Expense Tool iOS App

Information

Do you and your partner want to log how much you're spending for your household and merge the expenses entered on your individual devices?
Are you on holidays with friends and want to know how much you are spending? If you are sharing your expenses equally, do you need a tool to document your balances and debts to one another?
Do you want to know how much you're spending for your hobby, on your business trip, or any other expenses?

Use Expense Tool, create an expense set and start entering your data. Your expenses can be listed, shown on a map, exported by email, printed and transferred to another iOS device. And if more than one person is part of an expense set, you get a summary showing the total, the average and the balance of the shared expenses.

Download on the App Store [ch | de | it].

Features

Define Expense Sets with custom settings
Add expenses and optionally attach receipts, photos and locations
Fast data capture: select what you've already entered
List your expenses: all, by month or within a custom timeframe
Summary of shared expenses: Total, Average, Balance
Overview of all expense sets
Export your data as email (html, text, csv)
Printing
Data Exchange between iOS devices
Geocoding and map integration
Simple currency calculator
iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad
Languages: English, German, Italian, French, Spanish

Frequently Asked Questions

General

What is Expense Tool?

Expense Tool is a simple, yet powerful iOS Application to collect and organize your own and shared expenses.

What can I use it for?

You can use Expense Tool to collect information about your expenses.
Let's assume two situations:

You want to know how much you're spending for your hobby:
Create an Expense Set 'Hobby' and start entering all expenses for it. Then you see the total you spent (overall, by month - or within a custom timeframe you choose). And of course you can see the location of your expeneses on a map, and you can export the list.

You're going on holidays with two friends:
Create an Expense Set 'Holidays' and start entering all expenses for it. Then you see the total each one of you spent, the overall total and average. And if you want to share your expenses equally, you don't need to calculate anything - Expense Tool will show the balance for everyone's share. And of course you can see the location of your expenses on a map, or can export the list and summary.

What doesn't Expense Tool do?

Expense Tool is what it's name says. In short: You can manage expenses in lists (Expense Sets).

The App is not intended for purposes such as: Accounting, Budget, Income, etc.

Where is it available?

Expense Tool is available on the App Store.

What are the requirements?

You need an iOS device (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) running iOS 3.1 or newer.

Lite-Version: Expense Tool LE

Features: What's the difference?

Number of expense sets
Lite version: 5, Full version: unlimited
Number of expenses per expense set
Lite version: 20, Full version: unlimited

The following features are only available in the Full version of Expense Tool:

Export of data as CSV
Overview of all expense sets
Data Exchange between iOS devices

Why a Lite-Version?

If you'd like to get to know Expense Tool, you can download the Lite version Expense Tool LE for free. The smaller feature set is enough to manage a couple of smaller expense sets.

If you like the iOS app and intend to use it often, to add more expenses and sets, then get the Full version of Expense Tool.

Automatic Data migration (iOS 5, iCloud)

Requirements: Expense Tool in Version 1.7.0 or newer, iOS 5 and an enabled iCloud account.

The data migration works automatically.

Before you're going to migrate your data, make sure that you've launched (and quit using the Home-button) the Lite-Version (1.7.0 or newer) at least once before the first launch of the Full Version.
The Lite-Version (1.7.0 or newer) saves your data in a local iCloud-Container. This folder is only available on your device, it is not being transferred to the iCloud.
When you first launch the Full Version (1.7.0 or newer) it will look for the Transfer-data of the Lite-Version, copying it if available. The Transfer-Folder is always being removed after that.

Please note: The data migration occurs only once. If you're still entering data in the Lite-Version, it won't be merged into the Full Version. If you're launching the Full Version before you've updatet (and launched / quitted) the Lite-Version (1.7.0 or newer), or if the Lite-Version (1.7.0 or newer) has never been launched, your data can not be migrated using the local iCloud-Container.

Manual Data migration (official answer)

Unfortunately, and because the iOS Apps are living in Sandboxes, a data migration from Expense Tool LE to the full version Expense Tool is not possible.

