How-To Guide & FAQ

Step-by-step instructions for everything Budgetly can do. From setting up family sync to uploading your Excel budget — we've got you covered.

📖 Table of Contents

  1. How to Set Up Household Sync (Family Budget)
  2. How to Enable 2-Way Sync Between Members
  3. How to Upload an Excel Budget to Budgetly
  4. How to Download Your Budget as Excel
  5. How to Set Up Cloud Backup & Restore
  6. How to Set Up Recurring Bills & Income
  7. How to Create and Manage Savings Goals
  8. How to Track Debts, Loans & IOUs
  9. How to Secure the App with PIN & Biometrics
  10. How to Set Up Category Budgets
  11. How to Transfer Money Between Accounts
  12. How to Change Your Currency
  13. How to Control Who Sees What (Household Access)
  14. How to Move Budgetly to a New Phone

1 How to Set Up Household Sync

Share your budget with your partner, spouse, or family. Each member gets their own app — sync happens via your Google Drive. No shared login required.

For the Owner (person creating the household)

  1. Go to Manage → Settings → Backup & Restore
  2. Under Cloud Accounts, tap "Connect" next to Google Drive and sign in with your Google account
  3. Scroll down to the Household Sync section and tap "Shared Budget"
  4. On the Household Sync screen, tap "Create" to create your household
  5. You are now the Owner. Your Google account becomes the household identity.

Inviting a family member

  1. In the "Invite Members" section, type the member's email address and tap "Add"
  2. Their status shows as "Invited"
  3. Tap "Share Invite" to send them the invite code via messaging app — or tap "Copy Code" to copy it manually

For the Member (person joining)

  1. Install Budgetly and connect Google Drive (same steps: Backup & Restore → Connect Google Drive)
  2. Go to Manage → Settings → Backup & Restore → Shared Budget
  3. Paste the invite code into the "Paste invite code here…" field
  4. Tap "Join Household"
  5. You're in! Tap "Sync Now" to pull the owner's data for the first time.
💡 Tip: The owner can set nicknames for each member (tap the edit icon next to their name) so everyone knows who's who.
⚠️ Note: Household Sync requires Google Drive — it does not work with iCloud. iCloud is for personal backup only.

2 How to Enable 2-Way Sync

After joining a household, members can only pull data from the owner. To let the owner pull your changes too, you need to enable 2-way sync.

Step 1 — Member creates their sync file

  1. On the member's phone, open the Household Sync screen
  2. Find the "Two-Way Sync Setup" section
  3. Tap "Setup Now" — this creates a sync file on the member's Google Drive
  4. A Member Sync Code appears. Tap "Copy" or "Share" to send it to the owner.

Step 2 — Owner registers the member's sync code

  1. On the owner's phone, go to Household Sync
  2. Find the member's row and the "Enable Two-Way Sync" field
  3. Paste the member's sync code and tap "Register"
  4. The member's status changes to "Syncing (2-Way Sync)"

How syncing works after setup

Sync is manual. Either person taps "Sync Now" on their Household Sync screen (or the sync icon on the Dashboard). This pushes your latest changes and pulls everyone else's. Both sides merge automatically — last-write-wins per transaction.

💡 Tip: Make it a habit to tap "Sync Now" at the end of each day so everyone stays on the same page.
💡 Quick Sync: There's also a sync icon on the Dashboard header — one tap to sync without leaving the main screen.

3 How to Upload an Excel Budget to Budgetly

Already tracking your budget in Excel? Upload it directly — no need to re-enter everything manually.

  1. First, download the Budgetly template: go to Manage → Excel Budget Manager and tap "Download Excel"
  2. Open the downloaded .xlsx file in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers
  3. Fill in or edit the sheets: Accounts (name, type, balance), Categories (with budget amounts), Recurring Bills & Income, and Budgets
  4. Save the file and transfer it to your phone (email, AirDrop, Google Drive, etc.)
  5. In Budgetly, go to Manage → Excel Budget Manager
  6. Tap "Choose File (.xlsx)" and select your edited file
  7. Budgetly shows a preview of all changes — new accounts, updated balances, added categories, etc.
  8. Review the preview carefully. Errors show in red (must fix before importing). Warnings show in orange (safe to proceed).
  9. Tap "Apply N changes" to import everything
💡 Tip: Balance differences between your Excel file and the app are handled automatically via "balance adjustment" transactions — your income and expense totals are never distorted.
💡 Smart merge: Budgetly detects duplicates automatically. If a category or recurring bill already exists with the same name, it updates it instead of creating a duplicate.

