Bills io Financial App 2023 REVIEW

Track your expenses efficiently with Bills io.

For many years, I have struggled with keeping track of my bills. I’ve used various methods including Quickbooks, Excel Spreadsheets, various apps, and even pen and paper. Some work better than others but in this day and age, I really want a cross-platform app system that will be available no matter what device I am on. That’s why I’m glad I started using Bills io.

Overview

Bills io is a finance planning app that is focused on organizing monthly bills while providing users with a safe, private option to do so. Bills io was originally launched for mobile devices in December 2020 with the native macOS app released in the Fall of 2021.

The app came from an idea that the developer, Nathan Gray, had in 2015. He graduated from college with a computer science and finance background and has always wanted to combine the two. He spent years trying different management techniques for personal finance and finally created his own system, which is now Bills io.

The entire app is written in Swift and SwiftUI for both iOS and macOS. The backend syncing is taken care of by iCloud. The developer opted for using iCloud for syncing so that he did not end up holding any user information. All the data within Bills io is stored within iCloud and not on an unknown server somewhere else.

About the Developer

Nathan Gray has been programming professionally since 2013. His first job was programming for iOS and Android. He’s worked with many different tech stacks but has always had an app available in the App Store. In addition to focusing on the continuing development of Bills io, Gray works in DevOps for Megaport ONE. He likes to have a personal app project in development in order to stay up-to-date with Apple technologies. Gray tracks updates and user requests on a publicly available Trello Board.

Main Features

• BILL TRACKING: Organize your bills with tags and track where each bill charges by account. For example, Bills io can tell you how much money your credit card gets charged per month for all of your subscriptions. You can then plan to budget that cost every month with your bank account.
• PAYMENT LOG: Track and record when you pay a Bill online. Bills io allows you to record any notes about a payment to recall later on. Notes support basic Markdown formatting to allow for links, formatting, and complex records. Export all of your payments to a CSV file for processing outside Bills io.
• OVERVIEW: See, track, and record payments for your upcoming Bills. Check out your recent payments and see how much money is due in the next week or month. Bills io tracks your average monthly cost for all bills.
• NOTIFICATIONS: Notifications are handled locally and never sent out from a server. Be notified for bills you pay manually or get notified before an auto withdrawal.
• SYNCING: Bills io uses CloudKit to sync your data privately inside your iCloud account. You do not need an account signup or to upload your sensitive financial data. Bills io cannot see any of your personal finances and there is no magic algorithm processing your payment history while selling your data.
• MULTIPLE DEVICES: Use everywhere in the Apple ecosystem. Available on iPhone, iPadOS, and macOS.

PREMIUM BENEFITS

• Export Payments and Bills to CSV Files
• Lock Bills io with Face ID or Touch ID
• Create and view notes for payments
• Add and manage multiple collections
• Organize bills based on payment accounts
• Tag and create your own custom organization structure
• Set custom notification reminder times
• Access to all upcoming premium features
• Support indie development

Privacy Policy

According to the App Store, there is no data collected from the app by the developer. Click here to see the full privacy policy. The developer stated that the data stays with the Apple account.

I do not host any servers, or take user sign ups. I also have not implemented any app analytics at all to ensure that all of the users bills stay completely private and under their control.

Pricing and Availability

Bills io is available on macOS (12.0 or later), iOS (15.0 or later), and iPadOS (15.0 or later). It is free to use with limited features. Users can purchase premium access for one month ($0.99), one year ($3.99), or for a lifetime ($19.99). Subscriptions are charged to the user’s iTunes account and are automatically renewed unless auto-renew is disabled at least 24 hours before the end of the subscription period.

Set-up

One of my favorite features of this app system is how painless it is to get started. In fact, because the app is so well designed with relationship linking, almost all of the setup can be done when a user creates their bills. The first step is to select Add Bill from the + menu in the dashboard.

