In FamSpend there are two distinct but linked concepts that often get confused: person and member.
| Concept | What it is | Has email | Has login | Workspace role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | A label in the workspace | optional | no (but linkable) | no |
| Member | An account accessing the workspace | yes (from auth) | yes | admin / editor / viewer |
The rule: every member always has a corresponding person. People are the universal unit assignable to expenses and incomes. Members are people with a login.
What a person is
A person is simply a label you use to associate expenses with a subject. Examples:
- You (you're always a person, even if you're the only member)
- Your partner
- Your son Marco
- Grandma
- A short-term flatmate
People exist inside a workspace: one workspace has its people, another has its own.
What a member is
A member is a person with an account. When you invite someone to the workspace (see Inviting your partner / family) and they accept:
- They receive an invite email
- They create a FamSpend account (or sign in if they have one)
- They become a member of the workspace
- They see the workspace according to their role (admin / editor / viewer — see Roles)
When a person becomes a member automatically
If the workspace already has a person (e.g. "Sara Rossi") with email
sara@example.com, and you invite sara@example.com as a member,
FamSpend links the two concepts automatically:
- The person "Sara Rossi" gets Sara's
user_id - Sara, accessing the workspace, is the same identity as the existing person
- All expenses already associated with "Sara Rossi" are now her visible expenses
No duplicates. No "Sara Rossi (person)" + "Sara Rossi (member)".
When a person is NOT a member
Typical cases:
- Small kids — no account, but you want to track expenses that involve them (daycare, doctor, books)
- Elderly parents — don't use the app, but you keep them in the workspace for health or gift expenses
- Temporary flatmate — knows they exist, but doesn't need a login (doesn't administer, doesn't look at numbers)
In all these cases the person exists without email and without login. It's just a label.
What happens if you add a person with email but don't invite them
Nothing special: the person has an email registered but never received an invite to become a member. They stay a person (label) with an associated email.
If you later decide to invite them, FamSpend auto-links the invite to the existing person (no duplicate created).
What changes between person and member in the views
| View | Person | Member |
|---|---|---|
| PersonPicker (expense form) | Shows up | Shows with ✓ icon next to name |
| Filter by person | Filters expenses involving them | Same |
| Notifications | Where do we send them? To workspace admins | Directly to the member |
| Workspace view | Doesn't see it (no login) | Sees it per their role |
Can a member have more than one person?
No. One member = one person. If you want to keep two "roles" of the same person distinct (e.g. mom for home vs mom for work), you create two separate workspaces instead of two people.
Your own case
You're always a member of your workspace (with admin role on the workspace you created). FamSpend automatically creates your matching person on first access.
Your person name is what you entered during signup, editable from settings.
People = structure, not semantics
FamSpend doesn't ask "how many family members do you have?" or "who's the head of household?". People are freely structured: you decide who's in and with what name. No hierarchy, no family roles.