FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about plans, the free trial, security, and what's incuded. Don't see your question? Contact us.

About the product

What is Abacus & Olive?

A personal financial management app built to give you a full, organized view of your money — accounts, credit cards, bills, savings, and longer-term projections — in one place. It's the result of 20+ years of refining a personal system by hand, finally turned into a tool anyone can use.

Who is it for?

Anyone who wants more clarity over their household finances — from someone tracking only a checking account and a few bills, to someone projecting decades of mortgage and retirement scenarios. You can use as little or as much of the app as fits your life.

Is it for couples and families?

Yes. Premium includes household sharing so partners can collaborate on the same financial picture, and parents can walk children through how the family actually runs.


Pricing & Plans

What's included in Basic vs Premium?

Basic includes the core daily-management tabs: checking, accounts, credit cards, and bills. Premium unlocks every tab — projections, real estate, household sharing, net worth dashboard, OCR, and the full set of long-term planning features. See the Pricing page for the side-by-side.

How does the 90-day free trial work?

Every new account gets the first 90 days free. We collect your card up front but don't charge it until day 91 — so you have three months to decide. Cancel anytime before then from your account and you won't be charged.

Do you offer a discount for paying annually?

Yes — annual plans come with a 17% discount versus monthly (roughly two months free).

Can I cancel any time?

Yes. Cancel from your account at any time. You keep access through the end of your paid period.

Will I be charged extra for OCR?

Premium includes 100 OCR pages per month at no extra cost. Pages beyond the 100 are $0.10 each. Most households never reach the included allowance.

Do you offer refunds?

Yes. Monthly subscriptions have a 7-day refund window from the most recent charge. Annual subscriptions have a 30-day refund window from purchase. Email info@abacusandolive.com and we'll handle it, no questions asked.


Bring your own cloud

What is "Bring your own cloud"?

A storage option where you connect your own cloud account (Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox) and Abacus & Olive reads and writes directly to your cloud instead of ours. You save 15% on either plan because we don't carry the storage cost — and your data lives in infrastructure you already control.

Which cloud providers can I connect?

Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and Dropbox, at launch. You can switch between Hosted and BYOC any time from your account.


Security & privacy

Is my financial data secure?

Yes. The site uses HTTPS everywhere, payment processing is handled by Stripe (PCI-DSS compliant — we never see your card details), accounts support strong passwords and multi-factor authentication, and data is encrypted at rest and in transit.

Do you sell my data?

No. We do not sell or rent your personal or financial data to anyone. See our Privacy Policy for the full details on what we collect and why.

Do you connect directly to my bank?

Currently the app is designed for you to enter and import your data on your own terms, rather than via a continuous bank connection. Direct connectivity is on our roadmap.

Who has access to my data?

Short answer: You, plus anyone you explicitly invite into your household. Nobody else — not other customers, not the public, and the Abacus & Olive team only in narrow, audited circumstances.

  • You and your household members. When you create a household you get a private space. You can invite a co-owner (full access) or a limited member (receipts only) using a one-time code you share. Only people with the code you give them can join.
  • Other Abacus & Olive customers — never. Every database table is protected by Postgres Row Level Security (RLS) policies that filter rows by your user/household ID. A query from another customer’s session can’t see your rows even if they tried, because Postgres blocks it at the row layer, not just in the app code.
  • The Abacus & Olive team (John & Jess). We can access your data only in three specific situations: (1) you ask us to (e.g., “I’m seeing a bug, can you check my account”) — we look only at what’s needed and tell you what we changed; (2) abuse or fraud investigation — extremely rare, and only with reasonable cause; (3) legal compulsion — if served a valid subpoena or court order, and we’d notify you unless legally prohibited. Routine work (debugging, feature development, support) is done against test accounts, never live customer data.
  • Subcontractors and infrastructure providers. We use Supabase (database and auth), Vercel (web hosting), Stripe (payments), and Anthropic (AI assistant chat). Each holds only the slice of data needed to do its job — for example, Stripe sees your card details (we never do), and Anthropic sees the chat messages you send to the AI assistant. Each has its own security certifications (SOC 2, PCI DSS where applicable). Links to each provider’s privacy policy are in our Privacy Policy.
  • Advertisers and data brokers — never. We don’t sell your data, we don’t share it for advertising, and we don’t have ad tracking on the app.

Is anything stored on my computer?

Short answer: Yes, but only in your browser, and only to keep you signed in and make the app fast. None of your financial data lives on your computer permanently.

What’s stored locally:

  • Sign-in session. A small encrypted token in your browser’s storage so you don’t have to sign in on every page load. It expires automatically when you sign out or after a long idle.
  • Cached app code (the JavaScript and CSS). Your browser caches the app’s static files so it loads instantly on repeat visits. These are the same files everyone gets — nothing personal.
  • PWA installed app icon (if you installed it). When you tap “Install,” your phone or computer saves an icon and an offline shell. Your actual data still comes from our servers each time the app opens — the installed app is just a faster, more app-like wrapper around the website.
  • Receipts you photograph. When you take a receipt photo, it’s uploaded to our servers immediately for OCR. A temporary copy may exist in your browser’s memory until upload completes; after that, it’s gone from your device.
  • Optional: Bring-Your-Own-Cloud (BYOC). If you opt into BYOC, receipt images and nightly database backups go to your Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox instead of ours. Those files live in your cloud account, which you control directly — you can revoke our access from your cloud provider at any time and we can no longer reach them.

What is not stored on your computer:

  • Your transactions, accounts, balances, or any financial data — that all lives on our encrypted servers and is fetched fresh when you open the app.
  • Your password — it’s never stored locally in plaintext or hashed form. It exists only as a salted hash in the auth database.
  • Your card number — we never receive it. It goes directly from your browser to Stripe, who returns us only a payment-method token.


Using the app

Can I import data from another app or my own spreadsheet?

Yes — most users start by importing existing balances, bills, and history.

Can I export my data?

Yes. Your data belongs to you. You can export it at any time.

Is there a mobile version?

The web app is fully responsive on phone and tablet. Native mobile is on the roadmap.

What happens if I forget my password?

Use the "Forgot password" link on the login page — we'll email a secure reset link to the address on file.

Can my children use Abacus & Olive?

Yes. Parents may provide limited access to children through household sharing features. Many families use Abacus & Olive to teach budgeting, saving, spending, and financial responsibility.

Do you offer educational programs for schools?

Yes. Abacus & Olive supports educational use cases for financial literacy instruction. Schools may use sample or student-created data to teach budgeting, account reconciliation, cash flow management, and long-term financial planning. Special educational pricing may be available.

What is OCR?

OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is technology that reads text from an image. In Abacus & Olive it powers receipt scanning — snap a photo or forward a receipt by email, and we automatically pull out the merchant, date, and amount so you don't have to type them in. It's included on every plan.


Support

How do I contact support?

Email info@abacusandolive.com or use the contact form. We respond as quickly as we can.

Where can I leave a review?

Once you have an active account, you'll see an option in your account area to leave a review. We only publish reviews from real customers.


Disclaimers

Does Abacus & Olive give financial advice?

No. Abacus & Olive is an organizational tool — not financial, legal, or tax advice, and we are not your fiduciary. Decisions you make using the app are entirely yours. Please consult a qualified advisor for advice specific to your situation.

Ready to try Abacus & Olive?

90 days free, no card charged until day 91. Cancel any time.

Try free for 90 days