Know what stays on your device and what we store
This page describes what each AceMoney product does with your data, in plain words. The legal text is the privacy policy; where this page describes an app behavior, the app’s own settings are the source of truth.
The short version
- AceMoney Studio keeps your finances in a document on your computer. No account is needed, and Studio on a computer sends no crash reports or analytics.
- AceMoney Cloud, if you subscribe, stores an end-to-end encrypted copy of the documents you choose to sync. It is encrypted on your device with a key we do not hold, so we cannot read it.
- AceMoney Receipts keeps your receipts in your account online, so that the phone, the web version and a new phone show the same receipts. Filing Cabinet documents, coming in AceMoney Receipts 2.0, stay on the phone.
- AceMoney Classic keeps its data file on your computer and goes online only for bank downloads, quotes and exchange rates, the update check and, if you set it up, pairing with AceMoney Receipts.
- Crash and diagnostic reports are off unless you turn them on.
AceMoney Studio
Your finances are a document on your computer
On macOS, Windows and Linux, your accounts, transactions, budgets, scheduled bills, investments and attachments live in an AceMoney document file that you choose where to keep, plus the backup copies Studio keeps on the same computer. No account is needed. Nothing about your money is uploaded unless you subscribe to AceMoney Cloud and turn on sync for a document. Studio on a computer sends no crash reports, analytics or diagnostics.
When Studio goes online, and what it sends
| What you do | What is sent |
|---|---|
| Update exchange rates (Settings ▸ Currency & Quotes) | The currency codes you use, to a free public exchange-rate service |
| Download this rate from Coinbase (a currency you added, off by default) | Only that currency’s code, to Coinbase |
| Update quotes or a symbol search on the Portfolio page | The symbols you hold or type, to the quote provider you chose. Keys you enter stay on this device |
| Bank feeds via SimpleFIN (Settings ▸ Connections) | Your SimpleFIN setup token, to the SimpleFIN provider that issued it. Your bank login happens on the provider’s own site and never enters Studio |
| Bank feeds through AceMoney Cloud (Settings ▸ Connections) | You sign in to your bank in your browser, through our bank-feed provider. Your bank password never enters Studio or reaches us |
| AceMoney Cloud sync (the Cloud page) | The documents you sync, encrypted on this computer before they are sent |
| Opening a trip that has a recorded route | A request for map tiles to draw the route |
| The update check | A request to the update feed on launch and about every 24 hours |
| Activating an AceMoney Studio license | See the next section |
Everything else, including every report, search and backup, happens on your computer.
The license check-in
The Activate license card shows this notice, which is the whole story:
Works offline. Checks in when it can. AceMoney Studio never sends us your financial data. When you activate, we receive your license key, your purchase email, and a one-way value that lets your copy check it is still on the computer you activated — we cannot reverse it, and it carries no serial number, network address or hardware detail. After that, if you happen to be online when you open the app, it tells us the license is still in use. We keep those check-in records, including the IP address, for 30 days. The app never waits for us and never stops working if it cannot reach us. We use this only to stop license keys being published online for anyone to use — which is what lets us keep selling AceMoney Studio once, instead of by subscription.
Releasing or viewing seats also contacts the licensing service, with the same information.
Document password and backups
You can encrypt a document with a password (Settings ▸ Document ▸ Enable encryption…). The document file then stays unreadable without the password wherever it travels. If you sync it with AceMoney Cloud, a computer that joins the document offers to protect its own copy too; the password itself never syncs. Attached files such as receipt images are stored next to the document and are not covered. Keep the recovery code the app shows once: without the password and without that code nobody can open the document, including us. Backups of an encrypted document are encrypted too, and enabling encryption deletes the earlier plain-text backups.
Delete your Studio data
Delete the document file and the attachments folder next to it. Backup copies are kept in Studio’s own data folder on that computer; ask support if you need help finding them. If you never used AceMoney Cloud, there is nothing to delete on our side. If you did, see Delete your AceMoney account and Cloud data below.
AceMoney Cloud
AceMoney Cloud is an optional subscription. If you do not subscribe, nothing in this section applies to you.
