iCloud Sharing: record expenses together, without a third-party account
Expense Tool has been on the App Store since 26 October 2010 — and with version 3.3 it shares whole expense lists over iCloud for the first time.
Share an Expense Set with family, friends or travel companions: everyone records and edits expenses in the same set, each on their own device, and changes appear automatically on all participating devices.
It runs exclusively on Apple's CloudKit — with no third-party account. There is no sign-up, no email address handed to a provider and no password; the data stays in the participants' own iCloud accounts.
The app has been developed continuously since it launched under iPhone OS 3, and runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Download the press kit (ZIP, approx. 7.5 MB)
Every image on this page at full resolution — iPhone, iPad, Mac and the 2010 shots — plus press release and fact sheet
Press release
Free to use, in full or abridged.
On the App Store since October 2010 — Expense Tool 3.3 adds shared expenses over iCloud
Winterthur, Switzerland, August 2026 — Expense Tool, continuously available on the App Store since 26 October 2010, gets its biggest user-facing feature with version 3.3: iCloud Sharing. Several people record expenses together in the same list, each on their own device. Changes appear automatically for everyone involved — with no account at a third-party provider.
Shared expenses without a third-party account
Anyone who has split a holiday, a household or a club outing knows the problem: everyone pays out of their own pocket, and at the end somebody has to work out who owes what to whom.
Until now, Expense Tool solved this either by having one person record everything, or by having the participants sync their devices directly with each other. Version 3.3 adds the convenient route: the owner of an Expense Set invites others through the iOS share sheet. From then on everyone records their own expenses on their own device, everyone sees the same state, and the app calculates the balance.
What sets this apart from the common alternatives is where the data lives. Most shared-expense apps require a user account with the provider and store the data on the provider's servers. Expense Tool uses Apple's CloudKit exclusively: the data stays in the participants' own iCloud accounts. There is no sign-up, no email address handed to a provider, no password — and the developer has no access to any of it.
“I've wanted this feature since CloudKit first shipped — but not at the price of suddenly holding my users' expense data on a server. iCloud gives you both: record together, and the data still stays with the people involved.”
— Jürg Otter, developer
Sharing applies to an individual Expense Set, not to the whole app. The owner can stop sharing at any time, and participants can leave a shared set at any time. Everyone involved needs Expense Tool and their own iCloud account. Anyone without an iCloud account — or who deliberately prefers to keep their data out of any cloud — can still use the direct device-to-device Data Exchange.
An app that outlived its era of the App Store
Expense Tool launched on 26 October 2010 under iPhone OS 3, at a time when the expense-tracker category barely existed. Most apps from those years disappeared from the store long ago. Expense Tool has been developed continuously ever since: an iPad version, receipts and photos, a document scanner, iCloud Sync, a native Mac app, and since version 3.0 a free download with optional subscriptions.
The app is built by one person: Jürg Otter, a software developer based in Winterthur, Switzerland.
What the app does — and what it doesn't
Expense Tool is a utility for recording personal and shared expenses: lists organised by topic, receipts as photos or scans, summaries by person or description, the balance of shared expenses, and export to PDF or CSV including receipts and photos.
Accounting, budget planning and tax features are deliberately absent. The app does what its name says.
Availability
Expense Tool 3.3 is available on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and Mac. The download is free; optional subscriptions and a one-time “Pro Lifetime” purchase unlock advanced features. iCloud Sync and iCloud Sharing are not tied to any subscription tier and work in the free version as well. The app is available in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish.
Boilerplate
Expense Tool is an app for personal and shared expenses, on the App Store since October 2010 and developed continuously ever since. It runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Version 3.3 introduces iCloud Sharing: several people record expenses together in the same list, each on their own device, with no account at a third-party provider. Built by Jürg Otter, Winterthur, Switzerland.
Fact sheet
| App name | Expense Tool (German: Ausgaben Tool) |
|---|---|
| Category | Finance / Utility — recording personal and shared expenses |
| Developer | Jürg Otter, Winterthur, Switzerland — solo developer |
| On the App Store since | 26 October 2010 (version 1.0, iPhone OS 3) |
| Current version | 3.3 (August 2026) — iCloud Sharing |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad and Mac (one universal purchase) |
| Requirements | iOS/iPadOS 15 or later, macOS 12 Monterey or later |
| Languages | English, German, French, Italian, Spanish |
| Price | Free download; optional subscriptions, Pro also as a one-time purchase |
| App Store | apps.apple.com/app/id398904876 |
| Website | www.jo-tools.ch/expense-tool/ |
| Contact | expense-tool[at]jo-tools.ch |
Features
- Expense Sets with their own settings: currency, people, groups, factors
- Record expenses with receipt, photo and location — scan receipts directly, locations on the map
- Fast entry: suggestions from entries already made
- List by month, week or a custom period, with sections by person, description or date
- Summary with the balance of shared expenses: who owes what to whom
- Overview across all Expense Sets
- Export by email, as PDF or CSV — with receipts and photos bundled as a .zip; printing included
- iCloud Sync and iCloud Sharing, enabled per Expense Set
- Data Exchange directly between devices without any cloud, backup and import
Deliberately not included: accounting, budget planning, income statements, tax features.
Available Plans
| Free | Up to 5 Expense Sets with up to 20 expenses each. Email and PDF export plus printing included. |
|---|---|
| Plus | Unlimited Expense Sets and expenses, overview across all sets. Quarterly or yearly subscription. |
| Pro | Everything, including Data Exchange, CSV export as well as receipts and photos in exports. Quarterly or yearly subscription — or a one-time “Pro Lifetime” purchase. |
Family Sharing is enabled for all tiers, and one purchase covers iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Images
Click for full resolution. All images are also included in the press kit.
iPad + iPhone, light
iPad + iPhone, dark
iPhone, light
iPhone, dark
iPad, light
iPad, dark
Mac: list
Mac: summary
Mac: expense detail
App icon, 1024 px
All data shown is sample data. Further screenshots are available on request.
2010 and 2013
The same “Switzerland” Expense Set with Person A and Person B — with the sample data of version 1.0 from 2010 and version 2.0 from 2013.
2010, version 1.0: list
2010, version 1.0: summary
2010, app icon
2010, website teaser
2013, version 2.0
Usage rights
The app icon and screenshots may be used freely in editorial coverage of Expense Tool, and may be cropped or scaled to fit your layout. No need to ask first.
Contact
Jürg Otter
Winterthur, Switzerland
expense-tool[at]jo-tools.ch
Questions of any kind are welcome — as are requests for additional screenshots or promo codes for testing and reader giveaways.