only an existing Admin can approve a user's request for Admin privileges.
• "Insights" contain sensitive data and are restricted from users with only the "Viewer" role.
• Deleted transactions are automatically excluded from all Insight calculations and standard view queries.

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