Track an expense

This article explains how to track an expense in SharedAnchor from start to finish. You can track an expense on web, iOS, and Android. Tracking an expense means creating a shared cost record that your co-parent can review, so the two of you have one agreed history of who paid for what. SharedAnchor never holds your money, so tracking an expense only records the cost; any actual money movement happens outside SharedAnchor.

Add an expense and find the Add expense button

Open the Expenses page on web, or the Expenses tab on iOS and Android. The button to start is labeled Add expense. On web the Add expense button sits at the top of the Expenses page. On iOS and Android the Add expense button appears as the floating plus control on the Expenses tab. If you are looking for the expense button and cannot see it, make sure you are on the Expenses page or Expenses tab and not on the Home or Calendar screen.

Scan a receipt or enter an expense manually

When you add an expense you can either scan a receipt or type the details in by hand. To scan a receipt, choose Scan receipt and either take a photo with your camera or upload an image file. SharedAnchor reads the receipt and pre-fills the amount, date, and other fields it can detect so you do not have to type them. To enter an expense manually, skip the scan and fill in the fields yourself. Both paths create the same kind of expense record, so scanning a receipt is only a convenience.

Expense fields

Every expense captures a small set of fields. The amount is how much the cost was. The date is when the cost happened. The category groups the expense, such as medical, school, or activities. The description is a short note about what the expense was for. The child is which child the expense relates to, when your setup tracks more than one child. The split is how the cost is shared between you and your co-parent. The receipt is an optional image that supports the expense as proof.

Check the amount and correct AI-read fields

When you scan a receipt, SharedAnchor shows what it read so you can confirm it. Look for the Amount looks right confirmation and tap or click it once the amount is correct. If a scanned field is wrong, edit it before you submit. Correcting an AI-read field is recorded as a separate change so the original reading is never silently erased. Always check the amount, date, and category before you submit, because these drive your shared balance.

Log an expense solo before your co-parent joins

You do not have to wait for your co-parent to join before you start. You can log expenses solo, on your own, before your co-parent joins your pair. When you are solo, the submit action is labeled Log expense, and it saves the expense to your own history. Once your co-parent joins and your pair is active, new expenses use Submit for approval or Submit Expense instead, so your co-parent can review them. Logging expenses early means your history is ready and waiting the moment your co-parent joins.

Submit an expense for approval

When your pair is active, submitting an expense sends it to your co-parent for review. Choose Submit for approval or Submit Expense to finish. The expense then waits in a review state until your co-parent acts on it. Nothing about a submitted expense is hidden from your co-parent; they see the same fields and receipt you entered.

Expense statuses: Needs review, Approved, Declined, and payment

An expense moves through a few clear statuses. Needs review means the expense has been submitted and is waiting for your co-parent to look at it. Approved means your co-parent agreed to it and it now counts toward your shared balance. Declined means your co-parent did not agree to it, so it does not count toward the shared balance. Payment states track whether the money for an approved expense has been recorded as paid, using a Venmo record or another external payment.

How your co-parent can approve or decline an expense

Your co-parent reviews each submitted expense and decides whether to approve or decline it. To approve, your co-parent opens the expense and chooses Approve, which makes the expense count toward your shared balance. To decline, your co-parent chooses Decline, which keeps the expense out of the shared balance. When your co-parent declines an expense, they can add an optional decline reason, but a reason is never required and there is no fixed list to pick from. So when you ask how your co-parent can approve it, the answer is that your co-parent taps Approve on the expense during review.

Why expense records are append-only and how corrections work

SharedAnchor keeps financial records append-only, which means a saved expense is never edited in place or deleted. Every record carries a link to the record before it, so the full history stays verifiable. When something needs to change, SharedAnchor adds a correction record on top rather than overwriting the original. This is why a fixed AI-read field shows as a recorded change and not as a quiet edit. Append-only records protect both co-parents, because neither side can rewrite the shared history.

What happens to your shared balance

Only an approved expense changes your shared balance. When an expense is approved, the split decides how much each co-parent owes toward it. A declined expense has no effect on the balance. Recording a payment against an approved expense reduces what is still owed. You can always open the balance view to see the current total and the per-category breakdown.

Record a Venmo or other external payment

Because SharedAnchor never holds money, you settle up outside the app and then record it. After a real payment, use the external payment flow to record that a Venmo, cash, check, or other external payment happened. A recorded external payment starts as unconfirmed and does not count as settled on its own. Nothing auto-confirms, so the recipient confirms the payment, or the payment is marked disputed if the recipient disagrees. Recording the payment keeps your balance honest without SharedAnchor ever touching your funds.

Recipient confirmation and payment disputes

There are two different actions that people often mix up, and they are not the same thing. Declining an expense during review is an approval choice your co-parent makes before the expense counts, and it is described in the approve or decline section above. Disputing an expense or payment is a separate step that happens when a recorded external payment is questioned. Today SharedAnchor lets you raise a dispute and shows the disputed status, and the recipient can confirm a payment instead. Full back-and-forth dispute resolution is not part of this version, so a dispute records and displays the disagreement rather than walking you through a full settlement.

Steps on web, iOS, and Android

On web, open the Expenses page, click Add expense, scan a receipt or type the details, check the amount, and choose Log expense, Submit for approval, or Submit Expense. On iOS, open the Expenses tab, tap the Add expense plus control, scan a receipt or enter details, confirm Amount looks right, and submit. On Android, open the Expenses tab, tap the Add expense plus control, scan or enter details, confirm the amount, and submit. The fields and statuses are the same on every platform, so an expense you add on your phone looks the same on the web.

Common troubleshooting questions

If you cannot find where to add an expense, go to the Expenses page or Expenses tab and look for the Add expense button. If the scan read the wrong amount, edit the amount field before you submit and confirm Amount looks right. If you are alone and there is no approval step, that is expected, because you can log expenses solo until your co-parent joins. If an expense you submitted still says Needs review, it is waiting for your co-parent to approve or decline it. If an approved expense still shows as owed, record the Venmo or other external payment you made so the balance updates.