Question 1

What is AccountHouse?

Accepted Answer

AccountHouse is shared household finance for families, couples, and roommates — a web dashboard plus a family of Android companion apps. You track expenses, income, budgets, payables, and goals together, with Split groups for shared costs, DocuVault for documents, cards and bank accounts, calendar reminders, household chat and calls, and an optional AI intelligence layer. It is a tracking and organisation tool, not a bank or payment processor.

Question 2

What apps make up the AccountHouse family?

Accepted Answer

Five surfaces share one backend and one account: the web dashboard (the full product in your browser), the AccountHouse Android app (the full mobile companion), AH Lite (a fast, stripped-back Android app built around adding an expense in seconds), AH Split (Split groups on their own, available on the web today with an Android app coming soon), and the Split web app served alongside the dashboard. You sign in with the same account everywhere and everything stays in sync.

Question 3

Can I try the product before I'm approved?

Accepted Answer

The public Playground lets you explore selected flows without a full household account. It is a demo environment — not your real household data. For full multi-member use you still need approved beta access or an invitation.

Question 4

What does the dashboard show?

Accepted Answer

The dashboard is the household command center for the month: spend and income totals, budget burn, payables due, member breakdown, category views, velocity and forecast style signals, and a recent activity feed — so you can act before month-end, not after the surprise.

Question 5

What happens when I first sign in?

Accepted Answer

A short setup flow asks who the household is (family, couple, roommates, solo, or business use), what you want from the product, and roughly how many people share it, then walks you through a guided story and tutorial. Both are skippable, and your answers carry across devices — finishing setup on the web doesn't repeat the questions on mobile.

Question 6

Is AccountHouse a bank or payment service?

Accepted Answer

No. AccountHouse is for tracking and organising household finances. It is not a bank, payment processor, remittance service, tax advisor, or investment advisor. Settlements and payables record what happened — no money moves through AccountHouse, and you remain responsible for verifying figures and decisions.

Question 7

How do I check whether AccountHouse is up?

Accepted Answer

The public System Status page shows the live health of sign-in, records, reminders, and the underlying cloud platform, with 90 days of per-day uptime history, uptime percentages, and recent incidents with durations. If something feels broken, check there first before assuming it's your device.

Question 8

How do I know which version I'm running?

Accepted Answer

Each app shows its version in its About or Settings area, and the platform keeps a version registry for the suite, web dashboard, mobile app, and backend. When a new Android build ships you download the updated APK — there is currently no forced update, so the app keeps working while you decide when to update.

Question 9

Who builds AccountHouse?

Accepted Answer

AccountHouse is built by IA Systems, a SaaS, app, and backend engineering studio based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The company page covers the team and sister products, and the history page tells the story of how the product got here.

Question 10

What is the chat bubble on this website?

Accepted Answer

It's a site assistant that answers questions about AccountHouse using the marketing pages, documentation, and this FAQ as its sources — each answer cites the pages it drew from. It has a per-session question limit and only knows public content; it can't see any account or household data.

Question 11

How do I get access during beta?

Accepted Answer

Access is curated: submit Register Interest on the site, or accept an invitation from an existing household. We review requests manually — beta slots are limited. You'll get an email with setup instructions if approved, or a clear outcome if not.

Question 12

How long does beta review take?

Accepted Answer

We aim to review within a few days, but timing can vary with capacity. You'll hear by email either way. If capacity is full, we'll send a clear decline — you may reapply later, or join via invitation from an existing household. By registering or signing in you agree to the Terms; Privacy explains how we handle data.

Question 13

I was invited by a household — do I still need to register interest?

Accepted Answer

No. An invitation from an existing household is its own path in: you'll receive an activation email, set your own password, and land directly in that household with the role the admin gave you. Register Interest is only for starting a brand-new household.

Question 14

How do I activate my account?

Accepted Answer

Follow the activation link in your email and set your own password. If an admin created your account with a temporary password, you'll be asked to change it on first sign-in. Until activation is complete you appear as a pending member — some collaborative surfaces such as household chat stay unavailable, and the app tells you why.

Question 15

I was declined — can I apply again?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A decline during curated beta usually reflects capacity, not a judgement about you. You can reapply later, or join sooner if an existing household invites you as a member.

Question 16

Can I belong to more than one household?

Accepted Answer

An account belongs to one household — that's what keeps roles, budgets, and privacy boundaries simple. For money shared with people outside your household (a trip, a shared flat, friends), use Split groups, which can include anyone regardless of which household they belong to.

Question 17

Is there a mobile app, and how do I get it?