If you're trying the Lite version, and you like the App, you best load the full version of Expense Tool, before you're going to enter up to 100 expenses (entered in the Lite version) again in the full version...

Manual Data migration (inofficial answer)

There are tools available, which let you read user-data of iOS devices - and write them back. To mention one tool: iExplorer, which you can get here: http://www.macroplant.com/iexplorer/

This allows to transfer the data of the lite-version to the full version.
Note: You can't merge data entered in both versions. You can only copy the data of the Lite version into the Full version.

Navigate to: Apps - ExpenseToolLE - Documents
Copy the database file 'ExpenseTool.sqlite' to your desktop - this database-file contains all your data entered in the Lite version, including receipts and photos.
Navigate to: Apps - ExpenseTool - Documents
Copy the database-file into this directory.
Note: If you overwrite the existing file, you're deleting all the data it contains.

Expense Sets

What is an Expense Set?

An Expense Set defines a Liste, into which you can enter data later.
You can use it to group the expenses you're going to enter.

An example with multiple Expense Sets, or with different 'Topics', for which you're intending to keep an eye on their expenses:

Group: Holidays, Expense Sets: Holidays in A, Holidays in B, Holidays in C
Group: Private, Expense Sets: Household, Movies/Cinema, My Hobby

Note: Think about how you're going to organize your lists (Expense Sets).
If you're using the data exchange feature: You can use the data exchange within an Expense Set, but you can't exchange all your expense sets at once.
Reason: You'd like to exchange 'Holidays in A' with your partner, but you don't want to exchange the expenses in the Expense Sets 'My Hobby' and 'Business Trip Expenses'.

How to create an Expense Set?

Tap the + button in the Expense Sets listing.
Enter or choose the Group of the new Expense Set.
Enter the Name and optionally a Description.
Choose the Currency by selecting a country in the list.
When you're going to enter expenses later, and you need to record more information other than 'Name' and 'Notes' (e.g. 'Paid with'), you can enter the caption of this Additional Field.
Make your choice in the settings.
What do you want to attach to the expenses in this Set? Receipt, Photo and/or Location.
Save the new Expense Set.

How to edit an Expense Set?

Tap the Edit button in the Expense Sets listing.
Change the Group, Name, Description and/or Currency of the Expense Set.
If you need to record more information other than 'Name' and 'Notes' for the expenses (e.g. 'Paid with'), you can enter the caption of this Additional Field.
Adjust the settings: Dis/Enable the attachments of Receipt, Photo and/or Location.
Tap Done to save the changes.

What happens if the settings are being changed?

Dis/Enabling Receipt, Photo or Location does not change Expenses already entered. No data is being deleted.

The settings only affect the ability of displaying the choosen attachments for existing and new Expenses.

How to delete an Expense Set?

In the Expense Set listing, select Edit, then push the - button left to the Expense Set you want to delete. Confirm the deletion by taping on Delete.

Note:
This immediately deletes the Expense Set and all Expenses, including their attachments. There is no possibility to restore the data.

Expenses

How to add an Expense?

Navigate to the appropriate Expense Set. Change the display to List.
Tap the + button in the Expenses listing.
Enter or choose the Paid By of the new Expense.
Enter or choose the Name of the Expense.
Note:
It's recommended to enter a general Name, such as 'Dinner'. If you're adding expenses later, you can choose the Expense-Name's you've already entered. So the choice 'Dinner' will be a better choice to re-select than 'Dinner at Restaurant XY in City AB'.
Furthermore, the summary-details will split the Expenses by this Name.
If you want to remember more details to this expense later (e.g. name of the restaurant), add a Note.
Change the Date and Time if required
Enter the Amount of the Expense.
Note:
If you're adding an Expense in a foreign currency, you can use the Foreign Currency Converter.
Optionally (and according to your Expense Set - Settings), attach Receipt and/or Picture.
If Location is enabled for the Expense Set, the current location will be set for the new Expense.
Note:
If you're adding an Expense and are not in the corresponding location, you can Edit or Delete the Location.
Save the new Expense.

How to edit an Expense?

