Rainbow’s End Ship’s Purse

Why it’s different

Everyone settles with the purseNobody owes another guest. Whoever paid in less than their share owes the purse. Whoever paid in more, or paid for the boat out of pocket, is owed the difference. What is left goes back in proportion to each share.
The crew sees the same ledgerSwitch on sharing and the app shows a code. The crew types it into the free Ship’s Purse Guest and reads the purse on their own phones, including what each of them owes and is owed.
A budget sized from the voyageMeals aboard and ashore, fuel by the hour meter, moorings, dockage, fees and the crew tip. You set every rate; the app never guesses a price. The total sets the opening round.
An envelope you can countCash is kept apart from money sent by Venmo, Zelle or card, so a count of the envelope shows whether it is short or over.

What it does

SharesEveryone starts at a full share. A child at half board is 0.5; a guest aboard four days of seven is 0.57. Someone who joins mid-cruise owes only the rounds from then on.
RoundsThe opening round from the budget, a top-up when the purse runs low, and a round for the difference when the budget changes mid-cruise. The screen shows who still owes on the latest one.
TransactionsMoney paid in, several people at once around the table. Expenses from the purse or paid by a guest, who is reimbursed in cash or credited against the next round. A photo of the receipt on any expense.
Mistakes stay visibleAn entry is never edited or erased. It is struck through with a reason, and every figure is worked out again.
On one screenSpending by category against the budget, what is left in the purse, the envelope and the float, and the last count.
SettleOne line per person: what they hand the purse or what the purse hands them. Refunds come from the envelope first. Mark each one paid as it happens.
ExportA PDF statement, a spreadsheet for the books, and a backup, through the share sheet.
Works offlineNo account, no subscription, no server of ours. Entries stay on your phone and leave it only when you share the purse or export it. On iPhone and iPad.

The method comes from Charles Parette, who kept charter kitties by hand and in spreadsheets for years.

We built it aboard our ketch Rainbow, for the charters where the whole crew keeps one envelope.

Ship’s Purse Guest, free for the crew

Everyone who pays into the purse can read it on their own phone. The bookkeeper switches sharing on and reads out an eight-character code; the crew type it into Ship’s Purse Guest, free on the App Store, and see the same ledger.

Your own figuresTap your name: your share due, what you have paid in, what you paid for the boat, what you still owe on the rounds, and what would change hands if the purse settled now.
The whole purseWhat it holds and what it has spent, the ledger with struck lines and their reasons, receipt photos on a tap, and the settlement with your line first.
Read, never writeNo account and no iCloud sign-in. Purses you have opened stay on your phone with their last copy, so they open with no signal. The guest cannot change anything.

What it won’t do

Move money. Payments happen in cash or your own apps; the purse records them.
Split one bill among part of the crew. Every expense is shared by everyone’s share.
Keep more than one currency in a purse.
Let the crew enter anything. The bookkeeper writes; the crew reads.
Cover the charter fee or the airfare. It keeps the costs of the cruise itself.

Ship’s Purse is an aid to keeping the kitty, not a substitute for counting the envelope.

Now in beta

Rainbow’s End Ship’s Purse and the free Ship’s Purse Guest are on TestFlight, headed for the App Store.