FamLedger Complete Guide

🔄 9.2 Recurring Transactions and Automations

Stop entering the same transactions by hand every month! For utility bills, subscriptions, rent, or salaries, set a recurring rule:

1. In Settings > Recurring transactions, press "+".
2. Fill in the details (amount, description, account, and category).
3. Set the frequency choosing from Weekly, Monthly, or Annual, the Start date and, if needed, the End date (opt.).
4. FamLedger records the transactions automatically when you open the app (and right after you save the rule), including the ones already due since the start date.

If you edit a rule, the change applies only to future transactions: the ones already recorded stay as they are.

The recurring transactions screen

🔒 9.3 Security and Privacy (Password, Biometrics & Obfuscation)

FamLedger offers three tools to protect your data when you use the app in public or leave your phone unattended:

• 🔒 Unlock password: If enabled, it protects access to the application by requesting the password at launch. If you enter a wrong password, the hint you configured is shown from the very first wrong attempt. The password rules are in Chapter 1.
• 👆 Fingerprint unlock: Use your fingerprint to unlock the app (on the few phones with secure face recognition, your face too). To turn it on you must first have set the app password, have a fingerprint enrolled on the phone, and confirm your password. The password always remains valid as an alternative. On Android 11 and later the unlock prompt also accepts the phone's PIN or pattern. If you change the fingerprints enrolled on the phone, the app asks you to sign in with your password and re-enable it. Changing or removing the app password also turns fingerprint unlock off: turn it on again.
• 🕶️ Obfuscate amounts (Privacy): With this switch on, figures are hidden throughout the app and replaced with discreet dots (e.g. ••• $): perfect when opening the app on public transit or around other people! Tapping an amount does not reveal it: to see the figures again, turn the switch off.

The security settings screen

💱 9.4 Profile, People, and Local Preferences

• Your name: Change your name at any time.
• People & Family: Add or delete the people you split expenses with (they can't be edited) and, if you like, create or join a family. You can't delete a person who is the payer of some transaction or has open debts. See Chapter 5 and Chapter 11.
• Language, currency and date: Choose the language from the 6 available (Italian, English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese) or System, to use the phone's language, the currency and the Date format. After you confirm a language change the app restarts; for best results, close and reopen it manually.
• App theme: Choose between System, Light and Dark.

FamLedger uses a single base currency for the whole app. When you change it, the Currency exchange dialog asks whether to convert the amounts already recorded: with Convert they are recalculated at the exchange rate, with Keep they stay the same (1:1). If you are in a family the currency is shared with the other members and cannot be changed while you belong to it.

🔔 9.5 Notifications

In Settings > Notifications you decide which alerts to receive. They are all optional; on Android 13 and later the phone also asks for permission to show notifications:

• Daily transaction reminder (off at first): a reminder at the time you choose in Reminder time, to enter the day's transactions.
• Anomaly alerts (off at first): notifies you when you save a new expense by hand that is above its category's average of the last 6 months by more than the low threshold (Chapter 8).
• Maturity reminders (on at first): notifies you 7 days before and on the day an investment matures.
• Update prices in the background (on at first): about every 12 hours, when online and the battery is not low, updates the quotes and records the portfolio value.

🧮 9.6 Monthly Budget and Category Budgets

A budget is the spending cap you give yourself. FamLedger has two kinds, which you can also use together:

• Monthly budget: a single amount for all the month's expenses. You set it in Settings > Monthly budget.
• Category budgets: a cap for each expense category (e.g. €400 for Food). You set them in Settings > Category budgets.

Adding a category budget:

1. Open Category budgets and use the arrows to choose the month.
2. Tap the "+" button (Add budget), choose the category and write the amount. Only expense categories can be used, not system ones (including Other).
3. If you want what you don't spend to be added to the following month, turn on Carry over the remainder to next month: on the budget card you will see it as Carry-over. It also works the other way: if you overspend, the difference is taken off the next month.
4. The note "Applies from this month onward" reminds you that the budget repeats every month until you stop it. To stop it, open the budget with the pencil and tap Stop from this month.

For each budget the app shows how much you spent out of what is available: it counts the gross expenses of that exact category, without its subcategories. From 80% it warns you that you are getting close to the limit, and at 100% Budget exceeded appears. The warnings also appear in Overview.

"Category budgets" with at least one budget, the progress bar and "Carry-over"

💾 10.2 Backup, Restore and Migration (JSON/CSV)

Since FamLedger keeps the data on your phone, making backups is crucial. If you change phones or format the device, you will need this file to avoid losing your financial history. You find it in the Other menu, under Data management.

