Frequently Asked Questions about Cashinator

Don’t worry — the result is correct. Cashinator finds a mathematically optimal way to settle all debts with as few transactions as possible. If you calculate by hand, you may get a different — but still valid — solution.

See a simple example of how the algorithm works in our case study on debt calculation.

Cashinator is registration-free and not linked to your Apple ID, so the app can’t know which devices are yours. To use a journey on another device (e.g., iPad), simply join the journey there.

Benefit: your data stay private on Cashinator’s servers, and different family members can use different journeys/groups on their own devices.

When adding an expense, select everyone involved under “Who was this paid for?”. Cashinator splits the amount equally between them.

The easiest way is the Express Scan: take a photo of the receipt and Cashinator detects the amount, date, location, category and every single line item. Then pick a person and tap the items they bought; use “Distribute rest” to share whatever is left among everyone. Even a big shopping trip is split fairly in seconds – no calculator needed – and you can review everything before saving. Start the Express Scan by swiping up on the plus button, or via “Take a photo of the receipt” when entering the amount. A few scans are included to try it out; you can buy more anytime.

Without a receipt, tap “Edit cost split” and set the split as an amount, a percentage or in parts (e.g., 2 parts for a couple, 1 part for a single person). Move the sliders, use plus/minus or tap a value to enter it exactly. “Equalize” resets everything, and “Load” reuses a split you have used before.

If someone always pays less – say, a child who covers half – set their Share Weighting under “Manage” → “Participants” (e.g., 0.5). It applies to all new expenses.

If you paid together, tap “We split the payment” under “Who paid?” and enter who contributed how much. Travelling as families or couples? Group people into households.

The most common mistake is recording cash withdrawals as expenses and then counting the same money again when you spend it. Don’t log ATM withdrawals as expenses — use the Money transfer type instead. Cashinator will suggest this automatically when it detects a suspicious entry.

Absolutely. Cashinator works great for shared flats, couples or clubs. You can switch the app between Journey and Group mode so wording and features fit your use case.

By default, Cashinator follows your phone’s system language. You can change it anytime under “Manage” → “App settings” → “Language & Region”. Available languages: English, German, Spanish, French and Italian.

For security, the journey QR/code expires after a few days. Ask your friend to share the journey again and use the new code.

Joining/sharing requires an active internet connection; data are transferred securely via mobile network or Wi-Fi.

The home currency applies to the whole journey or group and is synced to all connected devices, so normally everyone sees the same currency and balance.

If you still see a different currency, a recent change probably hasn’t reached your device yet. Pull down on the home screen to sync the journey. If someone changed the home currency, the new currency then applies to everyone.

The home currency (“Display Currency” in the app) is the currency in which Cashinator shows all amounts, balances and statistics. Change it under “Manage” → “App settings” → “Language & Region” → “Display Currency”.

It applies to the currently selected journey or group and is synced to all connected devices, so everyone sees the same amounts. You can pick a different home currency for each journey – e.g., US dollars for a longer stay in the USA. Expenses in other currencies are converted automatically.

Yes. Open Settings → Journey/Group list, then swipe right-to-left on the item and confirm Delete. You can only delete items that aren’t currently active.

Using VoiceOver/TalkBack, swipe left-to-right to reveal hidden options like Delete or Archive and confirm with a double-tap.

Deletions affect only your device. If the journey/group was shared, it remains on other devices. If you deleted by accident, ask a participant to generate a new access code.

Yes. Go to Settings → Participants, swipe right-to-left on a person and delete. You can only remove participants who aren’t part of any transaction. If necessary, delete their transactions first.

With VoiceOver/TalkBack, swipe left-to-right to show hidden options and confirm with a double-tap.

That’s the classic lost cent problem. If three people split €1, each gets €0.33 instead of the exact €0.333… — one cent remains because currencies have indivisible smallest units. Think of it as a lucky penny!

Cashinator is ad-free and doesn’t collect personal data. Your first journey is free; afterwards there’s a small one-time fee per journey or an unlimited package (no subscription).

Check out all packages & prices here.

Cashinator works without registration — no emails, usernames or passwords. Only the necessary journey data are synced securely. Journeys, people and transactions are referenced by random keys, not your identity.

For joining, a temporary code/QR is used and expires after a few days for security.

Read the full details in our Privacy Policy.

