How do you log the expenses you repeat all the time without typing them out every time?

Why do small expenses fall out of the ledger?

Filling in five fields for a 3 dollar coffee takes longer than buying the coffee. So people log the rent and the bills and skip the coffee, the snack and the parking. A 5 dollar habit on 22 working days is still 110 dollars a month. Spending that never reaches the ledger is the spending that surprises a budget most.

That effort is also the most common reason people stop keeping a ledger. Once a record takes two taps, the habit sticks.

What does a template keep?

A template keeps everything about a record except the date: whether it is income or expense, the account, the category, the amount, the note and the tags. The date is left out because a record made from a template is dated the day you use it. A template name can be up to 40 characters; by default it takes the record's note or the category name.

A template does not keep a share split with a person. If you want to repeat a bill you split with a friend exactly as it was, use the Repeat button described below.

Step by step: your first template

A template is made from a record you already entered, not from an empty form:

• Enter the expense once the normal way: amount, account, category, and a note and tags if you like.
• Tap that record in the Transactions list. Its page has a Quick entry card.
• Type a short name in Template name, for example "Morning coffee", and press Save as template.
• Next time, tap that name in the Frequent strip at the top of the New entry page. The form fills in; fix the amount if it changed and save.

What else shows up in the Frequent strip?

Your saved templates come first, marked with a bookmark icon. Up to four suggestions follow. Suggestions come from the income and expense records of the last 60 days: records with the same type, account and category form a group, and the group repeated most comes first. Tapping a suggestion fills the form with the amount, note and tags of the latest record in that group.

An account and category pair that already has a template is not suggested again. Installment purchases and records shared with a person are left out of suggestions too. If you have more than one account, each button shows the amount and the account name underneath, so two cards used for the same category do not get mixed up.

Repeat versus a template

The Repeat button on a record's page copies that record into a new entry and stores nothing. A share split with a person is copied as well. Repeat also works on the free plan.

A template stays and waits in the strip. For records that happen several times a week a template is handier; for things that happen once or twice a month Repeat is enough.

Template or recurring payment?

For payments that fall on a set day every month, such as rent, service charges or internet, set up a recurring payment instead. A recurring payment reminds you as the day approaches and shows whether it was paid that month; a template reminds you of nothing and only shortens the entry. Expenses that repeat often but at no fixed time, such as coffee, groceries, taxis and fuel, are what templates are for. A separate guide covers recurring payments.

Changing and removing templates

The Manage templates section at the bottom of the New entry page lists each template's type, category, account and amount. The Remove button deletes the template; past records entered with it stay where they are. To change what a template holds, remove it and save a new one from a record entered with the new values.

A category cannot be deleted while a template uses it. You can hide the category or remove the template first.

Which plan includes this?

Pro includes templates and Frequent suggestions. Every new account gets 14 days of Pro without a card; after that Pro is $39.99 a year or $6.99 a month. The free plan has 1 account and 30 records a month. Details are on the pricing page. The Repeat button is open on the free plan, but every new record counts against the 30 records a month.