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With my initial internet searches, couldn't find any suitable app/service/software, Hence posting the query here.

Use-case: Looking for an software solution, To log, Categorically divide & manage, Plan in advance (budgeting) the income & expense of a family when multiple people are earning(Meaning each person have more than one account, when money is being managed)

Features Expected:

  • Data stored securely with End To End Encryption (Accessible only to the users & no else, not even the service provider)
  • All information entered is continuously synced with central secure storage
  • Access points or End User Applications available for multiple devices (across OS Platforms - Preferably in Android, Linux, Windows) with features to Add/Edit/Update/Delete/View Reports of logged information
  • Reporting: Account based, Person based, Category based, Time window based

Note: Suggestion on, paid services are perfectly fine, Being an open source service is preferred

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    Do you require double-entry accounting?
    – Flux
    Aug 21, 2022 at 1:19

1 Answer 1

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From my understanding, you want to record income and expense for a family, which you want to treat as a single accounting entity that has multiple sources of income (the income of each person), and multiple types of expenses (for each person).

There aren't many open source solutions that allow multiple simultaneous users. For fulfilling your requirements, self-hosted web interface solutions come to mind.

  • LedgerSMB

    This is oriented towards the needs of a small businesses. It uses double-entry accounting. Users interact with it through a web interface, and the data is stored in a PostgreSQL database. Multiple logged-in users can access the interface at the same time, and they all interact with the same chart of accounts (i.e. users more or less share the same data). It has budgeting features. The reporting features are oriented towards financial reporting (e.g. trial balances, income statement, etc.). LedgerSMB may be overwhelming if you do not understand double-entry accounting. There's a book available to teach you how to use it: Running your business with LedgerSMB.

  • Firefly III

    This is oriented towards personal finances. Users interact with it trough a web interface, and the data is stored in either a MySQL or PostgreSQL database. Note that each user has a completely separate login account (i.e they do not share data with each other). It does not have full double-entry accounting. It has all the other features you listed.


If the above is too complicated or too high-maintenance, you may want to consider using a single-user desktop-only offline solution such as GnuCash instead. In my family, each person has their own GnuCash file (or some other double-entry accounting tool), and produce reports for each other when making joint decisions. I find that the separation of finances reduces complications (what happens when a family member moves out?), but I understand that your needs may be different.

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  • Thank you @Flux for the detailed answer. Like your suggestion 'GNU Cash', I use 'MoneyManager Ex' for personal finance management, It fulfills single user/individual needs. But as I am looking more towards family finance & from your answer the double-entry accounting approach would be good fit. But have to learn a lot on that
    – Aravinth
    Aug 22, 2022 at 7:43
  • So will go through all the detailed shared & will tryout & find the right solution. But it will take some time, Hence not marking your answer as 'Accepted' yet!
    – Aravinth
    Aug 22, 2022 at 7:46
  • @Aravinth You could also consider using a plain text accounting tool such as ledger-cli or hledger, which has the advantage of being easy to version-control using Git.
    – Flux
    Aug 22, 2022 at 8:20

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