4 How to Download Your Budget as Excel

Export your full budget structure as a professional Excel workbook — perfect for offline review, sharing with a financial advisor, or backup.

  1. Go to Manage → Excel Budget Manager
  2. Tap "Download Excel"
  3. The app generates a .xlsx workbook and saves it to your device
  4. A confirmation sheet appears showing the file name and location
  5. Tap "Open / Share / Save" to share via AirDrop, email, messaging, or open in another app

What's included in the download

  • Accounts — name, type (Cash / Bank / E-Wallet / Credit Card), current balance
  • Categories — expense and income categories, with budget amount and frequency columns
  • Recurring Bills & Income — description, amount, frequency, linked account and category
  • Budgets — category-based spending limits with period
💡 Tip: You can also export your transaction history as CSV or PDF from Manage → Settings → Backup & Restore → Export Data.

5 How to Set Up Cloud Backup & Restore

Automatic backups to Google Drive or iCloud protect your data against phone loss or damage.

  1. Go to Manage → Settings → Backup & Restore
  2. Under Cloud Accounts, tap "Connect" next to Google Drive (Android & iOS) or iCloud (iOS only)
  3. Sign in to authenticate
  4. Under Automatic Backup, choose your schedule: Daily, Weekly, or Monthly
  5. Done! Backups happen automatically in the background.

To backup manually

Tap "Backup Now" anytime to create an instant backup.

To restore from backup

  1. Go to Backup & Restore → Restore from Savepoint
  2. Select the backup you want to restore from the list
  3. Confirm — your data is restored in one tap
⚠️ Note: Restoring a backup replaces all current data. Make sure you backup first if you want to keep your current data.

6 How to Set Up Recurring Bills & Income

Never miss a bill again. Set it up once, get reminded automatically.

  1. Go to Manage → Recurring Bills
  2. Tap the + button
  3. Choose type: Expense (bills) or Income (salary, etc.)
  4. Enter the amount and description (e.g., "PLDT Fibr Internet")
  5. Select the account it comes from and the category
  6. Choose frequency: Daily, Weekly, Biweekly, Monthly, or Yearly
  7. For monthly bills: pick the day of month (e.g., 5th for internet). For weekly: pick the day(s) of week
  8. Optional: Turn on Bill Reminder and set how many days before the due date you want to be notified (0–7 days)
  9. Tap "Add Recurring"
💡 Tip: When a recurring bill is due, it appears in the "Needs Confirmation" section at the top. Tap to confirm and record it as an actual transaction.

7 How to Create and Manage Savings Goals

Your balance is not your savings. Track what you've explicitly set aside — Emergency Fund, Vacation, New Phone — so you always know what's truly saved.

Creating a goal

  1. Go to Manage → Savings Goals
  2. Tap the + button
  3. Enter a goal name (e.g., "Boracay Trip")
  4. Enter your target amount (optional — you can save without a target)
  5. Pick an icon and color for visual recognition
  6. Set an optional deadline
  7. Link to an account (optional — helps you see which account holds this savings)
  8. Tap Save

Allocating money to a goal

  1. Tap on any savings goal card
  2. Tap "Deposit"
  3. Enter the amount and select which account the money comes from
  4. Confirm — the amount is added to your savings goal and deducted from your available balance
💡 Tip: Available balance = Income − Expenses − Savings Allocated. This means your dashboard always shows what you can actually spend.

8 How to Track Debts, Loans & IOUs

Track money you've lent (Receivable) or borrowed (Payable). Never forget who owes what.

  1. Go to Manage → IOUs & Debts
  2. Tap the + button
  3. Choose: "I Lent (Receivable)" or "I Borrowed (Payable)"
  4. Enter the person's name, amount, and optional note
  5. Select the account the money comes from (lent) or goes to (borrowed)
  6. Set the date and optional due date
  7. Tap Save

Recording payments

Tap on any debt to open its detail screen, then record partial or full payments. The progress bar updates as payments come in. When fully paid, the status changes to "Settled".

