Frequently Asked Questions

Spend Pulse is a smart personal finance management app that helps you track expenses, manage budgets. It features AI-powered insights and beautiful analytics.

Spend Pulse offers a 30-day free trial. For current pricing information, please visit our App Store page. All features are included in the subscription.

Spend Pulse is available for iPhone and iPad. It requires iOS 18.0 or later. All your data syncs seamlessly across your devices.

You can cancel your subscription anytime through the App Store:

1. Open Settings on your iPhone or iPad
2. Tap your name at the top
3. Tap Subscriptions
4. Find Spend Pulse and tap it
5. Tap Cancel Subscription

If you cancel during the free trial, you won't be charged. If you cancel a paid subscription, you'll retain access until the end of your current billing period.

When you cancel your subscription:

• During Trial/Paid Period: You retain full access until the subscription expires
• After Expiration: Your data becomes read-only - you can view but not edit or add new transactions
• Data Retention: We keep your data for 24 months in case you want to resubscribe
• Data Export: You can export all your data as CSV before or after canceling (while you still have access)

Yes, absolutely. Spend Pulse offers two paths for account deletion:

• Deactivate & Schedule (Default): Your account is hidden immediately. We keep your data for 30 days as a safety net. If you log back in during this window, you can restore everything. On day 31, your data is automatically and permanently wiped.
• Permanent Wipe (Immediate): Your data and transactions are erased from our servers immediately and irreversibly. This requires typing "DELETE" in the app to confirm.

Go to Settings → App Settings → Delete Account to choose your path.

Under GDPR and similar privacy laws, you have the right to:

• Access: Export all your data anytime via CSV export
• Rectification: Edit or correct any of your data in the app
• Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): Permanently delete your account and all data
• Data Portability: Download your data in a machine-readable format (CSV)

For any data-related requests or questions, contact us at support@spendpulse.app

You can add expenses and view existing data offline. However, an internet connection is required for syncing data across devices and accessing AI insights.

Absolutely! Your data is protected with bank-level security:

• All data is encrypted in transit using HTTPS (TLS/SSL)
• Data is encrypted at rest on Google Cloud servers
• Strict access controls ensure only you can access your data
• We never sell your data to third parties

Learn more in our Privacy Policy.

Yes! Spend Pulse supports multi-currency expenses. When you add a transaction in a foreign currency (e.g., buying coffee in Euro while your main account is USD), the app automatically converts the amount to your home currency using real-time exchange rates. This keeps your budget accurate no matter where you are.

No, Spend Pulse does not connect to your bank accounts. All expenses, income, and balances must be entered manually. This gives you complete control over your data and eliminates security risks associated with third-party bank connections.

The AI Analyst only uses aggregated and pseudonymized financial summaries. We do NOT send:

• Your real name or email address
• Specific transaction descriptions
• Account numbers or sensitive details

You can disable this feature anytime in App Settings > Privacy & AI > Enable AI Analyst.

Yes! You can delete your account and all associated data at any time by going to App Settings > Delete Account.

Note on Deleting Items: If you delete a specific Credit Card account, the app will automatically clean up the linked Debt liability for you. Similarly, if you delete a Debt, it will safely unlink the account.

Spend Pulse learns from your spending habits. When you add an expense from a merchant you've used before, the app automatically suggests the category you previously selected for that merchant. The more you use it, the smarter it gets!

You can easily manage your tags:

1. Open the Tags selection sheet (when adding/editing an expense).
2. Swipe left on the tag you want to edit.
3. Tap Rename to update it everywhere, or Delete to remove it.

Yes! You can set up recurring expenses for rent, subscriptions, or bills. They will automatically populate on their due dates.

Your Financial Cycle determines when your monthly budgets reset and how your dashboard displays data. You can choose:

• Calendar Month: Resets on the 1st (Default).
• Salary Month: Resets on your specific Salary Day (e.g., the 25th).

Configure this in App Settings → Financial Configuration.

Spend Pulse uses Smart Filters that automatically remember your preference. If you switch your dashboard to view "Last 3 Months", the app will remember and open to that view next time. No manual setting required!

Spend Pulse includes built-in CSV export functionality for all users. You can export your financial data from the Manage tab under Data Management. This allows you to create backups or analyze your spending in other tools.

Yes! Spend Pulse supports Siri Shortcuts. You can add expenses using voice commands like "Hey Siri, add a $50 expense to Spend Pulse". Set up shortcuts in the iOS Shortcuts app.