Here the user will input the following information →

• Bill name
• Next Payment Amount
• Payment URL
• Payment Date and if it is recurring
• Select a Collection (the user can create one if it doesn’t exist yet)
• Select an Account (the user can create one if it doesn’t exist yet)
• Select a Tag (the user can create one if it doesn’t exist yet)

Once this information is entered, the bill will be added to the catalog and the user can start managing payments as they occur. One of the best parts of this entry process is that only the name, payment amount, and date are required fields. All the rest could be left as the default option and the bill can still be created. I don’t recommend doing this as part of the app’s job is to help you organize your bills but it is possible to keep the bill entry as simple as possible if you like.

User Experience

I’m a big fan of this app. For the longest time, I’ve kept track of my bills using paper or a spreadsheet. These methods are archaic and very problematic for keeping up with today’s modern bill-paying technologies. Until I started using Bills io I just couldn’t find an app system that was compatible with my way of organizing or thinking about my finances.

Bills io has a clean interface that is very easy to use and set up. I’ve been using it steadily for several months and never had any issues with how the apps sync or the calculations being incorrect. Here are some of my personal insights after using the app to track my bills.

• Organization → I really like how the app allows users to assign bills to collections. I have mine sorted into four different Collections – Car, Monthly House Bills, Other, and Subscriptions. This makes it easier to track where your money is going or looking it up at the end of the year.
• Accounts → I’ve used some bill-tracking apps that don’t give users flexibility when it comes to assigning payment accounts to bills. Bills io keeps it simple. When you create an account, you simply give it a name. Then you can add that account to your bill. I have a couple of options for payment accounts including my checking account and PayPal. Because Bills io is a simple tracking app, no actual account info is stored with the payment account. There is an option to connect to a bill’s website, but users aren’t given the option to pay directly from the app. I prefer this method because it keeps user privacy at the top of the app’s priorities.
• Payment Details → When it comes to recording a payment users are given a few options. First of all, the preferences for a bill are automatically populated. For example, with my car payment, I have my checking account set on the bill as its payment account. So, that account name automatically appears when I click on the ‘pay’ button on the bill. But, if a different account is used on a particular payment, it is easily changed from the Account drop-down. Users can even add an account directly from that menu. I also like that the app system is smart enough to reschedule payments. There is a skip payment option and if you skip a payment, the app doesn’t delete the recurring bill. It simply reschedules the payment. Another great option within Payment Details is the notes area. A simple text field allows users to notate any comments or transaction numbers within it. I love the flexibility of this massive text space.
• App Syncing → Even though it probably goes without saying, I love how well the apps sync together. I’ve not had any issues with them talking to each other or populating information between versions. I have the macOS, iOS, and iPadOS versions and they work together beautifully. Most of the time I will enter the payments in the macOS version and then use the iOS version for reference.
• Tagging → While this might seem like an odd feature to have, I really enjoy it. I use the tagging feature to call out similarities between bills that crossover into different Collections. For example, I have certain bills that are set up to be automatically paid. So, I have a tag called #AUTO. This tag can be applied to any bills regardless of the Collection they live in. It’s just another layer of organization that I really appreciate within Bills io.

What would I change or add?

This is a tricky question to answer because Bills io checks all the boxes for me as far as bill tracking goes. That said, I would offer users more options for customized UI. There is nothing wrong with the design of the app but being able to select your own color scheme or layout spacing would be a nice touch.

Functionally, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Conclusion

Bills io is an amazing bill-tracking app system that is designed to be efficient and reliable for its users. It provides a simple, straightforward way to organize and manage your bills and other financial information. With this app, you can easily keep track of due dates, payment amounts, and other important details.

Additionally, you can set up notifications to remind you of upcoming due dates, so you can make sure you’re always on top of your bills. With its intuitive and user-friendly interface, Bills io is a must-have for anyone looking to make their bill-tracking process easier and more organized.

For more information, visit studioember.com, Twitter, and Instagram.