Navigate to the Expense Set. Change the display to List.
Select the Expense and tap Edit on its detail view.
Change the Paid By, Name, Note, Date and Time, Amount or Attachments.
How to edit Receipt, Photo and Location is described in the next couple of answers.
Tap Done to save the changes.

How to enter a foreign currency amount?

When you're editing the Amount:

If you already entered a foreign currency in another Expense, you can choose the Foreign Currency and Exchange Rate you already entered by selecting it. This will show the Converter and pre-fill the values.

Otherwise, you can tap on Show Converter.

Select the foreign currency from the list of countries.
Enter the Amount in the foreign currency.
Edit the Exchange Rate.
Note: As a default, it is 1.
Change it to whatever Exchange Rate you received.

The simple converter will show you the result: Amount * Exchange Rate.
Navigate back with the Edit Amount-button, and the calculated value will be used (if it isn't empty).

How to add/edit/delete Receipt or Photo?

Navigate to the Expense and tap Edit

To Delete the Receipt or Photo, tap the delete button on the left. Confirm with the Delete-button.

To Add a Receipt or Photo, tap on Add Receipt or Add Photo.

Note:
If your device has a camera, you can either take a picture or choose an existing one. If your device doesn't have a camera, you can only add existing photos from your library.

How to add/edit/delete the Location?

If you add an Expense, the current location is added. If you need to edit the location because you're not in the location where the Expense took place, or if you want to delete the location: Navigate to the Expense and tap Edit

To Delete the Location, tap the delete button on the left. Confirm with the Delete-button.

To Edit the Location, tap on the Location. You have several ways to change the Location:

Change Name, Latitude, Longitude manually.
To use the current location: Tap on the lookup-button next to 'Current Location'.
This will add the coordinates of the current location, and reverse-lookup the location name.
To search for a location: Enter a Location Name, then tap on the lookup-button-button next to it.
This will lookup the coordinates using forward geocoding with the open source CloudMade API.
Note: For more information or how to get best search results, refer to CloudMade.
Recommended is to just enter the name of the city, and then move the pin manually, as described in the next step.
Especially after searching for a location, you can adjust the location on a map.
Tap on Edit on map. The pin shows the current position. Tap and hold it, then drag it to the position you want it to be.

How to delete an Expense?

Navigate to the Expense and tap the delete button at the bottom. You can also delete an Expense in the List view by simply swiping through it and tapping Delete.

Note:
This immediately deletes the Expense, including its attachments. There is no possibility to restore the data.

List Organisation

How can the List and Summary be organized?

Tap the List button on the bottom left in the List or Summary view.
Select your choice:

List all: This will list all expenses.
List by month: This will list the expenses by month. You can navigate through the months using the arrows in the grey navigation bar at the top.
List timeframe: This will list all expenses in the from - until range you selected.

Summary

How to show the summary?

Navigate to the Expense Set. On the bottom, there is a segmented control. Tap on summary.

How to exclude a person?

Let's assume, there are three people in your Expense Set. You're showing the summary for one month. But one of the three people hasn't been there, so he/she should be excluded from the balance - you don't want him/her to pay for not being there.

In the case where one of the persons has a total of 0, you can tap the Edit-button. Then tap the --button in front of the person you want to exclude, confirm with Delete. Finish by tapping Done.

Note:
This will only temporarily exclude the person. If you switch to the list and back again to the summary, or go back and forth a month, all persons will show again.

What is shown in the Detail View?

The summary is split by Expense-Names. For Example, you can see how many expenses and their total you spent for 'Food'.

Note:
It's recommended to enter a general Name for an Expense name, such as 'Food'. Any expenses with the same Name are grouped in the detail view. They are also quickly re-selectable for new expenses.
See also explanations in 'Add Expenses'.

Data Exchange

Why Data Exchange and not Synchronisation?

Expense Tool is simple, yet powerful. And such is it's Data Exchange.
Data Exchange allows to compare all Expenses in an Expense Set from an iOS Device with another Device. Not existing Expenses of the other Device will be transferred and added. Expenses that are modified on one Device will be changed on the other Device.

