For couples
Stay on the same page about money
One shared plain-text ledger for your household. Bring joint and separate accounts into a single view, track progress toward your goals together, and make money check-ins easy.
One household, one ledger
Every account, both of you, one shared view
Joint checking, personal credit cards, savings, and investments all live in one ledger — so the household picture is always complete and always current.
- Bring joint and separate accounts together into one shared view.
- See how you spend as a household, no matter who made the purchase.
- Watch your net worth grow together over time.
Collaboration made easy
Money check-ins that take minutes, not hours
Because every transaction lives in one shared ledger, reviewing the month together is as simple as opening a report — no spreadsheets, no screenshots, no guesswork.
- Review transactions together and make sure everything looks right.
- Make money check-ins quick with monthly summaries and interactive reports.
- Plan a household budget that still leaves room for personal spending.
Go further, together
Shared goals, tracked side by side
Whether you're saving for a home, a trip, or an emergency fund, your goals live in the same ledger as the rest of your money — progress included.
- Align on goals you both feel good about and track progress along the way.
- Contribute toward shared goals even if you keep money in separate accounts.
- Use reports to spot household spending trends and easy ways to save.
Why plain text
Your money, your data
Shared finances need trust. A plain-text ledger gives both of you full visibility into the numbers — and full ownership of the data behind them.
One ledger you can both read
Your household's finances live in a single plain-text file both of you can open, read, and verify — no opaque app database.
Full history of every change
Git history shows who changed what and when, so nothing ever gets quietly edited.
Private and portable
Your ledger is yours. Export everything at any time — no lock-in, no proprietary format.
Easy to share when it counts
Share read-only reports or the plain-text file with an advisor or tax professional anytime.
FAQ
Questions couples ask
How shared finances work in a plain-text ledger.
Do we need to combine our finances to use beancount.io?
No. You can track joint and personal accounts side by side in one ledger — shared reports show the household total while each partner's accounts stay clearly separated.
Can we each keep some accounts private?
Yes. Keep fully separate ledgers, or maintain one shared ledger and use account filters so each of you sees only what's relevant. You decide what's shared.
How do we split shared versus personal spending?
Use the account hierarchy — for example, Expenses:Household versus Expenses:Personal — plus tags for things like vacations or shared projects. Reports can then break spending down exactly the way you split it.
Is our data locked in?
Never. Your ledger is a plain-text file you can export at any time and open with any Beancount tool. If you ever leave, your data comes with you — no conversion needed.
Start your shared ledger today
Free to start. One plain-text ledger for your household — private, portable, and always yours.