Debts between people

Who owes you

You pay for everyone's dinner, a friend covers your ticket, you lend your sister some money. Small amounts like these are easy to forget. In Debts, abacova keeps a running balance per person, so you always know who owes whom. Each person has a balance card. Movements say who paid: green moves the balance your way, and red moves it against you.

Record a debt

On the web, open the form from New in the top bar and choose New debt. The phone app uses the same form. First choose who owes whom, They owe me or I owe them, and then the type. Pick the person from your list, or add someone new right there in the form.

They owe you

• Paid for them: you covered something for another person.
• I lent: you lent money and it left your account.
• Shared bill: you share a cost. Type only your share, and abacova works out theirs.

You owe them

• Someone paid for me: no account is involved. You owe the amount, and it's an expense in its category on that date.
• They lent me: you borrowed money and it arrived in your account.

Use I lent and They lent me only when the money really moved through your account. Lending and repayments stay out of the Cash flow and Spending by category reports, so they show what you actually earned and spent.

Split a bill

For one expense shared between several people, choose Split a bill from the same New menu. Record it and share it, and each person's share becomes a debt against them. If a friend paid the bill instead, record your share with Someone paid for me.

Settle up

When the money comes back, press Settle up. You settle person by person, in full or in part, and from any account. Payments clear the oldest debts first, and they aren't a second expense.

If you delete a repayment, the debt it repaid opens again.

Write off a debt

Some debts will never be repaid, and sometimes you simply forgive them. Press Write off on the person's balance card on the web, or on their row on the phone. Choose an amount, which is the whole balance by default and can never be more than it, then a date and, if you want, a category.

No money moves. What changes is how it's recorded:

• If they owe you, it's an expense, under Bad debt.
• If you owe them, it's income, under Forgiven debts.

Only a write-off's date, description and tags can be edited. Deleting it brings the debt back.

Fix a mistake

To cancel a debt, delete it, and its expense goes too. If it's partly repaid, delete the payment or reopen the debt first. To fix an older loan recorded the wrong way, delete it and enter it again.

Debts can also carry tags and descriptions, and they appear in bank reconciliation.