Each card has two buttons:

• Full backup (JSON): Create backup creates a file with all the app's data, to save on Google Drive, send via email, or keep on your computer. With Restore you restore the data from a file created earlier.
• Export/import transactions (CSV): with Export and Import you export or import the list of transactions in a format compatible with Excel or Google Sheets. The CSV is meant for reading and editing your transactions in a spreadsheet, but it does not replace the backup: it does not keep the link between the two halves of a transfer, account sharing or debt shares. To save everything, use the Full backup (JSON). The file is in the app's language: in English it uses a comma as separator and a dot for decimals; in Italian and the other European languages it uses a semicolon and a comma for decimals. Dates are always in DD/MM/YYYY format. Import detects the format by itself. Importing a CSV adds the transactions to the ones you already have and creates any missing accounts and people; it does not check for duplicates, so don't import the same file twice.

The backup and import/export screen

✅ 11.1 Before you start

• The phones must be connected to the same Wi-Fi network and have compatible versions of the app. If "App update needed" appears, update FamLedger on both phones.
• Everyone must use the same base currency. The family uses the currency of whoever creates it, and it can't be changed while you are in the family.
• The app asks for the "Allow local network access" permission: it is used only to find your family's phones on your Wi-Fi. Tap Continue and then Allow in the phone's dialog, which mentions "Nearby devices" or "Local network" depending on the Android version. If you choose Not now, sync stays off ("Sync disabled") until you grant the permission in the phone's settings. On Android 12 or earlier this permission is not needed.
• Whoever joins must allow the camera, which is used only to read the invite QR code.

If the permission is missing, the Family screen shows "Sync disabled" with "Open settings"

🏠 11.2 Creating the family

Only one person does this, on their own phone:

1. Go to Settings > People & Family and tap Create or join. If you hid that card, use the Family row (with "Create or join" under it).
2. Tap Create family.
3. Write the Family name and check Your name: it is how the other members will see your phone.
4. Tap Create.
5. The app immediately offers to create an account for everyone's expenses: "Create a joint account for household expenses?". The suggested name is Household expenses. Tap Create, or Skip if you prefer to do it later.
6. Right after that, the "Which accounts do you want to share?" panel opens, only once: tick the accounts to share and tap Save, or Skip.

The Family screen before creating a family, with "Create family" and "Join family"

The "Create family" dialog filled in

The "Create a joint account for household expenses?" dialog

📷 11.3 Inviting a member and joining

You need both phones, close to each other and on the same Wi-Fi.

On the phone of whoever invites

1. Go to Settings > People & Family > Manage family.
2. Tap Invite member: a QR code appears with "Expires in …". The code works only once. Keep the screen open.

On the phone of whoever joins

1. Go to Settings > People & Family, tap Create or join (or the Family row, if you hid the card) and then Join family.
2. Tap Scan QR and frame the code shown on the other phone.
3. Check Your name and tap Join. "Waiting for approval on the other phone…" appears: keep the screen open.

Back on the phone of whoever invites

1. The Join request appears: tap Allow (or Decline). If you don't answer within 2 minutes, the request is declined automatically.
2. On the joining phone "You joined the family!" appears: tap Done. After the first sync, the "Which accounts do you want to share?" panel opens here too, only once.

The invite is valid for 10 minutes. Keep FamLedger in the foreground on the inviting phone: if the app goes to the background, the invite closes. If the invite has expired or closed, or the request was declined, tap New invite and repeat.

"Invite member" with the QR code and "Expires in …"

"Join family" with "Scan QR"

"Waiting for approval on the other phone…"

"Join request" with "Allow" and "Decline"

👥 11.4 People & Family: members and guests

After creating the family, People & Family is split into two groups:

• Family: the list of members (your phone is marked "This phone"), with the Sync now, Who owes whom and Manage family buttons.
• Friends & others: the guests, that is, people who don't use FamLedger with you. You add them from the New person field.

Guests stay only on the phone that created them. If you split an expense on a shared account with a guest, the app tells you: "… is a guest: the family will only see "Others"". The other members see the share, but not the name.

If you had already added a person who then joined the family, you can merge the two with Link to a family member, which you find in Sync now > Edit, in the People section: their debts will be shown under that member in "Who owes whom", on every phone. The app also suggests it by itself in the sync panel ("Is … on FamLedger?"). When it links a person automatically, the app tells you with a message ("Linked … to …") that has an Undo button.

The Family screen with the two members, "This phone" and "Last sync"

People & Family with the "Family" and "Friends & others" groups

🤝 11.5 Sharing an account

Joining a family does not share anything automatically: you decide, account by account. When you create a new account in Settings > Manage accounts, the Sharing field offers:

• Personal: the account stays on your phone only.
• Family, in two ways:
  • Visible to the family: only you record transactions on it; the others can see it. On their phone it shows "View only".
  • Joint account: every family member can record transactions on it. It is the right account for household expenses.

