🔐 Your Data Lives in Your Drive

Budget Clan stores everything as Google Sheets in your own Google Drive. There is no app server and no third-party database — sign in with Google, and the app reads and writes only files it created (or files explicitly shared with you).

🏁 First-Time Setup

After signing in for the first time you'll be asked to either:

• Start fresh — creates a new Budget Tracker folder structure in your Drive
• Connect to existing data — point the app at a Budget Tracker folder you already have (e.g. from another device, or a shared family Drive folder)

🗄️ How Data Is Organised

Inside the root folder the app keeps one sub-folder per module (Expenses, Budgets, Accounts, Subscriptions, Ongoings, Income, Receipts, Assets, Depreciations) plus a Settings sheet. Each tracker file you create is its own spreadsheet in the matching folder.

Having multiple files per module is the core idea — e.g. separate expense files for House, Car, and Holiday, or one account file per bank account.

🧭 Navigation

Open the drawer (☰) to switch between the ten modules, System Settings, and Help. Each module screen has its own ⋮ menu with file management actions and a module-specific Help page.

📂 Files, Groups & Defaults

The chip bar at the top of each module lists that module's files — tap to open one. Long-press a chip for options:

• Set as default — this file opens automatically when you enter the module
• Personalise — give the file a colour and icon
• Group — organise files into named sections (create groups in System Settings)
• Base currency — the currency this file's amounts are in
• Rename / Delete

🤝 Sharing

Any tracker file can be shared with another Budget Clan user through the normal Google Sheets share button. The recipient adds it via ⋮ → Add shared file in the matching module. Files shared without write access are labelled Read only.

⏳ If You Hit an API Limit

Google Sheets limits how many requests can be made per minute. If you see the "quota exceeded" screen, wait for the countdown and tap Try again — nothing is lost.

➡️ Where to Next

• Expenses — start recording spending
• Budget — set limits and track progress
• Accounts — import bank statements and reconcile
• Linking records — how the modules connect together
• AI features — set up Gemini for statement import and receipt scanning