A planned expense can be in three states: pending (not paid yet), paid (closed), overdue (past the due date without payment). A fourth state is anticipated and triggers when you pay before the month of the due date — see below.
Marking as paid is when you close the expense: you declare when you paid and how much.
The normal flow
Open the expense (list, calendar, Home), click Mark as paid. FamSpend asks:
- Payment date — defaults to today, editable if you paid yesterday or a different day
- Final amount — defaults to the planned one, editable if the real amount differs (see below)
Confirm. The expense status becomes paid ✓.
What changes
- Status =
paid. The calendar shows the dot filled instead of outlined. The list marks the row with a check icon. - Center total — the expense leaves the "pending" column and enters "paid".
- Home — Today & Upcoming — the expense disappears from the upcoming list (it's closed).
No pending recalcs. All real-time.
Final amount different from planned
Frequent: you plan €150 for the gas bill, you pay €178 because it was heavier than expected.
When you mark as paid, change the amount in the final amount field. FamSpend saves both:
- The planned (€150) stays in history — useful for variance analysis
- The paid (€178) enters the real month's totals
The calendar and totals use the paid amount. The variance is visible by opening the expense.
Early payment: the "anticipated" status
If you pay an expense before the month in which it was due (e.g. you pay in March a bill due in April), FamSpend marks it as anticipated — a variant of paid that recognizes the financial benefit of smart-planners.
In all views it's equivalent to paid (green border, "Paid" badge, no "Mark as paid" button). The distinction exists for analytics: the Smart Plan Report measures how many expenses you pay early and how much you smooth out the spikes of the due month.
Example: March 27 paycheck covers it, so you immediately pay the gas bill due April 7. Result: April arrives with one less outflow and you have more headroom.
Marking as pending again
Did you mark as paid by mistake? Open the expense, click Mark as
pending. Status reverts to pending (or overdue if the due date
has passed). Final amount and payment date are cleared, planned stays.
Partial payment: doesn't exist
FamSpend plans expenses, it doesn't manage a ledger. An expense is paid or it isn't, there's no "half paid" state.
If you receive a €500 bill and pay €300 now + €200 in May, the correct way is:
- Mark the original expense as paid with amount €300, date today
- Add a new expense "Gas bill balance" of €200, due in May
This way in May you see the remaining payment on the calendar instead of forgetting it.
AI Helper for fast payments
"I paid the gas bill today, I paid €178 instead of €150"
Helper finds the expense, proposes the update (date + amount), asks for confirmation. 5 seconds.
What "mark as paid" is NOT
- Delete — removes the expense from history, not what you want (see Modifying or deleting an expense)
- Move to another Center — the payment stays as is, only attribution changes (see Moving expenses between Cost Centers)
- Change the due date — if you haven't paid yet and you reschedule, the expense stays pending with the new date