The three tabs

  • All — every active and settled debt
  • Receivable — money others owe you ("Pinahiram Ko")
  • Payable — money you owe others ("Hiniram Ko")
💡 Tip: Overdue debts are highlighted in red so you never miss a due date.

9 How to Secure the App with PIN & Biometrics

Lock Budgetly with a PIN, fingerprint, or Face ID so no one else can see your finances.

Setting up PIN lock

  1. Go to Manage → Settings
  2. Scroll to the Security section
  3. Toggle "PIN Lock" on
  4. Enter a 4-digit PIN, then re-enter to confirm
  5. If your device supports biometrics, you'll be asked: "Enable Biometrics?" — tap Yes for fingerprint / Face ID unlock

Auto-lock timer

Once PIN Lock is on, tap "Auto-lock" to choose when the app locks: Immediately, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, or 15 minutes after you leave the app.

💡 Tip: Your PIN is stored using SHA-256 hashing with a salt — even if someone accesses the device storage, your PIN cannot be read.

10 How to Set Up Category Budgets

Set spending limits per category and get alerts before you overspend.

  1. Tap the Budgets tab on the bottom navigation bar
  2. Tap the + button
  3. Select an expense category (e.g., Food, Transport, Shopping)
  4. Enter your budget amount (e.g., ₱5,000 for Food)
  5. Choose the period: Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly
  6. Tap Save

The budget overview shows a progress bar for each category — green (on track), yellow (caution), orange (near limit), red (over budget). Unbudgeted spending is tracked separately so you know your full picture.

Budget cycle start day

By default, budgets reset on the 1st of each month. To change this (e.g., to match your payday on the 15th): go to Manage → Settings → Budgets → Budget Cycle Start Day and pick a different day.

💡 Tip: Balance adjustments (like refunds or corrections) are tracked separately and never distort your income, expense, or budget totals.

11 How to Transfer Money Between Accounts

Move money between your Cash, Bank, E-Wallet, or Credit Card accounts without affecting your income or expense totals.

  1. From the Dashboard or Transactions screen, tap the + button and select "Transfer"
  2. Select the "From" account (source)
  3. Select the "To" account (destination)
  4. Use the swap button (↕) to quickly reverse the direction
  5. Enter the amount
  6. Add an optional note (e.g., "ATM withdrawal")
  7. Tap to confirm
💡 Tip: Transfers are balance-neutral — your total net worth stays the same. Only the individual account balances change.

12 How to Change Your Currency

Budgetly supports 23+ currencies. Switch anytime — all amounts update globally.

  1. Go to Manage → Settings
  2. Tap the Currency tile (shows your current currency symbol and name)
  3. A list of 23+ currencies appears — scroll to find yours
  4. Tap to select — the currency updates across the entire app instantly

Supported currencies include: PHP, USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, AUD, CAD, INR, SGD, AED, KRW, THB, IDR, VND, MYR, HKD, TWD, NZD, CHF, SEK, NOK, DKK, and more.

13 How to Control Who Sees What (Household Access)

When you're in a household, you decide which accounts, debts, and savings goals are shared with which members.

  1. Go to Household Sync → Access tab (visible only to the Owner)
  2. You'll see every account, debt, and savings goal listed as a card
  3. Each card has toggle chips:
    • Private — only you can see it
    • All — all household members can see it
    • Individual member chips — toggle specific members on/off
  4. Changes take effect on the next sync
💡 Example: Share the "BPI Savings" account with your partner but keep "BDO Checking" private. Share the "Vacation Fund" savings goal with everyone but keep "Emergency Fund" visible only to you.

14 How to Move Budgetly to a New Phone

Switching phones? Your entire financial history comes with you in one tap.

On your old phone

  1. Make sure cloud backup is connected: Manage → Settings → Backup & Restore
  2. Tap "Backup Now" to create a fresh backup
  3. Verify it says "Last backup: just now"

On your new phone

  1. Install Budgetly from the App Store or Google Play
  2. Go to Manage → Settings → Backup & Restore
  3. Connect the same Google Drive or iCloud account you used before
  4. Tap "Restore from Savepoint"
  5. Select your latest backup and confirm
  6. All your accounts, transactions, budgets, goals, debts, and settings are restored
💡 Tip: If you were part of a household, reconnect to Household Sync after restoring. The owner may need to re-share the invite code.

Still have questions?

We're here to help. Reach out anytime.

✉️ Email Us — motologicsystems@outlook.com