Budget

Sharing

Share your budget data with other Nextcloud users for household or team financial management.

Overview#

The Sharing feature allows you to grant other Nextcloud users access to your financial data. This is useful for households managing joint finances, teams tracking shared budgets, or accountants who need visibility into a client's accounts.

Shared users can view your accounts, transactions, and reports based on the permission level you assign.

Adding a Share#

To share your budget data with another user:

  1. Navigate to the Sharing page from the sidebar
  2. In the search field, type the name or username of a Nextcloud user
  3. A dropdown will appear with matching users on your instance
  4. Select the user you want to share with
  5. The user will immediately gain access based on the default permission level

Note: You can only share with users who have accounts on the same Nextcloud instance. The user does not need to have the Budget app enabled themselves.

Permission Levels#

When you share your budget with another user, they receive access according to defined permission levels:

PermissionDescription
ViewCan see accounts, transactions, categories, and reports. Cannot make any changes.
EditCan add and modify transactions, categories, and other data. Cannot delete accounts or manage settings.
Full AccessCan perform all actions except removing the share itself or accessing security settings.

Tip: Start with View access and increase permissions as needed. You can always change the permission level later.

Shared Categories#

Categories shared with you appear on your Categories page alongside your own, each marked with a badge naming the owner:

  • "Shared · <owner>" — read-only. You can still use the category to classify transactions, but you cannot change the category itself.
  • "Shared (editable) · <owner>" — shared with Edit permission. You can rename it and change its colour directly from the Categories page.

Even with Edit permission, some aspects of a category stay with its owner: the type (income or expense), the parent category, the budget, whether it is excluded from reports, and deleting it. These change how the owner's budget and reports are calculated, so they remain owner-controlled.

If you don't want a shared category counted in your own reports, use the Hide from my reports toggle on its row (visible on hover). This affects only what you see — the owner's reports and other viewers are untouched, and the category still works for classifying transactions. Toggle it back with Show in my reports at any time.

Shared Import Rules#

You can share individual import rules the same way you share accounts or categories — pick which rules to share, at View or Edit permission, from the share's Configure panel.

A rule shared with you appears on your Rules page marked with a "Shared" badge:

  • View — you can see and run the rule, but not change it.
  • Edit — you can also modify the rule's criteria and actions. Edits apply for the owner and everyone it's shared with (it is one rule, not a copy). Only the owner can delete it.

Shared rules also run automatically when you import, and when you use Run Rule Now, exactly like your own rules.

Note on categories and accounts: a rule's actions (like set category or set account) point at the owner's categories and accounts. When such a rule runs for you, that action only takes effect if the target category/account is also shared with you — otherwise it is skipped, so a transaction is never filed under something you can't see. Sharing the relevant categories/accounts alongside the rule makes it fully effective.

Managing Shares#

To view and manage your active shares:

  1. Go to the Sharing page
  2. You will see a list of all users you have shared with, along with their current permission level
  3. To change permissions, select a different level from the dropdown next to the user's name
  4. To remove access, click the Remove button next to the share entry

When you remove a share, the user loses access immediately. No data is deleted from your account.

Warning: Removing a share cannot be undone from the shared user's perspective. They will lose access to all your budget data instantly.

Dashboard Integration#

When you receive shared access to another user's accounts, those accounts are automatically included in your Dashboard summary. This means:

  • Net Worth includes balances from shared accounts
  • Income/Expenses This Month includes transactions from shared accounts
  • Currency breakdowns reflect shared account currencies
  • Account count includes shared accounts

The Recent Transactions widget also displays transactions from shared accounts.