What is stored
- Your synced documents. When you turn on sync for a document, Studio encrypts it on your computer and sends the encrypted copy to us, so your other computers can fetch it. This covers the document’s accounts, transactions, attachments, budgets, schedules, investments and the other data listed in Sync between your devices.
- Your bank-feed transactions. With a connected bank, new transactions are encrypted for your devices before they are stored for them.
- Your AceMoney account. Your sign-in e-mail address and your subscription.
What we cannot read
The synced copy and the bank-feed transactions are end-to-end encrypted. The key is created and kept on your devices, and we do not hold it. We store the encrypted data, but we cannot read your accounts, amounts, payees or attachments. We cannot decrypt them for you either, so keep your account recovery code safe.
When a subscription ends
Sync stops and your bank connections are disconnected. Nothing on your devices is touched. Your synced copy stays available to restore for 12 months, and we e-mail you a month before we delete it. See When AceMoney Cloud ends.
Delete your AceMoney account and Cloud data
- Cancel your AceMoney Cloud subscription first. Deleting your account does not cancel it. See Manage or cancel your AceMoney Cloud subscription.
- In AceMoney Studio, open Settings ▸ Account and click Delete account….
- Read the Delete your AceMoney account? dialog.
- Enter your password, or sign in again with Google if that is how you sign in.
- Click Delete account.
AceMoney Studio says “Your account was deleted.” This permanently deletes your AceMoney account and the data stored for it on our servers, including anything in AceMoney Receipts that uses the same account. It cannot be undone. The documents on your computer are not deleted.
AceMoney Receipts
What is kept in your account, and why
When you save a receipt, its merchant, amount, date, category, comment and image, and the capture location if you turned that on, are sent over an encrypted connection to your account on our servers. That is what lets you sign in on the web version or on a new phone and find the same receipts, and what the pairing with AceMoney Classic reads from. Your account also holds your sign-in e-mail and the account, payee and category names synced from a paired AceMoney Classic. Receipts are not end-to-end encrypted: our systems process them to provide the service.
What stays only on your phone
- AceMoney Filing Cabinet documents, their scans and the recognized text (from AceMoney Receipts 2.0)
- Budget gauges, the sort preference and the biometric-lock setting
None of this is in your account. It does not appear in the web version, it starts empty on a new phone, and deleting the app deletes it.
What is sent when you use a Pro feature
- Automatic reading. With Receipts Pro, the receipt image and what the phone already read are sent to the reading service, which returns the merchant, date, total and the item list. On the free plan, receipts are read on your phone and nothing is sent for reading.
- Voice Interaction. With Receipts Pro and the switch on, your recording goes to our servers, which use a speech service to understand it.
Permissions the app asks for, and what they are for
| Permission | Asked when | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | Your first Camera scan, or a Filing Cabinet scan (from AceMoney Receipts 2.0) | Taking the picture |
| Photos | Your first Photo Library pick | Reading the photo you choose |
| Location while using the app | Only if you turn on Record Geolocation (off by default) | Tagging a receipt with where you were. Each receipt has its own Record Geolocation switch, Open Map and Delete Location |
| Microphone | The first voice session (Receipts Pro) | Voice Interaction |
| Face ID, Touch ID or fingerprint | After you turn on Biometric Authentication | Unlocking the app |
| Notifications | At first launch | Announcements |
Ads on the free plan
The free plan shows ads. The ads service receives device and advertising identifiers. Where the law requires it, a consent form appears at first launch, and Settings › About › Ad Privacy Options lets you change your choice later. Any paid plan removes every ad, and the web version shows none.
Crash and diagnostic reports: your consent
Open More › Settings › About and find Privacy & diagnostics. The switch Share crash & diagnostic reports is off by default. The app explains: “When on, the app sends crash reports and anonymized diagnostic signals (error types and counts only) so we can fix problems. Never included: amounts, receipts, locations, or anything that identifies you — and nothing is ever shared with advertising or AI services.” Turning it off stops error reports immediately; background crash reporting stops fully after the next app start.
