The CashSnap User Guide

Welcome to CashSnap

CashSnap is a privacy-first personal finance app that helps you understand where your money goes — and, more importantly, where you stand today.

Unlike many finance apps, CashSnap never asks for your banking credentials. There is no account, no cloud sync, and no execution layer: every entry is made by you, and all data stays on your device.

Within minutes, CashSnap shows you:

This guide explains how to set up CashSnap and get the most out of every feature.

CashSnap in 5 Minutes

New to CashSnap? Here is the fastest way to get a complete picture of your finances:

The sections below walk through each step in detail.

Getting Started

CashSnap works best when you configure your payment methods, categories and budgets before recording your first transaction. This only takes a few minutes and only needs to be done once.

The main screen is organised around four areas:

Setup

Open Setup from the main screen to personalise CashSnap for your own financial situation. From here you can define payment methods, categories and budgets, and manage backups.

4.1 Payment Methods

CashSnap supports four payment methods:

• Cash
• Debit Card
• Credit Card
• Bank Transfer

Tap Add Instrument to create a new debit or credit card. Cards should be configured before you record transactions against them; cash and bank transfers require no setup.

Debit Card

Enter a descriptive name and the issuing bank, for example "ING Debit Card". This information is stored for your own reference today, and will be used in a future release to match transactions against your bank statement.

Credit Card

Enter the card name and issuing bank, then complete the billing details:

• Closing day — the day the billing cycle ends
• Due day — the day your bank actually charges your account
• Credit limit — the card's monthly spending limit
• Current balance — the outstanding amount if you start using CashSnap partway through a billing cycle

4.2 Categories & Budgets

Categories let you monitor specific types of spending — groceries, leisure, clothing and so on — and assign a monthly budget to each. CashSnap uses this information to analyse your spending habits and compare your monthly expenses against the budgets you define.

Once you have used a category for a merchant, CashSnap remembers the association: the next time you enter a transaction for that merchant, the matching category is suggested automatically. You can accept it or choose a different one.

4.3 Backup & Restore

Create a backup at any time and save it to your device. You can restore a saved backup later by selecting the file.

Dashboard

The Dashboard gives you a complete view of your monthly cash position. It is organised into three parts.

Spending by Card

Shows your total spend for the month and how it breaks down across each payment method, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of total spending.

Credit Card Balances

Displays each credit card's outstanding balance against its approved limit. The indicator turns orange or red as you approach your limit, and a due-date warning appears when payment is due soon.

Budgets

Shows how much of each category's monthly budget you have used. The indicator turns red when you exceed your budget, along with the exact amount and percentage by which you are over.

Recording Transactions

Tap + on the main screen to record an expense or income. CashSnap guides you through the same short flow each time:

1. Choose Expense or Income.
2. Enter an amount greater than zero, using up to two decimal places.
3. Select the transaction date from the calendar.
4. Enter the merchant name.
5. Choose a category — CashSnap suggests one automatically for known merchants.
6. Select a payment method (see below) and save.

Payment method details

• Debit Card / Credit Card — select the specific card you configured in Setup.
• Bank Transfer — enter a free-format reference; in a future release this will be matched to your bank account.
• Other — use for one-off charges such as a loyalty card or voucher.

Working with Foreign Currency

If you are travelling outside the region of your base currency, select Other under Payment Method and choose Foreign Currency to enter the amount in the original currency.

CashSnap converts the amount to your base currency using the European Central Bank exchange rate and shows both figures. The converted amount — not the original — is used as your spending total, while reconciliation with your bank statement will be based on the original foreign-currency amount.

Setting a travel currency. If you are spending in one foreign currency for the length of a trip, open Settings and set a Travel Currency with an end date. Until that date, every new transaction opens with that currency already selected and its converted amount ready — so you no longer have to choose it by hand on each entry.

You can still change the currency on any individual transaction, which is handy for the occasional purchase back in your base currency. If a trip ends early, tap End now in Settings to switch the default off immediately; otherwise CashSnap reverts to your base currency automatically once the end date has passed. Setting it in advance also works well for a holiday you have already planned.

Setting a travel currency in Settings.

Exporting Data

Open Export from the main screen to generate a CSV file of your transactions. Save it to your device and open it in any spreadsheet app for further analysis or record-keeping.

Tips & Best Practices

• Categorise consistently — CashSnap learns from the information you enter, so the more consistent your categorisation, the more useful your Dashboard becomes.
• Set up cards before you need them, so recording a transaction on the go is never interrupted.
• Back up before you restore — restoring overwrites all current data.
• Review your Dashboard regularly to keep budgets and credit card usage on track.

What's Coming Next

CashSnap is under active development. Planned improvements include: