Shared expenses

End the “who owes what” argument for good

Braidly’s co-parenting expense tracker turns shared child costs into a ledger both parents can see. Submit an expense with a receipt, split it 50/50 or by any ratio your agreement specifies, get the other parent’s approval, and settle a single running balance instead of arguing over a year of receipts.

Private beta · Free while in beta · We onboard families in small batches

Shared expenses

July

  • Soccer registration — Emma

    Split 50 / 50

    $180.00Approved
  • Dentist copay — Noah

    Split 50 / 50

    $45.00Approved
  • Winter coat — Emma

    Split 60 / 40

    $72.40Pending
Balance owed to Dad$113.20

Submit, split, approve, settle

Every shared cost follows the same four steps. One parent submits it with a photo of the receipt — Braidly can read the receipt and fill in the amount, date and merchant rather than making you type them. The split applies automatically. The other parent approves or queries it. The balance updates.

What you end up with is one number: what is owed, and to whom. Not a shoebox of receipts and a disagreement about whether the soccer registration was already counted.

Splits that match your actual agreement

Not every parenting plan says 50/50. Plenty specify a proportional split based on income, or different ratios for different categories — medical one way, extracurriculars another. Braidly handles uneven splits per expense and remembers your preferences per category so you set it once.

Categories cover the things that actually recur: medical and dental copays, school fees, extracurriculars and equipment, childcare, clothing, and travel for handoffs.

An audit trail, because money is what gets contested

Every expense carries who submitted it, when, what the receipt showed, what split was applied, who approved it and when. Approvals cannot be retroactively withdrawn or edited once legal hold is active.

When a modification hearing or a reimbursement dispute happens, the expense ledger exports as part of the same timestamped, SHA-256-sealed record as messages and custody history. Reimbursement claims are one of the most commonly litigated parts of a parenting plan, and a clean ledger is worth considerably more than a folder of photos.

Common questions

Can Braidly split expenses unevenly?

Yes. Any ratio can be applied per expense — 60/40, 70/30, or whatever a parenting plan specifies — and Braidly remembers your preferred split per category so recurring costs like medical copays and extracurriculars apply the right ratio automatically.

Do I have to type in every receipt?

No. You can photograph a receipt and Braidly reads the amount, date and merchant from it, so you confirm rather than transcribe. The receipt image stays attached to the expense as part of the record.

Does Braidly handle the actual payment between parents?

Braidly tracks what is owed and settles the balance in the ledger when a parent marks a payment as made. It does not move money between parents; the transfer happens however you already handle it, and Braidly records that it happened and when.

What if my co-parent disputes an expense?

They can query rather than approve it, which flags the expense and opens a thread against that specific item. The dispute, and everything said in it, is part of the record — so a repeated pattern of unapproved legitimate costs is visible rather than anecdotal.

Is expense tracking included in the free plan?

The free plan includes limited expense tracking. Full expense tracking with uneven splits, receipt scanning, categories and the complete audit trail is included in the Standard plan at $12.99 per month, which covers both parents rather than billing each one.

Keep reading

The rest of Braidly

Every part of Braidly is included in the same subscription — one plan, both parents, both households.

Put the money conversation on paper.

Braidly is in private beta while we onboard families in small batches. Ask for an invite and we'll email you the moment a place opens.

Private beta · Free while in beta · We onboard families in small batches