Android backup
On Android, the app’s on-device data (documents and settings) can be included in your phone’s own backup to your Google account. Android manages that backup and you can turn it off in Android’s settings. Your receipts are in your account regardless.
Delete your account and data
- Open More › Settings › Account and tap Delete Account.
- Confirm DELETE FOREVER in the Delete Account? dialog. The app asks you to sign in again first (Re-authentication Required).
This permanently deletes your receipts and their images, the names synced from AceMoney Classic, and your account. It does not remove the documents stored on the phone (uninstall the app for that), and it does not cancel a store subscription: cancel that in the App Store or Google Play as well. You can also ask us by web form through the data-deletion request page; the steps are in Get help from MechCAD support.
AceMoney Classic
The data file stays on your computer. It leaves it only when you use online bank download (your bank login is stored inside the data file, protected by your file password), download quotes or exchange rates, check for updates, or pair with AceMoney Receipts. With pairing, receipts arrive from your Receipts account; with Mobile Sync on, saving the file uploads your account names and balances, payee names, category names and chart summaries to your Receipts account so the phone can show them. Receipt pictures attached to transactions are kept in your Receipts account online.
Your privacy rights
To ask for a copy of your data, a correction or a deletion, e-mail support@mechcad.net or open a request on the support portal (opens in a new tab). The privacy policy states that data is processed in the United States, that personal data is not sold, and that the products are not intended for children under 13.
Common questions
Are my receipts end-to-end encrypted?
No. Receipts are sent over an encrypted connection and stored in your account, but our systems can process them, which is what makes the web version, a new phone and the AceMoney Classic pairing work. AceMoney Cloud’s sync of Studio documents is end-to-end encrypted.
Can MechCAD see my Studio finances?
No. A Studio document stays on your computer unless you copy it somewhere yourself or sync it with AceMoney Cloud. A synced copy is end-to-end encrypted with a key we do not hold, so we cannot read it. A license activation sends only the key, the purchase e-mail and a one-way device value.
If I lose every device, can you recover my synced data?
We cannot, because we do not hold the key. You can, with your account recovery code: save it when AceMoney Studio offers it, or add a second computer. Without another device and without the recovery code, nobody can decrypt your synced copy, including us.
Does the free Receipts plan send my receipts to an AI service?
No. On the free plan, receipts are read on your phone. Only Receipts Pro, or AceMoney Cloud, sends new receipts to the reading service for automatic reading.
Can I use AceMoney Receipts without giving it my location?
Yes. Location is off by default. Scanning, editing, charts and budgets never ask for it; only geotagging receipts does.
Can I stop the license check-in?
It runs only when the app is online and never delays or blocks anything, so working offline simply means no check-in. It is what allows the license to be a one-time purchase rather than a subscription.
How long does a deletion request take?
Deleting the account in the app takes effect immediately. A request through the web form is processed within 30 days, and you receive a confirmation e-mail.
Does Studio’s help use AI?
No. The help panel behind the ? button shows text bundled with the app and works offline.
Troubleshooting
- I turned off diagnostics, but the app says reporting stops after the next start. That is expected: error reports stop at once, and background crash reporting stops fully when you next open the app.
- I deleted my Receipts account, but documents are still on my phone. They live only on the phone. Uninstall the app to remove them.
- I cannot find a diagnostics switch in Studio. On a computer there is none. Studio sends no diagnostics or analytics.
- I cannot find Delete account… in Studio. It appears in Settings ▸ Account only while you are signed in. Sign in first with the account you want to delete.
- “Couldn’t reach the server. Your account was not deleted. Check your connection and try again.” Deleting needs the internet. Try again when you are online.
- No confirmation e-mail after my deletion request. Requests are processed within 30 days; check your spam folder, then write to support@mechcad.net with the date you sent the request.
- Studio asks to show notifications. That is for reminders before a scheduled transaction is due (Settings ▸ Account ▸ Reminders). It is optional and nothing is sent anywhere.
Related
- Privacy and security in AceMoney Receipts
- Privacy and security in AceMoney Studio
- AceMoney Cloud
- Document password
- Backups and restore
- Get help from MechCAD support