An account you already have is shared from the sync panel: in Settings > People & Family tap Sync now, then Edit and, in the What section, tick the account. The app asks "Also share past transactions?". With Yes, share them the family also receives the history; with Only from now on it receives only new transactions. Tap Sync to save your choice. (The Sync button on the Overview row, instead, starts syncing right away and does not open the panel.)

In What an account may show "Was the joint account": it was the family's joint account. Tick it to share it again, instead of creating a new one.

The "Also share past transactions?" dialog

In Overview, accounts are grouped into My accounts, Shared with the family and Other people's.

Expenses on a joint account

On a joint account the money is already the family's: an expense does not create debts between members. If you turn on Shared expense, you can split it only with guests.

A transaction on the joint account with "Shared expense" on, "Payer" and the note "split it only with guests"

Stopping sharing

Only the owner can stop sharing an account. In Settings > People & Family tap Sync now, then Edit, untick the account in What, confirm with Stop sharing and tap Sync. (The Sharing field in Manage accounts is there only for new accounts.) From then on changes are no longer sent; the data already sent stays on your family's phones. On the others' phones the account shows as No longer shared, is no longer counted in any total, and whoever had received it can remove it with Remove from this phone. The button is there only for an account received from another member and no longer shared. First any open debts linked to that account must be settled and your own transactions not yet sent must be synced; then the app asks for confirmation and reminds you that the account and its transactions are removed from your phone only, while nothing changes on the owner's phone.

🔄 11.6 Syncing

With the app open and visible on both phones, FamLedger syncs by itself: a few seconds after opening (about 20) and about a minute after your last change. There is no periodic background sync. You can still start it whenever you want.

The row in Overview

In Overview, anyone in a family sees a row that says where sync stands (for example "Last sync with …") and, when needed, a button. The row itself cannot be tapped: use the button.

• Sync and Retry: start a sync with everyone right away, without opening the panel.
• Choose (there are choices to complete): opens the "Sync now" panel already in edit mode.
• Fix (there are transfers to fix): opens the Sync notices.
• Invite: opens Manage family, where you find Invite member.
• Allow (the local network access permission is missing): opens the app's settings on the phone.

The sync icon in the top bar of Overview opens Manage family.

The "Sync now" panel

1. Tap Sync now in People & Family (or in Manage family): the panel opens with a summary ("With everyone · …"). Tap Sync to start, or Edit to choose With whom and What. On the Overview row, instead, the Sync button starts a sync with everyone right away, and Choose opens the panel already in edit mode.
2. In With whom choose Everyone or a single person (choosing a single person applies to that one time only).
3. In What you see the shared accounts, goals and budgets. Here you can also decide to share a new account. An account's recurrences and investments travel with it.
4. Tap Sync and wait for the Result: for each member you read "ok" or the reason for the problem, with Retry.

The "Sync now" panel with "With whom" and "What"

💶 11.7 Who owes whom

When a member pays an expense and splits it with another member (with Shared expense, as in Chapter 5), the debt appears on both phones. You find it in People & Family > Who owes whom and in the Debt situation in Overview.

For each pair of members the app shows the net balance: if you owe €40 and the other owes you €15, you see "You owe … €25.00", with the single expenses listed below.

"Who owes whom" with an open debt

How a debt is closed

The rule is simple: expenses are recorded by whoever paid, and whoever receives the money confirms.

1. Whoever owes the money, after paying, taps I already paid (or I already paid everything), chooses which account they paid from (or Don't record it, if they do not want a transaction created) and taps Send. The row becomes "Marked as paid on … · awaiting confirmation". If they made a mistake, they can tap Cancel notice.
2. Whoever is to receive it, after syncing, reads "… says they paid you …" and answers:
   • Mark as settled: they choose which account they received the money on ("Which account do you receive it on?") and tap Mark as settled. If in the list they choose Don't record it instead of an account, they close the debt without creating a transaction.
   • Not received yet: the debt stays open and the other person is told.
3. The debt moves to Settled in the last 90 days on both phones.

In all these windows Don't record it is one of the choices in the list, together with the accounts: the confirm button turns on only after you choose an account or Don't record it.

On the side of who owes: after "I already paid" the row becomes "Marked as paid on … · awaiting confirmation"

"Stella says they paid you" with the two answers "Not received yet" and "Mark as settled"

If the receiver settles first

Whoever is to receive the money can tap Mark as settled without waiting for the notice. In that case whoever owed the money finds, in Overview and on the transaction's row, the Record your payment reminder: they choose which account they paid from, or Don't record it, and tap Record. The reminder appears only once.

