Track expenses without connecting your bank

It means your movements are not automatically downloaded from a bank account. You can enter them when they happen or import a file you chose, at a time you choose.

In an app with automatic bank connectivity, you usually authorize the app or an intermediary provider to access an account and retrieve movements periodically. Manual import works differently: you choose the file and do not give Tally bank credentials. That limits continuous access, although it does not remove the other services an account-based app may need.

The normal flow starts with manual entry. Import exists to save work when you already have a statement, not to turn Tally into a bank connection.

Both methods can eventually bring movements into an app, but control and timing of access are different.

In Tally, functional data — movements, accounts, categories, goals, and recurring items — is stored locally by default. Receipt photos are also stored as private files on the device.

Tally requires an account to use the app. That means identity, session, and certain services can involve servers; local-by-default does not mean account-free or server-free. The cloud is involved only in functions you choose to use, such as sharing an account, optional import enrichment, or analyzing a receipt.

• Sharing an account is optional, and chosen functional content is encrypted on the device before synchronization.
• A receipt image is not uploaded just because you share an account. It is sent only if you explicitly tap Analyze receipt.
• Receipt analysis returns a proposal to review; it does not save a movement automatically.

• You decide which file to provide and when, instead of maintaining a continuous connection.
• You can start with an account, a currency, and a few movements without configuring a bank aggregator.
• Manual entry makes each movement you choose to record visible and avoids rows appearing without context through an automatic sync.
• Local-by-default behavior fits people who want functional personal-finance data to remain on the device.

• There is no automatic bank synchronization: movements do not appear by themselves.
• Manual entry requires a small amount of participation after you pay or receive money.
• Import depends on having a compatible file and columns that can be interpreted.
• Statement import is PRO. The CSV Tally exports and can re-import from Settings is a separate merge flow and is not statement import.

If you need hundreds of movements to appear every day without intervention, want automatic rules over bank transactions, or depend on balances updating by themselves, a bank-connected solution may fit your routine better.

The choice is not universal or moral. It is a decision between automatic updates and control over what access you grant and when.