Frequently Asked Questions

Spendlyfi is a personal and business expense tracker. You log expenses, attach receipts, set monthly or yearly budgets, manage recurring charges, and view reports on where your money is going.

What makes it different: your data lives in your own Google Drive(in a private, app-only folder), not on our servers. We can't read it; you stay in control.

No. From the sign-in screen, choose Try without an account. This runs in local-only mode — your data stays in your browser and never leaves the device. It's a great way to explore before committing.

Yes. Spendlyfi is free to use. Because your data is stored in your own Google Drive, we don't pay for storage on your behalf and don't need to charge a subscription.

Open Spendlyfi in Chrome, Edge, or Brave on your Android phone, then:

1. Tap the ⋮ menu in the top-right corner.
2. Tap Install app (or Add to Home screen).
3. Confirm — an icon appears on your home screen.

Tapping the icon launches Spendlyfi full-screen, no browser bar, just like a native app. You may also see an install banner appear automatically after using the site a few times.

On iOS you must use Safari(Chrome and other browsers on iPhone can't install apps). Open Spendlyfi in Safari, then:

1. Tap the Share button (square with up-arrow) at the bottom of the screen.
2. Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen.
3. Tap Add in the top-right corner.

The Spendlyfi icon appears on your home screen. Tap it any time to open the app without the Safari interface.

Yes. In Chrome, Edge, or Brave, open Spendlyfi and look for the install icon in the address bar (a small monitor with a download arrow) — click it and choose Install. The app opens in its own window and shows up in your start menu / app dock like a regular application.

No. Spendlyfi is a Progressive Web App (PWA) — it installs directly from the browser. There is nothing to download from the App Store or Google Play.

The most common reasons:

• The site must be served over HTTPS — installing won't work from http://localhost on a phone.
• On iOS, you must use Safari — Chrome on iPhone doesn't support install.
• If the app is already installed, the option is hidden.

Google sign-in is how we get permission to save your expense data into your Google Drive. We never see your Google password — Google handles the login and only shares your name, email, and profile photo with the app.

• Signed in with Google:Your data is saved to your Google Drive's app folder. It syncs across any device where you sign in with the same Google account.
• Local mode ("Try without an account"): Your data stays only in this browser on this device. Clearing site data, switching browsers, or using a different device means starting over.

Yes. While in local mode, export your data from Settings → Export (CSV), then sign in with Google and use the Import page to bring it into your Drive-backed account.

While Spendlyfi is going through Google's verification process, new users may see a warning. You can click Advanced → Go to Spendlyfi to continue. Once Google completes verification, this warning disappears.

In your own Google Drive, inside a special hidden folder called appDataFolder. This folder:

• Is invisible in your normal Google Drive view.
• Can only be accessed by Spendlyfi.
• Disappears if you revoke Spendlyfi's access.

Spendlyfi's servers do not store your expenses, receipts, or budgets.

No. We only request the drive.appdata scope, which limits us to the app-only folder we created. We cannot see, modify, or delete anything else in your Drive — including your photos, documents, or shared files.

• Delete individual entries inside the app.
• Use the export-then-clear options in Settings.
• Or revoke Spendlyfi's access from your Google Account (Security → Third-party apps) — this permanently deletes the app folder and everything inside it.

All communication with Google is over HTTPS, and Google encrypts your stored data at rest using their own infrastructure. Your authentication tokens are kept in httpOnly cookies (inaccessible to JavaScript), which protects them from common web attacks like XSS.

No. We do not sell, share, or use your data for advertising or machine learning. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

Spendlyfi lets you toggle between Personal and Business views so household and work expenses stay neatly separated. Each expense is tagged to one mode, and dashboards, reports, and budgets filter accordingly. You can switch modes at any time from the top of the app.

When adding an expense you can attach a photo of the receipt — the image is uploaded to your Google Drive app folder alongside the expense record. iPhone HEIC photos are automatically converted to a web-friendly format.

Use the Recurring page to track subscriptions, rent, or any expense that repeats. Spendlyfi shows upcoming due items so you can confirm and post them as real expenses on the actual charge date.

The Plannerlets you set monthly or yearly targets per category. Dashboards and reports compare your actual spending against these targets so you can see where you're over or under.

Yes — you can generate a tidy text summary and send it via WhatsApp (or any sharing target your device supports) from the reports screen.

The installed app caches its assets so the interface still loads without a connection. However, syncing with Google Drive (saving new expenses, loading data on another device) requires an internet connection.

Yes. Go to the Importpage and upload a CSV. You'll map the columns (date, description, amount, category) and review before committing.

Yes — from Settings you can download your expenses and budget plans as CSV or a bundled archive. Your data is portable and always yours.

Make sure you're signed in with the same Google account you used previously. Data is tied to the Google account, not the device. If you were previously in local-only mode, that data lives in the browser you used and won't appear after signing in — export it from that browser first.

Try signing out of any other Google accounts and re-trying, or open the page in a private/incognito window. If the issue persists, please contact us.

Check that you're on the live HTTPS site (not localhost), and on iPhone make sure you're using Safari. If you already installed the app, the install option will be hidden — look for Spendlyfi on your home screen.

We'd love to help — please reach out through our contact form and describe what you were doing when the issue happened.