Some debts others owe you are stored on the other member's phone (for example, they entered the expense you paid): your phone cannot close them by itself. For those, the person's card shows Confirm you received, with the amount. Tap it after you have received the money: the other phone will mark the debts as settled at the next sync. For debts stored on your own phone, Mark as settled remains; both buttons can appear in the same card.

↔️ 11.8 Transfers with a joint account

When you move money from your personal account to a joint account, the transfer has two halves: the one on your personal account, which exists only on your phone, and the one on the joint account, which all members see and can edit.

If another member edits or deletes the half on the joint account, the app warns them ("Transfer with another member"): your half stays as it is, because FamLedger never changes a transaction on your personal account by itself. You decide.

The "Transfer with another member" dialog seen by whoever edits the half on the joint account

How to fix your half

After syncing, the app tells you in two places:

• In Overview, the sync row shows "1 transfer to fix" with the Fix button, which opens the notices.
• In Transactions, the row of your half shows Transfer to fix with the Fix button. (Available from version 1.2.4.)

When you tap Fix the app explains what will happen and offers the right correction:

• Align my half: your half takes the amount and date of the other half.
• Delete my half: if the other half no longer exists, yours is deleted too.

After the correction the notice disappears from every screen. Two halves with the same amount on the same day are considered equal: no notice appears.

Overview with "1 transfer to fix" and "Fix"

🔔 11.9 Notices, simultaneous edits and restore

In People & Family > Manage family, when there are notices, you will see the Sync notices row (with a badge for new ones): it is the list of what the app had to decide or tell you during syncs. If a transfer needs fixing, the Fix button on the sync row in Overview also takes you there. The ones that need you to act are at the top. On each notice, the X (Dismiss) removes it; the Clear all icon at the top removes them all after a confirmation.

Only two notices have a button: "Change not applied" (Restore) and "Transfer to fix" (Align my half or Delete my half). All the others only have the X to remove them.

"Sync notices" with a "Transfer to fix" notice and the "Align my half" button

If you edit the same thing at the same time

If you are editing a transaction and meanwhile another member changes it, when you save you see Changed by someone else, with three choices: Overwrite (your version applies), Reload (you see their version) or Discard my changes. If the other member deleted it, you see "Deleted meanwhile".

Who did what

Opening a transaction of a shared account, you read who recorded it and who changed it: "Added by …", "Modified by …".

🚪 11.10 Leaving the family, removing a member, backup

• Leave family (at the bottom of Manage family): your phone stops syncing. All data stays on your phone, including what you received from the others, but accounts, goals and budgets are no longer shared. What you had already sent stays on the other members' phones, who, if they are reached, receive the "Member left" notice.
• Remove member: any member can remove another member, with the Remove member icon next to their name in Manage family. That phone stops syncing with the family and can join again only with a new invite, which any member can send and approve. The removed phone shows the notice "This phone was removed from the family and no longer syncs." with the Leave family button, and the sync row in Overview disappears.
• Backup (PRO feature): you can keep making and restoring backups. In a family the restore asks for confirmation and brings back only your personal data; the shared data stays the family's, as explained in section 10.2.
• The backup does not contain the family: after a restore on a new phone, or after clearing the data, a member has to invite you again to rejoin. If you rejoin with the same phone, they do not need to remove you first. After rejoining, at the first sync with each member the phone receives the family's data and sends nothing.
• "Delete all" and "Load sample data": if you are in a family, the confirmation warns that you will also leave the family and that the phone will also lose the data received from the others. Before deleting, the app runs the normal leave and, if it finds the other phones, tells them.
• Changing phone, or app data cleared from Android settings: the old phone stays in the family. First make a backup (requires PRO); restore it on the new phone and get invited again; then another member removes the old phone with Remove member. The Family screen reminds you with a card.

Debts with a member who left stay visible, with "(former member)" next to the name.

🔍 11.11 Which accounts to look at: Only mine, Mine + joint, All

In Overview and in Statistics, anyone in a family finds a selector with three choices:

• Only mine: your accounts, including the ones you made "Visible to the family", but not the joint accounts.
• Mine + joint: your accounts and the joint accounts.
• All: also the accounts the other members let you see.

Under the liquidity figure, a line reminds you what you are looking at ("Includes: your accounts only", "Includes: your accounts and shared ones", "Also includes other people's accounts"). The choice made in Overview also applies in Statistics. A transfer from your account to a joint account counts as an expense with "Only mine", and as an expense plus an income with "Mine + joint".

Overview with the sync row and the "Only mine / Mine + joint / All" selector

🛠️ 11.12 Common problems