In the last step of a new expense, choose a category (e.g., Transport, Accommodation, Groceries). With “Smart Data Transfer” enabled under “Manage” → “App settings” → “New expenses”, Cashinator even picks the category automatically based on the title or your last entries. You can change the category anytime by opening the expense in the “Expenses” tab.

You’ll see exactly where your money went. Statistics show totals by category (e.g., Accommodation, Shopping, Car incl. fuel), giving you a clear breakdown at the end of the journey.

Yes. Add custom categories (with icons) in Settings. You can rename your custom categories; default categories can be deleted but not edited.

One way is to create categories for your payment methods (e.g., Cash, Debit Card, Credit Card) and select the relevant one for each expense. Note: only one category per expense — decide whether you want categories by purpose or by payment method.

Yes. In the expense list, swipe left-to-right on an entry and choose Copy. A new expense with the current time is created, including participants and any photos. Expenses paid jointly by several people can’t be copied.

For regular costs such as rent, open the expense and tap Recurring Expenses – Cashinator then creates it again automatically at the times you choose.

Open the Statistics area and export your summary as PDF or CSV — perfect for printing or sharing. See the PDF export guide here.

Sync is automatic whenever you add or edit a transaction. Other devices check for updates regularly. To refresh immediately, pull down on the main screen or the expenses tab. With push notifications enabled, changes usually appear within seconds.

Cashinator recognizes potential transfers and asks whether it’s a Money transfer or a normal expense (e.g., when there’s only one recipient). You can also switch the type later in the expense Details.

No. Use a journey as long as you like. Costs apply only when you create a new journey.

No. Your journeys and groups sync without iCloud. Join the same journey on your other device and they’ll keep each other in sync — even across Android and iOS.

Yes — free automatic backups. Your journeys and groups are backed up daily. With the backup key/Data Transfer, you can also move your data between iOS and Android.

When you open the app with internet access, exchange rates update in the background (no more than once every 12 hours). Each expense stores the rate used at the time of entry, so totals remain consistent later. If your home currency isn’t EUR, the necessary intermediate rates are stored, too. You can also set rates manually in Settings.

In rare cases where devices use different last-known rates, small display differences can occur — the stored rate per expense ensures fairness.

Yes. In the journey/group list, swipe left-to-right to archive. Data are preserved (also on the server) and you can restore or permanently delete them later — keeping your list tidy.

Purchases are tied to your App Store or Google Play account and technically can’t be transferred between Apple and Google. More about purchases.

Mainly wording and a few context-specific features. A journey uses travel terms and lets you set travel dates; its budget covers the whole journey. A group uses general wording for home use (e.g., a flatshare) and has a monthly budget. You can switch anytime under “Manage” → “Journey Settings” → “Name & Appearance”.

Go to “Manage” → “Journey Settings” → “Budget” and enable “Set budget”. Tap “Total travel budget” for the shared budget or “Ø Per person” for the amount per head. With the “Individual” switch, everyone gets their own budget. You can change or turn off the budget anytime; the change applies to all devices, and the “Budget” tab shows where you stand.

For a journey, the budget covers the whole trip – set your “Travel dates” and Cashinator also shows how much you can still spend per day. In a group, the budget applies to the current month. If someone joins later, Cashinator reminds you to adjust the budget.

Create a cash box in Settings. On the home screen, tap the small button next to the box name and select who deposited how much. It doesn’t matter if deposits differ — Cashinator balances everything fairly in the settlement.

Once you have created a cash box under “Manage” → “Journey Settings” → “Cash boxes”, its current balance is shown on the home screen (“Balance” tab) right next to its name. Tap it for details; use the small button to its left to deposit money.

When you pay for something from the box, select the cash box under “Who paid?” and its balance goes down automatically. If more is spent than was deposited, the box goes into the red and Cashinator shows you how much still needs to be paid in.

All deposits are listed in the “Expenses” tab via the “Deposits” filter. In the evaluation (icon at the top right), the “Participants” tab shows who deposited how much. Any money left over at the end is taken into account in the settlement automatically.

Access to your photo library may be disabled. Open your phone’s Settings → Cashinator → Photos and allow access. Cashinator only reads photos you explicitly select; nothing else is uploaded. For details, see our Privacy Policy.

For group-wide refunds (e.g., deposit returns), enter the amount and tap the ± button on the keypad. The app marks it as a credit and reduces the selected participants’ totals accordingly.

Open the Statistics area and go to Settlement. If you entered journey dates, Cashinator will also prompt you to settle near the end of your journey.

