Frequently asked questions

BalVault stores nothing on our servers — because we don't have any. Your SimpleFIN setup token is stored in a local SQLite database on your PC. Account balances are written to a CSV file you specify. The only network connection the app makes is to SimpleFIN's API to fetch balances. No telemetry, no analytics, no phone-home.

No. BalVault never sees your bank username, password, or account numbers. You authenticate through SimpleFIN Bridge, and BalVault only receives a read-only setup token. That token is stored locally in SQLite on your PC and never transmitted anywhere except back to SimpleFIN's API.

We offer a 14-day free trial so you can confirm BalVault works with your setup before paying. If the trial works, the paid version will too — it's the same software. Because of this, all sales are final. If you have a technical issue, contact support and we'll help you get it working.

BalVault itself runs entirely offline. However, to fetch current balances, you need an internet connection so the app can reach SimpleFIN's API. Once your token is set up, the app will continue to run and display your last-known balances even without internet. The CSV is always available locally.

Each activation key allows use on 2 machines simultaneously. You can activate the key up to 4 times total (e.g., reinstalling Windows counts as a new activation). If you run out, email support for up to 2 automatic activation resets. After that, contact us and we'll work with you.

SimpleFIN Bridge supports over 12,000 US financial institutions. If your bank, credit union, or brokerage is among them, BalVault can pull balances from it. This covers virtually all major US banks, most regional banks, and many credit unions.

The CSV contains four columns: Account Name, Account Type, Balance, and Currency. Positive balances are credits (money you have, like checking and savings). Negative balances are debits (money you owe, like credit cards and loans). The file is UTF-8 encoded and opens directly in any spreadsheet application.

Any application that can open a CSV file. This includes LibreOffice Calc, Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets (File → Import), Apple Numbers, OnlyOffice, Gnumeric, and command-line tools like csvkit. CSV is the universal data interchange format — if your tool reads text, it reads BalVault's output.

BalVault is currently Windows-only (Windows 10 and later). We may consider macOS and Linux versions based on demand. If you'd like to see support for other platforms, let us know through the support page.

Tiller is a $99/year spreadsheet add-on that imports transactions into Google Sheets or Excel templates. BalVault is a $29 one-time desktop app that writes account balances (not transactions) to a plain CSV. BalVault is local-first, has no cloud account requirement, and costs $29 once instead of $99 every year.

Yes. Set BalVault's CSV output path to a location your spreadsheet references, and use your spreadsheet's CSV import or external data link feature. In LibreOffice Calc: Sheet → Link to External Data. In Excel: Data → Get Data → From File → From Text/CSV. In Google Sheets: File → Import.

Balances only. BalVault pulls your current account balance from each connected account. It does not fetch transaction history, categorize spending, or analyze trends. That's intentional — BalVault is a data pipe, not a financial dashboard. Use your spreadsheet for anything beyond balances.

Yes. Your $29 purchase includes all future updates. No upgrade fees, no annual maintenance, no version tiers. We fix bugs and improve the app because we want it to work well — not because we're trying to extract more money from you.