It is not a synchronisation, because no expenses are going to be deleted. Furthermore, not all Expense Sets are being transferred, only the ones whose expenses you really want to exchange.
Most important: Data is only sent from Device to Device - there are no external servers on the internet involved, where your data needs to be stored.

When is Data Exchange a useful feature?

Two Examples:

Two people live together. Both create an Expense Set 'Household'. To merge their data, both call the Data Exchange Action in their Expense Set. After choosing the Device of the other person, their data will be exchanged. So they have the expenses of the other person on the own device.

Expenses, which are entered on the iPhone while not being at home can be transferred to the iPad at home. This of course works as well if there is more than one person (or more than one iPhone) and one iPad used by several people.

What are the requirements?

In order to use the Data Exchange Feature, it obviously requires two iOS devices. Expense Tool needs to be installed on both devices involved.

Transfer using Bluetooth: Both devices have to support Bluetooth (so it's not possible with first generation iPhone and iPod Touch).

Transfer using Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi needs to be enabled on both devices. And the two devices have to be connected to the same network.

Finally, in the Settings of Expense Tool, both devices need to be configured to use the same data transfer method (Wi-Fi / Bluetooth).

What are the settings used for?

To successfully use the Data Exchange feature, both devices need to be configured to use the same data transfer method Online (Wi-Fi) and/or Nearby (Bluetooth). This choice of names are defined by Apple in the dialog which lets you choose the data transfer method.

If both options are enabled, you always have to choose between the two later. If you always and only want to transfer using Bluetooth, you can disable Online (Wi-Fi). Then this choice won't appear any more.

Please note the requirements described in the previous question.

How does the Data Exchange work?

The short answer for the question Why doesn't the second device show up? is: You need to select Data Exchange on both devices.

On both iOS devices:

Navigate to the appropriate Expense Set.
Note: If the Expense Set doesn't yet exist on one device, you have to create it before exchanging data. It's recommended to use the same name for the Expense Sets on both devices. It is well possible to transfer data from an Expense Set 'Household' to an Expense Set 'Holidays'.
Tap the Button Actions and choose Data Exchange.
Note: If your list is set to show only a month or a custom timeframe, only those expenses are going to be sent to the other device in the next steps. You'll receive expenses within the timeframe selected on the other device.
If both Online (Wi-Fi) and Nearby (Bluetooth) are enabled in the Settings, choose the same transfer method on both devices. Is only one option enabled in the Settings, you won't see this choice.
Other devices found are appearing in the list. On one device: Choose the other device. The other device then needs to accept the connection.
Note: Searching for other devices and connecting to another device can take 30-40 seconds each. Please be patient...
Only one device can establish a connection to another. If you try to do this on both devices at the same time, it won't work.
Once the connection is established successfully, the two devices are going to exchange their data of their current Expense Sets.
Note: This Exchange can take quite a while depending on the chosen data transfer method and the amount of data (Number of expenses, Receipts, Photos).
If Expenses need to be added or changed on one device, a List will be shown. Should you not want to accept a new or modified expense, you can ignore it by tapping the --button and confirming with Delete.
Note: Double-check if the data is going to be transferred from the correct device and Expense Set into the Expense Set where you called the Data Exchange. This information is on the very top of the list. If the names of the two Expense Sets are not the same, an Alert will appear, which you need to confirm.
In order to save the changes according to the List displayed, tap the button Save.
Note: If a lot of data is going to be saved (Number of Expenses, Receipts, Photos), this could take a while.
Finally, the list of expenses will show again. New and modified expenses of the other device are now included in the Expense Set of your device.

Expenses added with Version < 1.3.0

During the Update to Expense Tool 1.3.0 a unique key is added to all expenses. Should the same data already be on multiple devices (i.e. a new iPhone and Data restored with iTunes from another device), then the Data Exchange won't recognize those as being the same expenses, because they all received a different key during the update.

Hint: Delete the 'same expenses' on one device, and transfer them back from the other device with the Data Exchange. Now you have the same expenses with the same keys on both devices.