No. To ensure every user has control over their own data access, group owners cannot remove other members. Members must voluntarily choose to "Leave Group" from their own Profile settings. This prevents accidental lockouts from shared financial history.

If a member leaves by accident, they can rejoin anytime using the group's Invite Code. Please ensure you remember this code or ask the owner for it again.

WARNING: If the Group Owner chooses to "Leave Group" (which appears as "Delete Group" for them), the entire group and all its data will be permanently deleted for ALL members. This action is irreversible. Owners should only do this if they intend to disband the group completely.

Yes. Each group can have a maximum of 5 members (including the owner). This size is optimized for families and small households to ensure the best performance.

Net Worth = (Total Assets) - (Total Liabilities)

• Assets: Bank Accounts (Debit/Savings/Cash) + Investment Portfolios + Savings Goals. (Note: Credit Card "Available Credit" is NOT an asset).
• Liabilities: Credit Card Balances + Loans + Other Debts.

Note: Accounts marked as "Hidden from Analytics" are excluded.

It is your Total Monthly Budget minus Monthly Spending.

Monthly Spending includes:

• Expenses in the current period
• Debt minimum payments (if budgeted)
• Investment contributions (if budgeted)

We use the formula: ((Income - Adjusted Spending) / Income) * 100

Adjusted Spending is your total expenses MINUS any expenses categorized as "saving" or "investing", so you aren't penalized for saving money.

• Income: All income transactions in the selected range. Excludes transfers and recurring templates.
• Expense: All expense transactions in the selected range. Excludes transfers to other accounts (like credit card payments).

Recurring items are templates used to generate actual transactions.

• When a due date arrives, the app creates a new real transaction and advances the template's due date.
• Marking a template as "Paid" early creates the transaction immediately and updates the next due date.

To ensure the app remains fast and responsive for everyone, we implement "soft limits".

These limits are very generous (e.g., 3,000 transactions per period). Less if you do hit a limit, the app will kindly notify you and suggest archiving old data.

Your account can hold up to 3,000 active transactions (Expenses + Incomes). This ensures your charts, search, and reports load instantly without lag.

What happens if I hit it?
You'll be prompted to export your data (via CSV) and clear old transactions to start a fresh financial period. This keeps your active database lean and performant.

Scanning is Unlimited: You can use our OCR camera to scan receipts and auto-fill details as many times as you want.

Cloud Storage is Capped: To manage cloud storage costs and keep our prices low, you can save up to 3,000 full-resolution receipt images. Once full, you can still scan receipts for data, but the image file won't be saved to the cloud.

Yes. The bulk import feature respects the transaction limit. For example, if you have 2,800 transactions and the limit is 3,000, you can only import 200 new items. The app will check this beforehand and let you know if a file is too large to fit.

IMPORTANT: AI insights are powered by Google Gemini and are for informational purposes only. While generally helpful, they should be used as guidance, not professional financial advice. Spend Pulse is NOT a financial advisor. Always consult with a qualified financial professional for important financial decisions.

The AI Financial Analyst automatically analyzes your spending patterns to provide insights. You can manually tap the "Analyze" button to generate fresh advice based on your latest transactions.

You can generate fresh AI insights up to 5 times per day. We implement this limit because:

• Cost Control: Advanced AI models like Gemini are expensive to run.
• Fair Usage: It ensures fast, reliable access for all users.

Most users find checking once or twice a day is sufficient to stay on track.

AI insights require sufficient data to generate meaningful recommendations. Make sure you have:

• At least 2 weeks of expense data
• Multiple transactions across different categories
• AI Analyst enabled in Settings > Privacy & AI
• An active internet connection
• Not exceeded your daily limit of 5 analyses

Try these troubleshooting steps:

• Check your internet connection
• Make sure you're logged into the same account on all devices
• Force close and reopen the app
• Restart your device
• Check for app updates in the App Store

If the problem persists, contact us at support@spendpulse.app.

Please email us at support@spendpulse.app with:

• A description of the bug
• Steps to reproduce it
• Your device model and iOS/macOS version
• Screenshots if applicable

We investigate all bug reports and typically respond within 24-48 hours.

We love hearing from our users! Send feature requests to support@spendpulse.app. While we can't implement every suggestion, we carefully consider all feedback when planning updates.