Share one account, not your whole financial life

WHAT IT IS

What sharing an account means in Tally

Sharing an account gives another person access to that account and its movements, so you both see the same thing and, if you allow it, both can log. It does not share your other accounts, your goals, or your receipts.

Tally works locally by default: nothing is uploaded when you create an account or log an expense. Sharing is the exception you turn on. When you share an account, its functional content is encrypted on your device and synchronized so the other person sees it on theirs.

It is not expense splitting: Tally does not calculate who owes whom or settle balances between people. It is a common account where each person logs what they spend and everyone sees the total.

STEP BY STEP

How an account gets shared

Everything starts in Settings › Cloud and sharing. It requires Tally PRO: for the person sharing and the person accepting.

1. 1

   Turn on the secure cloudPRO

   Tally warns you that from then on only what you decide to share is uploaded, encrypted. Nothing else changes in your app.

2. 2

   Choose the account and share it

   Select one specific account. Its functional content is encrypted on your device before upload.

3. 3

   Decide the role

   “Can edit” to log and modify movements; “View only” to look. You can change it later.

4. 4

   Send the link

   Tally generates a secure invitation link. Send it through whatever channel you like: message, email, anything.

5. 5

   The other person acceptsPRO

   Opening the link shows a summary of what is shared, and they accept from their Tally. They need Tally PRO. From then on the account's movements sync between both.

WHO CAN DO WHAT

Roles in a shared account

Permissions are recorded and enforced on the server: a view-only member cannot write even if they try. Each participant appears with their alias.

PRIVACY

What is uploaded and how

Only the shared account and what is needed to sync it. Functional content is encrypted on your device before it leaves.

• Movements, the account name, and the categories it needs travel encrypted; the server keeps minimal metadata and content it cannot read in the clear.
• Receipt images are not uploaded when sharing: each photo stays on the phone that took it. Only the encrypted metadata linking it to the movement is synchronized.
• Your other accounts, goals, recurring items, and settings are not uploaded.
• Sync runs in the background. Without a network, changes stay “pending upload” and retry on their own; you can force it from Settings.
• If two people edit the same item offline, the most recent change wins; if a remote deletion collides with a local edit, the item is marked “needs review” instead of being lost.

• What privacy-first means in Tally: services and actions

TO BE CLEAR

What a shared account is not

• It does not split expenses or calculate debts between people. If you need to know who owes whom, see the Splitwise comparison.
• It does not share your whole app: only the accounts you choose, one by one.
• It does not have one currency per person: the account has its own, the same for everyone, and each person adds it to their total converted to their own main currency.
• It does not work without PRO on both devices or without a connection to sync (logging works offline; it uploads later).

• Tally vs Splitwise: personal or shared expenses?

WHO IT FITS

When it fits

• Expenses as a couple: shared money shared, yours apart
• Travel expenses: the trip in its own account

FREE AND PRO

What each person needs

FAQ

Frequently asked questions