Managing money with another person is one of the most friction-filled parts of adult life. Most couples either skip tracking entirely or maintain separate spreadsheets that never sync. Financial advisors consistently point to shared visibility as the single biggest lever in household budgeting — but the tools that offer it are often complex, subscription-gated, or require linking bank accounts.
SpenGo takes a different approach. Your expenses already live in a Google Spreadsheet in your own Drive. Sharing the budget simply means granting write access to that spreadsheet for one other Google account — using the same Drive Permissions API Google uses itself. No new infrastructure, no SpenGo server involved.
SpenGo has no backend database — every expense row lives in a Google Spreadsheet inside your Google Drive. Sharing the budget is therefore identical to sharing any Google Sheets document: SpenGo calls the Google Drive Permissions API to grant the invited account writer access to that specific spreadsheet.
This means:
- No SpenGo server is involved in the permission grant — the call goes directly from your browser to Google's API using your OAuth token.
- The invited person needs a Google account, not a SpenGo account. Any existing Google account works.
- The shared spreadsheet is a real Google Sheet — both people can also open it directly in Google Sheets from any browser or the mobile app.
- The owner retains full control and can revoke access at any time — the access link stops working immediately.
The Share panel shows an email input field and a warning notice. Type the full Google email address of the person you want to invite — it must be a valid @gmail.com or Google Workspace address.
- The Share button becomes active only once a valid Google email is entered.
- You cannot invite your own email address or an address that already has access.
- SpenGo validates the email format before sending — an invalid address keeps the button disabled.
Read the warning before proceeding: the invited person will have full write access to your expense data. They can add, edit, and delete any entry in the spreadsheet — including entries you made before the invite. Only share with someone you trust completely.
When ready, tap Share. A loading overlay appears while SpenGo calls the Drive Permissions API. This typically takes one to two seconds on a good connection.
After the invite succeeds, the Share panel switches to the shared state view. The invited person's name or email appears with a Writer role badge. Below that, an access link is displayed in a monospaced URL field.
This link is personalised — it encodes the spreadsheet ID so that when the invited person opens it and signs in with their Google account, SpenGo loads your shared spreadsheet automatically instead of creating a new one.
- Tap the copy button (clipboard icon) to copy the link to your clipboard.
- Send it via any channel — a text message, WhatsApp, email, or any messenger you use.
- The link itself is not secret — but it is only useful to the specific Google account you invited. Anyone else who opens it and signs in with a different account will see their own (separate) SpenGo budget, not yours.
Your partner receives the access link and opens it — on mobile or desktop, any browser works. SpenGo loads and shows the sign-in screen (if they are not already signed in to SpenGo) or immediately shows the shared budget (if they already have an active SpenGo session).
- They tap Sign in with Google and authenticate with the same Google account you invited. Using a different account will not load the shared budget.
- SpenGo detects the spreadsheet ID encoded in the link and loads it directly — no searching, no manual setup.
- The shared budget appears immediately: all existing expense rows are visible, and they can start adding entries right away.
From this point on, both of you can open SpenGo directly at webspengo.xyz (no need to use the access link again). SpenGo remembers which spreadsheet each account is connected to.
Once both accounts are connected to the same spreadsheet, SpenGo works identically for both people. There is no concept of "your" expenses versus "theirs" inside the app — it is one shared list, written to the same Google Sheet.
- Both accounts can add expenses using the + button — amount, category, note, date.
- Both can edit or delete any row — including rows added by the other person.
- Changes appear in real time: SpenGo reads from the Google Sheet on each app open and on each action. If one partner logs groceries on their phone, the other will see it the next time they open or refresh the app.
- The Statistics screen reflects the combined spending of both accounts — bar charts, category breakdown, and totals all include every row in the shared spreadsheet.
For household budgeting, this means you can divide responsibility naturally: one person logs the groceries, the other logs transport and utilities, and at the end of the month the statistics screen shows the full picture for both. Cutting household expenses starts with knowing where they are — a shared log makes that possible without any manual reconciliation.
Only the spreadsheet owner can revoke access. Open your Profile → Share. The shared user is listed with a remove button (the × icon on the right side of their row).
Tap the remove button. SpenGo calls the Drive Permissions API to delete the permission immediately. What happens next:
- The access link stops working — opening it and signing in with the formerly-invited account will no longer load the shared spreadsheet.
- The invited person loses read and write access to the spreadsheet from SpenGo and from Google Sheets directly.
- All expense rows they added remain in the spreadsheet — revocation only removes their access, not the data. The owner retains every entry.
- The Share panel returns to the invite state, ready to share with a different Google account if needed.
The complete sharing flow in summary
Profile → Share → enter Google email → tap Share → copy access link → send it. Your partner opens the link, signs in with the invited Google account, and the shared budget is live for both of you. Revoke at any time from the same Share panel.
The sharing feature builds on SpenGo's core principle: no proprietary server stores your data. The shared budget is a real Google Sheet in your Drive, protected by Google's own permission system. If you ever decide to stop using SpenGo, the spreadsheet — and all the expense history — stays in your Drive, accessible and exportable forever.
Want to understand the full feature set? The sharing section on the features page gives a quick overview, and the complete features page covers everything from expense logging to category charts. For details on data storage and privacy, the privacy policy is written in plain language.
How do I share my SpenGo budget with someone?
Tap your avatar to open the Profile modal, then tap Share. Enter the other person's Google email and tap Share. SpenGo grants them writer access via the Drive API and generates a personal access link. Copy the link from the Share panel and send it to them — they open it, sign in with their Google account, and your shared budget loads automatically.
Can both people add and edit expenses?
Yes. Once the invited person joins via the access link, both accounts have full write access: add new expenses, edit existing ones, delete entries. All changes affect the same Google Sheet and appear on both sides the next time the app is opened or refreshed.
How many people can I share with?
SpenGo currently supports sharing with one additional Google account. The feature is designed for couples and two-person households tracking a joint budget.
How do I remove someone's access?
Open Profile → Share. Tap the remove button (×) next to their name. SpenGo revokes the Drive permission immediately — the access link stops working and they can no longer read or write the spreadsheet. All data they added remains in your spreadsheet.
Does the invited person need a SpenGo account?
No separate SpenGo account is needed — only a Google account. They open the access link you send, sign in with the invited Google account, and the shared budget loads automatically.
What if the invited person accidentally signs in with the wrong Google account?
SpenGo will create a new empty spreadsheet for that unrecognised account. They will not see your budget. They need to sign out and sign back in with the correct Google account — the one you invited — to access the shared budget.