Accepted Answer

Yes — the AccountHouse Android app is a full companion for members with mobile access, covering day-to-day expenses, Split, chat, reminders, DocuVault, and more. Once you're signed in on the web, the download link and a QR code are in Settings and on the Apps page; the branded download link is theaccounthouse.com/download/android. iOS is not offered yet.

Question 18

What is AH Lite?

Accepted Answer

AH Lite is a fast, design-forward companion Android app built around one job — add an expense in seconds and keep an eye on the budget. It's offline-first, with its own look, and still carries a lot of depth: budgets, cards and bank accounts, insights, card intelligence, goals, calendar, DocuVault, InteliHouse, and the Alerts inbox. It uses the same account and backend as the main app. A public build is coming soon.

Question 19

What is AH Split?

Accepted Answer

AH Split is Split on its own — groups, shared bills, chat, and settle-ups without the rest of the household ledger. It's available on the web today through the dashboard, and a dedicated Android app is coming soon. It's ideal for people who only share costs with you and don't need a full household account experience on their phone.

Question 20

Can I use Split without installing anything?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The AH Split web app runs in any browser and shares your AccountHouse sign-in — it never asks for a separate password; if you're signed out it hands you to the normal AccountHouse login and back. Note that because the session is shared, signing out of the Split web app signs you out of AccountHouse in that browser too.

Question 21

Is there an iPhone or iPad app?

Accepted Answer

Not yet — all AccountHouse apps are Android-only today. On iPhone and iPad, use the web dashboard in Safari and add it to your home screen for an app-like experience. Some Android-specific features, such as Bank Messages, can never come to iOS because Apple provides no SMS-reading capability to apps.

Question 22

Is AccountHouse on the Google Play Store?

Accepted Answer

Not yet. During beta the Android app is distributed directly as an APK from our official download link. A Play Store edition is planned as a constrained variant — Play policies mean it would ship without household calls, location features, and Bank Messages, so the direct download remains the full-featured build.

Question 23

Why does Android ask about unknown sources?

Accepted Answer

Because the beta APK is installed outside the Play Store, Android asks you to allow installs from your browser or Files app for that one install. Only install builds from AccountHouse's official download link or in-app instructions — never from third-party sites. You can turn the permission off again afterwards.

Question 24

Can I install more than one AccountHouse app on the same phone?

Accepted Answer

Yes — the apps are deliberately engineered to coexist. Each has its own package, icon, and storage, and each identifies itself separately to the backend, so signing into AH Lite never signs you out of the main app on the same handset. Your sessions list shows exactly which apps your account is signed into.

Question 25

Will I get duplicate notifications if I install several of the apps?

Accepted Answer

No. Notifications are routed to the app best suited to them, and when more than one installed app could show the same alert, only the highest-priority app on that handset notifies — with the main AccountHouse app winning. Security notices are the deliberate exception: a new-login alert reaches every app so you can't miss it.

Question 26

How do I update the Android app?

Accepted Answer

Download the latest APK from the same official link and install it over the existing app — your data and sign-in are preserved because everything lives on the server. The app's About screen shows your installed version so you can compare against the current release.

Question 27

Are there home-screen widgets?

Accepted Answer

Yes — the main Android app ships eight home-screen widgets: expense summary, quick add, quick actions, payables, analytics, and three Split widgets (chats, approvals, and settlements). They're designed to render instantly from a single aggregate feed.

Question 28

Can I use two accounts on one phone?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The main Android app supports switching between multiple saved logins on one device — useful if you help manage a relative's household. Each account keeps its own session, and app lock re-arms when you switch.

Question 29

Do the apps work offline?

Accepted Answer

Expense capture works fully offline: entries (and their receipts) go into a durable on-device outbox and sync automatically when you're back online, with idempotency keys so retries never create duplicates. Nothing is ever silently dropped — anything that can't sync is surfaced on a Pending sync screen. Live features such as chat reading, bank accounts, and analytics need a connection.

Question 30

How is AH Lite different from the full AccountHouse app?

Accepted Answer

AH Lite trades breadth for speed: it deliberately leaves out household calls, chat, Split, Bank Messages, and widgets, and keeps everything else lean — expenses, budgets, cards, insights, goals, calendar, DocuVault, alerts, and InteliHouse. If you mostly log spending and check budgets, Lite is the faster daily driver; the main app is the everything app.

Question 31

What phone permissions do the apps ask for?

