Support

When you open AllowanceKit for the first time, the onboarding wizard guides you through it. Enter your child's name, pick a colour, set the allowance amount and schedule, then configure the bucket split. The whole process takes under 60 seconds. You can add more children later from the parent dashboard.

Tap "+ Add child" on the parent dashboard (top right on iPhone, bottom of the sidebar on iPad). You'll go through the same quick setup flow: name, colour, allowance, buckets. Note: The free tier supports 1 child. Adding more children requires a one-time Premium upgrade.

Yes. Tap on a child's card to open their detail view, then tap the edit button to change their allowance amount, frequency, or deposit day. Changes take effect from the next scheduled deposit.

Buckets divide your child's allowance into separate categories. The defaults are Save, Spend, and Give, but you can rename them, add new ones, or remove them. Each bucket has its own balance, and every allowance deposit is automatically split across buckets according to the percentages you set.

The free tier supports up to 3 buckets per child. Premium users can create unlimited buckets. Some families use just Save and Spend. Others add Holiday, College, Charity, or anything else. The percentages must add up to 100%.

Existing balances stay as they are. The new percentages only apply to future allowance deposits. We don't retroactively redistribute money between buckets.

Kid mode is a simplified, read-only view where children can see their balances and transaction history but can't edit anything. There are two ways to use it:

On a shared device: Tap "Kid Mode" on the parent dashboard. A picker shows all children's names (without balances). Each child taps their name, enters their passcode if one is set, and sees their own view.

On the child's own device: Go to Settings > Child Codes > [Child's name] > Generate invite code. Give this code to your child. When they enter it on their device, the app locks to their view permanently. No picker, no passcode needed.

On shared devices, balances are hidden on the picker screen. If you set a 4-digit passcode for each child (in Settings), they'll need to enter it to see their own balance. On separate devices, each child only has access to their own data. Siblings can't see each other's information at all.

On the passcode screen, tap "Forgot code? Ask a parent." This prompts for the parent PIN, which bypasses the child's code. You can then change or remove their code in Settings > Child Codes.

On the child's device, tap the version number (bottom right corner) 5 times quickly. This opens the override entry screen. On your parent device, go to Settings > Parent Override and generate an override code. Enter this code on the child's device to unlock it back to parent mode. The code expires after 5 minutes for security.

If you're signed into the same iCloud account on multiple devices (e.g. your iPhone and iPad), AllowanceKit syncs automatically via iCloud. Changes you make on one device appear on the other within seconds. No setup needed.

There are two ways, depending on whose Apple ID the child's device is signed into.

The device has its own Apple ID (your child's own account): use Family Sharing. Go to Settings > Family Sharing, tap your child, choose View only, and enter the email or phone number of your child's iCloud account — a QR code appears. Your child scans it with their Camera app, taps "This is [name]'s device", and their device locks to their own view — they can see their money and history, but iCloud itself stops them changing anything.

The device shares your Apple ID (a family iPad, or a hand-me-down phone on your account): the data is already synced there, so use an invite code instead. Go to Settings > Child Codes > [Child's name] > Generate invite code and enter it on their device.

Both paths end in the same kid view. Setting up a child's device is a Premium feature either way.

It comes down to one question: whose iCloud account is the other device signed into?

Same account as you → the data is already on the device, so an invite code just locks it into your child's view.

Their own account → nothing is on the device yet, so a Family Sharing invite (QR code or link) securely shares it there. This works for a child's own Apple ID (view only) and for the other parent (full access). Whatever you share stays in your iCloud and can be un-shared by you at any time.

Rule of thumb: same Apple ID → invite code. Their own Apple ID → Family Sharing.

Yes — each parent uses their own iCloud account. Go to Settings > Family Sharing, tap a child, choose Full access, enter their iCloud email or phone number, and have them scan the QR code (or send them an invite link). They get full access: add money, log spending, edit anything, with changes syncing both ways. Invite them once per child. The inviting parent needs Premium; accepting is free. (Two parents sharing one iCloud account also still works — that's just ordinary sync.)

As long as you're signed into the same iCloud account, your data will sync to your new device automatically when you install AllowanceKit. Nothing is lost.

No. AllowanceKit has a smart catch-up feature. When you open the app, it calculates all missed deposits and adds them with the correct historical dates. Your child's balance will always be accurate regardless of how often you open the app.

Tap the + button on the child's detail view, switch to "Log spend," enter the amount, choose which bucket to deduct from, and optionally add a note (e.g. "Lego set"). The balance updates instantly.

By default, no. The app will prevent a spend that exceeds the bucket balance. If your family wants to allow borrowing against future allowances, you can enable negative balances in Settings. Note: Negative balances is a Premium feature.

No. AllowanceKit is a tracking tool, not a bank or payment service. It keeps a virtual ledger of how much your child has earned and spent. The actual money stays with you (in cash, a bank account, or however your family handles it).

Yes. Go to Settings > Export Transactions (CSV) to save your family's full history as a spreadsheet that opens in Numbers or Excel, or Settings > Export Data Backup for a complete backup file. You choose where each file is saved using the standard Files sheet. Exports are created entirely on your device and are free for everyone. Note: exports never include your parent PIN or child passcodes.