Projects & one-off big expenses

A project is a one-off effort with a budget of its own, like a renovation, a wedding or a move. Each project gets its own categories, and every expense you file under them counts toward the project. For spending that repeats every month, use Budgets instead.

Creating a project

Touch and hold + at the bottom of the Dashboard and choose Project. If you have no projects yet, you can also scroll to Projects on the Dashboard and tap Start a project. To see all your projects, tap View all next to Projects or go to Settings → Projects. The list has Active and Finished tabs, and you can add a project with +. On iPad, open Dashboard in the sidebar.

• Templates: Renovation, Wedding, Moving, Baby, Car, Celebration, Studies and Side business. Each template adds a starter set of categories marked New. For example, Renovation adds Materials, Labor, Furniture and Tools. Swipe to remove any you don’t need.
• Name, icon and color.
• Budget: optional and in any currency. It’s for the whole project, not per month.
• Add category: create the project’s own categories, up to 12.
• Starts and, with I know the deadline on, Ends. The dates only drive the countdown; they don’t decide what counts.
• Note.

What counts toward a project

An expense counts toward a project when it’s filed under one of the project’s categories. Its date doesn’t matter.

When you save, Lode creates a category folder named after the project and puts the project’s categories inside it. They’re regular categories, so you’ll see them in every category picker as, for example, “Renovation > Tiles”. You can edit them in Categories. A category you move into the project’s folder from the Categories screen becomes part of the project too.

If you buy something for the project that you also buy elsewhere, like taxis, give the project its own Taxi category. That way only the project’s taxis count. To take an expense out of a project, change its category.

Refunds count too. If you record income under one of the project’s categories, it’s shown as money that came back, and it’s subtracted from what the project has spent.

The monthly Budget

Keep out of the monthly Budget is on by default. The project’s spending then won’t count toward your monthly Budget, so a large renovation doesn’t push every month over its limit. Turn it off if you want the spending counted there as well.

The project page

Tap a project to see:

• What’s been spent against the budget, how much is left (or Over by), and a status: Active, a countdown to the deadline, Deadline passed or Finished.
• A Project summary sentence. With Premium, Lode AI can rewrite it.
• Started, Deadline and Budget.
• A By month chart with the budget line, once the project spans more than one month.
• Categories, listing every one of the project’s categories and what each has cost.
• Accounts, once spending comes from more than one account.
• Recent Transactions and your note.

Spending in other currencies is converted to the project’s currency at the rate on each transaction’s date.

Tap ••• and choose Add Transaction to open the transaction editor with the project’s first category already selected. Its categories appear first in the list.

Finishing and resuming

Choose Finish project from the project’s ••• menu. A Project finished sheet shows what it cost in the end. The project moves to the Finished tab and leaves the Dashboard. Its categories are hidden from category selection, but their expenses still count. To add a late invoice or a refund, use Add Transaction on the project’s page. Resume project brings the categories back.

Deleting a project

Choose Delete from the project’s ••• menu or its touch-and-hold menu. Transactions are never deleted with a project.

• If nothing has been filed under the project’s categories, they’re deleted along with it.
• If any of them has transactions or bills, those categories are hidden from lists and category selection instead. Their transactions stay as they are, so your balances, history and Statistics don’t change.
• Reassign to Another Category (offered when something is filed) moves every transaction and bill to a category you pick. The project’s categories are then deleted.

Reminders

If an active project has a deadline, Lode reminds you a week before it and again on the day. If the project has a budget, the reminder says how much is left or how far over you are. You can turn these off with Settings → Notifications → Project Reminders.

Statistics

With Premium, the Projects tile in Statistics shows what the period’s projects cost and their share of your spending. To compare a renovation month with an ordinary one, turn on Without projects in the filter. It leaves out everything in the projects’ categories, including finished projects. The filter in Statistics is a Premium feature; the one in Transactions is free.

Shared accounts and sync

Projects sync across your devices with iCloud. If you share an account, the project’s categories are added to the shared accounts you own, so the other people can choose them there. The project page and budget stay yours. Count others' spending is on by default and appears only when you share an account. It decides whether their expenses in the project’s categories count toward your project, or only your own. See Shared accounts.

If you log Apple Pay payments automatically (Apple Pay automation), Lode takes your active projects’ categories into account when it picks a category. The confirmation then names the project.

Free and Premium

The free plan includes 1 project, whether it’s active or finished; deleting it frees the slot. A project’s folder and categories don’t count toward the free plan’s category limit. Premium allows unlimited projects and adds the Projects tile in Statistics.

Questions? Reach out at lodeapp@proton.me.