Exchange Data between different Expense Sets

It is possible to transfer Data from an Expense Set 'ABC' to an Expense Set 'XYZ' on another device. If the name of the Expense Set isn't the same, you have to confirm an Alert that's being displayed.

It is up to you to make sure the settings of the two Expense Sets are identical.
Example: if the currency is different in the two Expense Sets, an Expense of EUR 12 will be shown as CHF 12 on the other device. Only the number of the amount is being transferred, there is no currency-calculation during the data exchange.
Please also read the question: Expense Sets: What happens if the settings are being changed?

Why is there no cloud-synchronisation?

You decide, which Expense Sets of which devices you want to transfer. Data is sent only from device to device - so there are no external servers in the internet involved, where your data needs to be stored. No internet connection is required, e.g. while being on holidays in a foreign country.

Depending on the point of view, advantages of a cloud-synchronisation can also be disadvantages. The same applies to what is implemented in Expense Tool: Transfer from device to device.

For sure, the Data Exchange is such as Expense Tool itself: simple, yet powerful.

Data Management

How to export or print the data?

Navigate to the Expense Set and choose the list or summary view, or show an individual expense. Tap the actions button at the bottom right.
Select Send as Email or Print.

Note:
The data is sent unencrypted by Email, so be careful with sensitive or personal data.

Exporting a lot of data

Let's assume: you have entered 250 expenses in an expense set in the last four months. A receipt and photo is attached to each one. As you can imagine, this will easily result in raw data of > 50 MB. And if this raw data is being converted and worked up in order to be printed or sent as email, it may become even more - and the operation will certainly use a lot of memory.

If you try to print or send as email this whole list containing a lot of data at once, your device is likely running out of memory. Remember, it's a mobile device - and not a computer with several GB of memory...

Hint:
Try to limit the data. It's recommended to only print or send as email the monthly list instead of the list of all expenses.

What format is used for export?

The export will send a HTML or plain text Email. You can configure this in the settings. Navigate to the list of Expense Sets, and tap the Settings button to change your preferred format.

You can optionally attach the photos/receipts to the list of expenses, as well as a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file. Again: configure this in the settings.
If you just send a single expense, photo/receipt is always attached.

The CSV file is encoded as UTF8, the values separated by semicolon. If your software doesn't display the data properly, make sure you use these settings to open or import the CSV file.

How to open the CSV file?

General
The CSV file is encoded as UTF8, the values separated by semicolon. If your software doesn't display the data properly, make sure you use these settings to open or import the CSV file.

OpenOffice
Right-Click on the CSV file and open it with OpenOffice. An Assistant is shown. Set the Encoding to UTF8 and the Delimiter to Semicolon. If the expenses show correct in the Preview, confirm with OK.

Excel
Launch Excel and open a new, empty Spreadsheet. Open the Convert Text Assistant in the Menu Data -> From Text. Set the source-type of the CSV file to Delimited (e.g. Comma or Semicolon), and the Source 65001: UTF8. In the next step, set the Delimiter to Semicolon. Finish the steps of the Assistant. Now the data of your CSV file is available in your spreadsheet.

Can you restore data?

No. If you delete an Expense or an Expense Set or otherwise loose your data it is gone.

It's recommended to make regular backups of important data by exporting your lists, and of course backup your device with iTunes.

Backup / Restore (inofficial answer)

There are tools available, which let you read user-data of iOS devices - and write them back. To mention one tool: iExplorer, which you can get here: http://www.macroplant.com/iexplorer/

This allows to backup and restore data manually.
Note: You can't merge data (e.g. if you deleted an Expense Set). You can only backup/restore the whole database.

Navigate to: Apps - ExpenseTool(LE) - Documents
Backup: Copy the database file 'ExpenseTool.sqlite' to your desktop - this database-file contains all your data entered, including receipts and photos.
Restore: Copy the database-file (which you've saved as a backup on your computer) into this directory.
Note: If you overwrite the existing file, you're deleting all the data it contains.