Accepted Answer

Only what a feature needs, when you use it: camera and photos for receipts and document scans, notifications for alerts and reminders, microphone for voice messages and calls, foreground location only if you opt into location tagging, and SMS only if you enable Bank Messages on that phone. Background location is not used.

Question 32

Do web and Android stay in sync?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every app talks to the same backend in real time — an expense added on your phone is on the web dashboard immediately, and silent sync signals keep the apps' caches fresh even when they're closed. There is no separate 'mobile data' to reconcile.

Question 33

Can I invite family or roommates once I'm in?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Household admins can invite members under roles such as admin, member, or viewer, with permissions that control what each person can see and do. Collaboration stays inside your household context.

Question 34

What's the difference between admin, member, and viewer?

Accepted Answer

Admins manage household settings, invites, budgets, categories, and elevated tools, and can see all household data. Members handle day-to-day entries — adding expenses, viewing shared views — with a narrower permission set. Viewers get read-focused access. Any role can additionally be switched to read-only, which removes every create and manage capability while keeping visibility.

Question 35

What can the household owner do that admins can't?

Accepted Answer

The owner holds the keys to the most consequential controls: advanced access policy (restricting which networks, devices, and app installs can sign in), the household-wide location kill switch, full-household backup export, and account deletion. Day-to-day administration is shared with admins; existential decisions stay with the owner.

Question 36

Can members see each other's spending?

Accepted Answer

Household admins can see all household data. Whether ordinary members see each other's spending is a permission the admin controls. On top of roles, sensitive figures have their own gates: income can hide behind a PIN, card amounts sit behind a reveal, and raw bank balances are only shown to people with bank-account management rights.

Question 37

Can I give someone read-only access?

Accepted Answer

Yes, two ways: assign the viewer role, or flip any member to read-only, which strips all create and manage permissions while preserving what they could see. Useful for a family accountant, an older relative, or a teen you want watching but not writing.

Question 38

Why can't some members use the Android app?

Accepted Answer

Mobile app access can be granted per member. Only accounts with mobile access enabled can sign into the Android companions. Ask a household admin to enable mobile for your user if the app rejects sign-in for that reason.

Question 39

Why does another household have features mine doesn't?

Accepted Answer

Several advanced capabilities are enabled per household by platform operators during beta — household calls, Bank Messages, Insights Engine, Card Intelligence, ReceiptVis, smart categorisation, InteliHouse, and location intelligence. If a feature you've read about isn't visible, it likely isn't switched on for your household yet — ask via the contact page.

Question 40

Can we share one login across the household?

Accepted Answer

No. Each person should use their own account. Sharing passwords, session tokens, or 2FA codes violates acceptable use and weakens security. Use invites and roles instead so sessions, audits, and revoke controls work correctly.

Question 41

What am I not allowed to do?

Accepted Answer

Don't access another household's data, share credentials, bypass authentication, run abuse or scraping, upload malware or content you lack rights to store, or use the beta for high-stakes legal or regulatory reliance without independent verification. Abuse can lead to warnings, limits, locks, suspension, or removal from beta.

Question 42

How does expense logging work?

Accepted Answer

Log expenses with categories, payment card or account, member attribution, optional tip and tax, receipts, notes, and location. On mobile, a keypad-first quick add gets a typical entry done in seconds; receipts can be photographed or scanned in as you go. Everything lands in the shared household ledger instantly.

Question 43

How does income tracking work?

Accepted Answer

Income is tracked separately from expenses — salaries, side income, and one-offs — feeding the dashboard's in-versus-out picture and Financial Health. Income figures can be locked behind an optional PIN so totals stay private on shared screens.

Question 44

Can I attach receipts to expenses?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Expenses support receipt photos and attachments from camera or gallery, and where ReceiptVis is enabled a receipt can be scanned so the details prefill for you. Receipts captured offline are staged on-device and uploaded when the expense syncs.

Question 45

Which currencies are supported?

Accepted Answer

Expenses can be logged in multiple currencies with automatic exchange-rate refresh, converting into your household's default currency for totals and budgets (AED is the usual default). Handy for travel and for households whose members earn or spend across borders.

Question 46

How do tip and tax work on expenses?

Accepted Answer

Expenses carry optional tip and tax fields, and the household can define presets (for example a standard VAT rate) that auto-apply so you're not typing the same percentages every day. Receipt scanning and Bank Messages reuse the same presets when they build drafts.

Question 47

How do categories work?

Accepted Answer

Categories are a household-defined tree — parents and sub-categories, each with a colour and icon — shared by every member and every app. Budgets, analytics, and insights all hang off them. Where smart categorisation is enabled, the system learns your household's own naming habits and suggests the right category as you type.

