Export expenses to CSV on iPhone

What the file contains

The export is a spreadsheet of the transactions you already have in the book you export from: amounts, dates, categories, accounts, and notes you typed. It is a copy of the log, not a live link to a bank.

Use it when you want a file off the phone, or when a tax or shared-house spreadsheet needs the same rows. The CSV is portable. It is not a lock-in format.

Take the images too: the full export package

Choose “Create Full Export” in Export to get a ZIP with the CSV, every image you attached, and a manifest that says which record each image belongs to.

It is handy for expense claims, taxes, or keeping a complete archive before you change phones. It is not a backup and cannot be imported back into SimpleSpend. To keep data across devices, use iCloud sync.

Export is not import

You can write a CSV out. You cannot feed a CSV back in. There is no bank statement import either. If you leave SimpleSpend, take the file with you; if you arrive from another app, you log by hand (or by voice).

That is the same privacy tradeoff as the rest of the app: nobody else is filling the book. The export is how you take a copy without giving a bank login.

When to export

Export before you delete the app if iCloud is off — the local copy goes with the install. Export anytime you want a second copy on a computer.

iCloud sync (if you turn it on) keeps personal ledgers between your iPhone and iPad. CSV is the file you can email, archive, or open in Numbers. They solve different jobs.

Export a SimpleSpend CSV on iPhone

1. Open the ledger whose records you want in the file.
2. Use export and choose CSV.
3. Save or share the file to Files, Mail, or a computer.
4. Open it in a spreadsheet. Do not expect to import it back.