Adding an expense is the thing you'll do most in CiviQ. This guide covers every field, every option, and every shortcut — so you can log expenses as fast as possible.
The expense form — field by field
1
Amount
The money you spent. Just numbers. ₹450, ₹2,840, ₹18,999. Indian number formatting works: 1,16,819 is valid. Paise are supported: 450.50.
2
Title / Merchant name
What you spent it on or where. 'Swiggy', 'DMart grocery run', 'Petrol BPCL', 'Auto to office'. CiviQ uses this to detect the category and show the right icon.
3
Category
CiviQ auto-suggests based on the merchant name. You can override it by tapping the category chip. Your budget tracking depends on the right category — Food & dining, Transport, Groceries, Bills & Utilities, Entertainment, Shopping, Health, Investment, Other.
4
Account
Which account did the money come from? This updates that account's balance. If you paid via PhonePe, select PhonePe. If you paid cash, select Cash.
5
Date
Defaults to today. Change it for past expenses — you can backdate as far as needed. Future dates are not allowed.
6
Note (optional)
A reminder to yourself. 'Team dinner before Sprint 6', 'Amma's birthday gift', 'Panic-bought headphones'. You'll thank yourself later when you see 'Shopping ₹8,999' and can't remember what it was.
7
Receipt (optional)
Tap to upload a photo of the physical receipt. Stored in your document vault, encrypted. Useful for expense reimbursements and tax purposes.
8
Project (optional)
If this expense is part of a multi-purchase project (like a PC build or kitchen renovation), link it here. See Purchase Projects guide.
The change received feature
This is unique to CiviQ. When you pay more than the expense amount and receive change back, you can log both in one step.
Example
You pay ₹500 cash at a chai stall for a ₹30 cup. You get ₹470 back. Without CiviQ's change feature: • Cash goes down ₹500 ❌ (wrong — you still have ₹470) With CiviQ's change feature: • Log expense: ₹30 (the actual cost) • Enable 'Got change back': ₹470 • CiviQ updates Cash balance correctly: -₹30 net ✓
Splitting an expense
After logging any expense, tap the three-dot menu and select 'Split this'. You can split equally or enter a custom amount. CiviQ creates a Split record that tracks who owes you. See the full Splits guide for details.
Keyboard shortcuts (desktop)
- 'N' anywhere on the page — open new expense form
- Tab — move between fields
- Enter — submit the form
- Escape — close without saving
💡 If you log an expense and immediately realise it's wrong, the undo-style fix is to open Transactions, find the expense (it's at the top), and tap the three-dot menu to edit. You can change any field, including the amount.