Question 48

Can I bulk-import past expenses?

Accepted Answer

Yes — an Excel import brings historical or bulk entries into the ledger, and Quick Add speeds up runs of manual entries. Imports flow through the same validation as normal expenses, so categories and budgets stay coherent.

Question 49

Can I export my data or statements?

Accepted Answer

Yes, at several levels: reports and statements export as CSV, Excel, or PDF; Split group ledgers export the same way; the shopping list exports as PDF; and the household owner can take a complete encrypted backup of everything. Your data is never locked in.

Question 50

What are favourite expenses?

Accepted Answer

Recurring one-tap templates for things you buy constantly — your coffee, the school run fuel, the weekly shop. Mark an expense as a favourite and re-log it in one tap with today's date, tweaking the amount if needed.

Question 51

Can we record who actually spent the money?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every expense can carry a spent-by attribution, and imported bank transactions can attribute to the card's owner, to you, or to the household in general. Member-level analytics and the dashboard breakdown are built on this.

Question 52

Will retries or syncing ever create duplicate expenses?

Accepted Answer

No. Every client-created expense carries an idempotency key, so an offline entry that retries, a flaky connection, or a re-sent bank message resolves to the same single record instead of a duplicate. The same protection covers Split shares posted to your personal ledger.

Question 53

What analytics and reports are available?

Accepted Answer

Analytics covers trends over time, category and member breakdowns, payment-method views, top expenses, and projections, with reports exportable as CSV, Excel, or PDF. When Insights Engine is enabled, Analytics also surfaces suggestion cards with charts and evidence explaining each finding.

Question 54

How do budgets and budget alerts work?

Accepted Answer

Set per-category or household limits with warning thresholds, and get alerted when spend approaches or crosses them — including at save time when an expense would tip a budget over. Alerts arrive as push and/or email according to your notification preferences.

Question 55

Can a budget differ month to month?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Budgets support monthly overrides — December groceries can differ from February's without rewriting the standing limit — plus mark-as-paid handling and sensible bootstrap defaults when you're starting out.

Question 56

Can I track recurring bills and payables?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Payables cover scheduled commitments — rent, utilities, school fees — with reminders and a full execution history, so dues stay visible and you can prove what was paid when. Executing a payable creates the linked expense record.

Question 57

How do recurring expenses work?

Accepted Answer

Set up templates on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or custom days-of-week schedule and the expense posts itself. You can edit, change just the amount, pause, resume, or stop a pattern, and a backfill preview shows exactly what would be created before you commit.

Question 58

Can recurring expenses ask me before posting?

Accepted Answer

Yes — switch a pattern to approval mode and each occurrence asks first. Approve posts it on its scheduled date; decline snoozes the prompt for 24 hours; skip stops asking until next month; and a pay-now option covers the case where you skipped but ended up paying anyway.

Question 59

What does the Calendar show?

Accepted Answer

A month and day view of your financial life: expenses, payables due, Split activity, and your own reminders in one agenda. Reminders can notify by push, and goal deadlines can be exported to your phone's own calendar.

Question 60

Is there a shared shopping list?

Accepted Answer

Yes — one live list per household that every member sees and edits, surviving reinstalls because it lives on the server. Items carry quantity and unit, an aisle or section, an urgency level (urgent, soon, later), and can be assigned to a specific member; the list shares out as text or a sectioned PDF.

Question 61

Can I set my own reminders?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Personal reminders live on the Calendar with optional push notifications — renew the car registration, chase the deposit, cancel the trial — alongside the reminders the system raises for payables and budgets.

Question 62

What is My Cards?

Accepted Answer

My Cards is where you name the cards and wallets you actually spend with — rendered as card faces with their network — and see month spend against each. Cards can carry a credit limit for utilisation tracking, a statement day, an owner, and a link to the funding bank account. Amounts hide behind an eye icon that reveals with fingerprint or PIN.

Question 63

Can I track bank account balances?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Add your real accounts and AccountHouse maintains a running ledger: expenses, transfers, and imported bank messages move the balance automatically, with statements, manual adjustments, and safe-to-spend math on top. Balances are only visible to members with bank-account management rights.

Question 64

Does AccountHouse connect directly to my bank?

Accepted Answer

No — there is no open-banking or credential-based bank linking, by design; you never give AccountHouse your bank login. Balances update from what you record: expenses against an account, transfers, manual adjustments, and (where enabled) Bank Messages, which reads your bank's own SMS notifications on your phone.

Frequently asked questions

Product basics

Registration & beta