With a tolerance, the settlement leaves out small remaining amounts. You choose an amount, e.g. €1. Payments up to this amount are then no longer suggested – so nobody has to bother with a few cents. Your expenses stay unchanged.

How it’s calculated: first, the settlement works out as usual who owes whom how much. Then the smallest payments up to the chosen amount are left out – but only as long as nobody gives up more than this amount in total, or keeps more.

Example: The tolerance is €5. If Ben owes Anna €3, the payment is left out. If Ben and Cleo each owe Anna €3, both pay: otherwise Anna would give up €6 – more than the tolerance. And letting only one of them off wouldn’t be fair.

If nothing is left to pay afterwards, the balance shows 0 for everyone as well, and the hint “Rounded by tolerance” explains why. You set the tolerance on the “Settle Up” tab under “Tolerance” or under “Manage” → “Journey Settings” → “Balance & Settle Up”. It applies to everyone in the journey.

Yes. Cashinator accounts for household sizes and computes optimal settlement payments so you typically need only one transfer between households.

The tolerance is applied in two steps:

Between households, each household counts as a single person. So towards the others, a household gives up at most the chosen amount in total – or keeps at most that much. Who in the household paid what doesn’t matter. Anyone who isn’t in a household counts on their own.

Within a household, only the rest of the tolerance applies: the chosen amount minus what the household already leaves out towards the others. This way, no single person ends up with more than the chosen amount left open either.

Example: The tolerance is €1. Max and Mia are a household. Mia owes Tom €1 and Max €0.99. The €1 payment to Tom is left out – which uses up the household’s tolerance. So Mia has to pay Max the €0.99. Otherwise €1.99 would be left open for her in total.

Yes. Adding someone later doesn’t affect previous settlements, since they weren’t part of earlier expenses. To include them in past items, edit those expenses in the list.

Open the expense from the list, tap the amount, and enter the new value. The original percentage split is preserved across participants.

Open the expense in the “Expenses” tab and tap “For whom?”. Add or remove people there, and use “Edit cost split” to change the exact split by amount, percentage or parts. You can also correct who paid under “Who paid?”. Balances and the settlement are recalculated automatically and updated on all devices.

Tip: with “Fix total amount” enabled, the other shares adjust automatically so the total always matches. Turn it off to enter individual amounts freely – the expense total then changes accordingly.

If you see a message about missing permissions instead, you’re not allowed to edit expenses in this journey.

Printing is handled by the OS and third-party viewers. If printing fails, open the PDF in another viewer app or share it to another device and print from there.

Optional convenience: store emails to share the PDF summary later. Cashinator doesn’t send marketing or group notifications. Future integrations (e.g., payment providers) may use these emails.

Since version 5.1.3, Android requires notification permission at the system level. If you enabled notifications in Cashinator but still don’t receive them, check your Android system settings and allow notifications for Cashinator.

From version 6.3, add a Payment method in Settings (e.g., “Credit Card”) and set a percentage fee. Whenever you select that method for an expense, Cashinator automatically creates a separate fee expense and splits it proportionally to keep things fair.

Cashinator follows official currency minor units. Some currencies use three or four decimals; the Chilean peso uses none — the smallest coin is 1 CLP (centavos were discontinued in 1976).

Go to “Manage” → “Journey Settings” → “Name & Appearance” and enter a new name. You can also change the picture and symbol there.

Not by default. Everyone who joins a journey has the same rights: they can add, edit and delete expenses and invite others.

With a PLUS journey you decide exactly who may do what. Under “Manage” → “Access & Permissions” → “Devices & Permissions” you see all connected devices and set for each one whether it may add, edit or delete expenses, change the journey settings, create exports or manage access itself. You can also block a device completely and restore its access later. When sharing, there is also a Read-only option for people who should only follow along.

The person who created the journey always keeps full access. Every device with the “Access Management” permission can grant rights as well, so you can have several “admins”. You can’t change your own permissions, so you can’t lock yourself out by accident.

Yes, in several places:

Journey/group list: Above each journey you see the month it was created – or its travel dates, if you have set them.

“Manage” → “Help & Info” → “About Cashinator”: Shows your usage days, i.e. on how many days you have opened Cashinator on this device (counted since January 2023), and how many journeys and groups you have used in total.

PLUS journeys: “Devices & Permissions” shows the exact creation date of the journey and, for each device, when it joined and when it was last active.

“Expenses” tab → “Activity”: Shows who changed what and when. This has only been recorded since version 7.1.