Sharing a workspace with a partner or flatmates
Published
A household, a flat, a small team: wherever money is shared, two things matter at once. Everyone should see the numbers that concern them, and nobody should feel watched.
One workspace, several people
A workspace holds the expenses, categories, tags and budgets of a group. Whoever creates it is its Owner, and the Owner invites the others by email. An invitation works for seven days and can be withdrawn before it is used.
Roles decide what people see
Each member gets a role, and the role decides what they can see and do. There are two ready-made ones, Owner and Member, and you can create your own with exactly the permissions you want: someone who can add expenses but not change categories, say, or someone who can see everything but manage nothing.
By default, a member sees the expenses they created and what the workspace shares with everyone. The Owner sees all of it. Permissions can widen that for particular roles when you want them to.
Shared and private
Categories and tags the Owner creates are shared with everyone, which keeps reports consistent. Anything a member creates for themselves stays theirs. A household can have a shared "Groceries" category and still leave room for personal ones that nobody else needs to see.
Agree on the boring things first
- Who adds the shared bills, and when?
- What counts as shared, and what is personal?
- Who looks at the monthly summary?
Five minutes on these questions saves a lot of awkwardness later.
When someone leaves
If a member is removed, the expenses they added stay in the workspace, handed to the Owner, so the history and the totals do not change. Their personal items leave with them.