An account in VoiceSpend represents a real-world money container — a bank account, a credit card, a cash wallet, or any other place you hold money. Every transaction you log is associated with an account, which lets you track balances accurately and understand not just how much you're spending, but where the money is actually coming from.
Account types
VoiceSpend supports four account types:
Checking. Your primary day-to-day account. Most of your spending and income flows through here.
Savings. Money you're setting aside. You can transfer to and from savings, and the balance is tracked separately from your spending account.
Credit card. Transactions logged to a credit card account track what you owe, not what you've actually paid. When you pay your credit card bill, that's recorded as a transfer from checking to the credit card account — bringing the credit card balance down.
Cash. For spending where no card is involved. Cash accounts let you track cash withdrawals and spending without needing bank integrations.
Setting up your first account
From Settings → Accounts, tap "Add Account". You'll be asked for:
- Account name — whatever you call it in daily life ("Chase Checking", "Amex", "Wallet")
- Account type — from the four options above
- Currency — for most people this is their home currency; travelers can set up foreign currency accounts
- Starting balance — the current balance in this account. This is used to calculate your net worth and Safe-to-Spend
The starting balance doesn't need to be exact to the cent. A round number close to reality is fine — your balance gets more accurate over time as you log transactions.
Multiple accounts and Safe-to-Spend
Safe-to-Spend — the amount you can freely spend right now — is calculated across all your accounts together, not per-account. It takes your total available balance, subtracts upcoming committed spending (budgets, recurring bills), and shows you what's genuinely discretionary.
If you have $3,000 in checking and $800 in savings, VoiceSpend can be configured to include or exclude savings from the Safe-to-Spend calculation. Most people exclude savings — it's money you're not supposed to touch — and only include their spending accounts.
Credit cards and the balance trap
Credit cards are one place where account setup matters a lot. If you log a $60 restaurant transaction to your credit card, your credit card balance goes up by $60. But your checking balance doesn't change yet.
When you pay your credit card bill — say $800 — that's a transfer. Your checking balance decreases by $800, and your credit card balance decreases by $800. The net effect is zero: the expense was already logged when you made the purchase.
This is the correct way to handle credit cards because it prevents double-counting. The expense is recorded when you spend, not when you pay the bill.
Multi-currency accounts
If you travel often or earn in multiple currencies, you can create accounts in different currencies. Each account holds its balance in its own currency. VoiceSpend converts to your home currency for reports and Safe-to-Spend using the exchange rate you set.
To update exchange rates, go to Settings → Currencies. Rates don't auto-update — you set them manually when you want to refresh.
Transfers between accounts
Moving money between your own accounts — from checking to savings, from savings to credit card — is a transfer, not an expense. Transfers are logged in your transaction history but don't affect your spending reports or budget tracking.
To log a transfer by voice:
- "Transferred five hundred to savings"
- "Moved a thousand from checking to Amex"
- "Paid Amex three hundred from Chase"
All of these create a paired transfer record: money leaving one account and arriving in another.
Keeping balances accurate
The simplest way to keep your account balances accurate is to log every transaction. For purchases, that means logging immediately or within the day. For income, log it when you receive it.
If your balance drifts from reality — which happens, especially with cash accounts — you can do a manual adjustment. Tap the account, tap "Adjust Balance", and enter the correct current balance. VoiceSpend creates an adjustment transaction to reconcile the difference.