Rainbow's End Ship's Purse

The last night of the charter, six people and one envelope, and nobody is sure who owes what. Rainbow's End Ship's Purse is the bookkeeper's ledger for a shared kitty. Everyone pays into the purse, the purse pays the running costs, and at the end each person gets one figure: what they hand the purse, or what the purse hands them. WHY IT'S DIFFERENT — Nobody settles with anybody but the purse. Whoever paid in less than their share owes the purse. Whoever paid in more, or paid for the boat out of pocket, is owed the difference. What is left goes back in proportion to each share. The crew sees the same ledger on their own phones with the free Ship's Purse Guest. THE BUDGET — A worksheet sized from the voyage: breakfasts, lunches and dinners aboard, meals ashore, fuel by the hour meter, moorings, dockage, water and ice, fees, the crew tip, and a contingency. You set every rate; the app never guesses a price. The total sets the opening round per share. SHARES — Everyone starts at a full share. A child at half board is 0.5. A guest aboard four days of seven is 0.57. Someone who joins mid-cruise owes only the rounds from then on. THE LEDGER — Money paid in by cash, Venmo, Zelle or card, several people at once around the table. Expenses paid from the purse or by a guest. A guest who paid for the boat is reimbursed in cash or credited against the next round. A top-up round when the purse runs low. A mistake is struck through with a reason, never erased. An expense can carry a photo of its receipt. THE ENVELOPE — Cash is kept apart from money sent electronically, so you can count the envelope and see whether it is short or over. The count is recorded; nothing is adjusted on its own. ON ONE SCREEN — Spending by category against the budget, what is left in the purse, and who still owes on the latest round. MID-CRUISE — Change the budget and the difference becomes a round for everyone, up or down. SETTLE — One line per person. Refunds come from the envelope first. Mark each one paid as it happens. SHARE WITH THE CREW — Switch on sharing and the app shows an eight-character code. Anyone with Ship's Purse Guest types it and reads the purse: the ledger, the receipts, and their own share due and balance. The purse is sealed with a key made from the code. Nobody without the code can read it, including us. EXPORT — A PDF statement, a spreadsheet for the books, and a backup, through the share sheet. A worked sample, a week in the Exumas with seven people and one who joined late, shows every screen before you enter anything. On iPhone and iPad. Works offline. No account, no subscription, no server of ours. Your entries stay on your phone and leave it only when you share the purse or export it. The method comes from Charles Parette, who kept charter kitties by hand and in spreadsheets for years. We built it aboard our ketch Rainbow, for the charters where the whole crew keeps one envelope. WHAT IT WON'T DO • Move money. Payments happen in cash or your own apps; the purse records them. • Split one bill among part of the crew. Every expense is shared by everyone's share. • Keep more than one currency in a purse. • Let the crew enter anything. The bookkeeper writes; the crew reads. • Cover the charter fee or the airfare. It keeps the costs of the cruise itself. Ship's Purse is an aid to keeping the kitty, not a substitute for counting the envelope. May you find a rainbow's end and treasure found wherever you sail or set your anchor. Apps for sailors, by sailors.