How to create personal allowance items in Found

Last updated: April 2, 2026

Overview

The personal allowance feature is part of the Pro Billing module in Found. It allows your team to record and track funds held on behalf of service users — including deposits received, expenses drawn down, and withdrawals made. Each transaction is linked to a specific booking and service user, giving you a clear audit trail and running balance for every individual in your care.

Personal allowances are accessed via Operations > Personal allowance and are available to workspaces with the Personal allowance feature enabled.

Step-by-step: creating a personal allowance transaction

1. Navigate to personal allowance

From the main navigation, go to Operations and select Personal allowance. You will see two tabs:

  • Transactions — a full ledger of all personal allowance activity

  • Service user balances — a summary of each service user's current balance

2. Open the add transaction form

On the Transactions tab, click Add transaction. A side panel will open.

3. Select the transaction type

Choose one of the following types from the dropdown at the top of the form:

Type

When to use

Deposit

Money received and added to the service user's personal allowance account (e.g. funds from a local authority or family member)

Expense

Money spent from the allowance on the service user's behalf (e.g. groceries, toiletries, activities)

Withdrawal

Money taken out of the account (e.g. cash given directly to the service user)

The transaction type is determined automatically by the system based on your inputs — a positive amount with an expense type linked is recorded as an expense; a positive amount without one is a deposit; a negative amount is a withdrawal.

4. Fill in the transaction details

Each row in the form represents one transaction. You can add multiple rows to submit several transactions at once.

Required fields:

  • Booking — search and select the booking the transaction belongs to (this identifies both the service user and the location)

  • Amount — enter the value in pounds (e.g. £25.00). Must be a non-zero value

  • Transaction date — defaults to today's date; change if recording a past transaction

Optional fields:

  • Description — a short note about what the transaction is for (e.g. "Weekly shopping")

  • Reference — an external reference such as a receipt number or invoice reference

  • Notes — free-text field for additional context

  • Payment method — select from: Cash, Bank transfer, Cheque, or Card

  • Expense type — when recording an expense, you can link it to an item from your expense catalogue (e.g. "Food", "Clothing"). Only expense types marked as available for personal allowance will appear

  • Transaction by — optionally record who the transaction was paid to or received from (a contact or organisation)

  • Attachments — upload receipts, invoices, or supporting documents directly against the transaction

5. Add more rows (optional)

Click Add row to include additional transactions in the same submission. All rows are saved together when you submit the form.

6. Submit

Click Save to create all transactions. The transactions will appear immediately in the ledger. If you attached files, they will be linked to the relevant transaction records.

After creating transactions

Once saved, transactions appear in the Transactions tab. You can:

  • Filter by service user, location, expense type, or date range

  • Edit a transaction to update the reference, notes, or attachments

  • Reverse a transaction to create a linked credit entry correcting an error

  • Export the transaction list to a spreadsheet

  • Generate a statement as a PDF for a specific booking's personal allowance history

The Service user balances tab updates automatically to reflect the running totals per service user per location.

Frequently asked questions

Q: What is the difference between a deposit, an expense, and a withdrawal? A: A deposit adds money to the service user's account (e.g. funds received from a funder). An expense records money spent on the service user's behalf and can be linked to an expense type for categorisation. A withdrawal records money taken out of the account, for example cash handed to the service user.

Q: Can I add multiple transactions at the same time? A: Yes. The add transaction form supports multiple rows. Click Add row to add more entries before submitting. All rows are saved together in one action.

Q: Do I need to attach a receipt? A: Attachments are optional but recommended for audit purposes, particularly for expense transactions. You can attach receipts, invoices, or any supporting document directly to the transaction at the point of creation, or by editing the transaction afterwards.

Q: Can I link a transaction to an expense type? A: Yes, when recording an expense. Only expense types that have been configured as available for personal allowance will appear in the dropdown. Your administrator manages the expense catalogue in Settings > Billing > Expense catalogue.

Q: What happens if I record a transaction with the wrong amount? A: You cannot change the amount after saving. Instead, use the Reverse action on the incorrect transaction to create a linked credit entry that cancels it out, then create a new transaction with the correct details. This preserves a full audit trail.

Q: What does the service user balance show? A: The Service user balances tab shows the net balance for each service user at each location — the sum of all deposits minus all expenses and withdrawals. You can filter this view by location, date, and whether to show only negative balances.

Q: Can I export personal allowance data? A: Yes. Use the Export button on the Transactions tab to download a spreadsheet of transactions. You can also generate a PDF statement for an individual booking's personal allowance history.