In short: the expenses you record are kept in your own agency's database (Google Firebase, hosted in Mumbai) and in the app's private storage on your phone. Only the people your agency's owner added can read them; the server rules are what enforce that, not the app. Sign-in is handled by Firebase Authentication, and this app never stores your password. The one other third party is Google AdMob, which serves the single banner ad that keeps the app free, and which may use your device's advertising ID.
1. Who we are
Business Expense Manager is developed and published by Hemangbhai.
Contact: hello@hemangbhai.in · hemangbhai.in
2. What the app stores — and where
When an agency is set up, the app stores: the business name, type, address, phone and email; the name, email, phone and role of each member; the business logo, if one is chosen; and the expense records themselves (amount, category, date, vendor, who paid, how it was paid, client, project, approval status and notes), together with the categories, payment methods, clients, projects, reimbursements and in-app notifications that go with them.
All of it lives in two places: the agency's own database (Google Cloud Firestore, in the
asia-south1 / Mumbai region, tied to the business owner's Firebase project) and an
offline copy inside this app's private storage on the phone. The offline copy is a cache: it is
what makes the app usable with no signal, and Android clears it if the app is uninstalled or its
data is cleared.
3. What leaves your device
Your agency's database. The records you and your colleagues enter are sent to the Firebase project that belongs to your agency's owner, so that the other members see the same books. Nothing is sent anywhere else by the app. Access is enforced by server-side security rules: a signed-in member of a business can read the data of that business only, and a staff member can read only his own expenses. We (the publisher) hold no copy and cannot read your agency's database.
Advertising. The app shows one banner ad, supplied by Google AdMob. To serve it, Google may collect your device's advertising ID, IP address and device information, and may measure your interaction with the ad, under Google's own privacy policy (policies.google.com/technologies/ads). None of your expense records, names or contact details are shared with the ad network. You can reset or delete the advertising ID in Android Settings → Google → Ads.
What never leaves. The app has no analytics SDK, no crash-reporting SDK and no advertising identifiers of its own.
4. Permissions the app asks for, and why
| Permission | Why |
|---|---|
INTERNET | Sign-in and syncing with your agency's database; loading the banner ad. Declared by the app. |
ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE | Lets Firebase and the ad SDK tell whether a connection is available, so an offline change is queued instead of lost. |
com.google.android.gms.permission.AD_ID | Merged in by the Google Mobile Ads SDK, to read the advertising ID for the banner. Removed from the app if you turn off ad personalisation at the OS level. |
com.google.android.providers.gsf.permission.READ_GSERVICES | Merged in by Firebase, to reach Google Play services. |
The app never asks for the camera, your photos, files or storage, contacts, location, microphone, SMS or call logs. A logo you choose is handed over by the system file picker as that single image, so the app gains no access to your gallery.
5. Backups
The app writes a backup of the whole business to its own private storage, one file per day, and keeps the newest fourteen. These files never leave the phone unless you export one. An exported backup is an ordinary file you place wherever you choose, and it is not encrypted: treat it as confidential and delete it when you no longer need it. Restoring a backup writes those records back into the app.
6. Notifications
Notifications are rows in your agency's database — "your expense was approved", "a new expense is waiting" — and they are shown inside the app. The app uses no push messaging service, so there is no device token and no notification is delivered while the app is closed.
7. What the app does not do
- No analytics, tracking or crash-reporting SDK is included.
- No data is sold, rented or shared with anyone beyond the two services named above.
- No access to your camera, gallery, contacts or location.
- No advertising inside your own records: the banner sits at the bottom of the four main screens.
When you export a report, share a file or open the privacy policy page, Android hands the chosen file or link to the app you picked (a file manager, mail, WhatsApp, a browser). That is a device-level action you start and can cancel — it is not the app collecting or sharing anything.
8. How your data is protected
Traffic to Google Firebase is encrypted with TLS. Your password is handled entirely by Firebase Authentication and is never written to this app's storage. Access to the shared data is restricted by server-side rules to the signed-in members of your own business. The offline copy lives in the app's private storage, which other apps cannot read. Backups you export are unencrypted, so store them accordingly.
9. Children
Business Expense Manager is a business tool intended for people aged 18 and over. It is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect information from them.
10. Your choices, and deleting your data
- Delete your account, in the app — open Profile → Delete my account, the button below Sign out, and type DELETE to confirm. If you are the owner of the business this deletes the account and the whole business with it: every expense, reimbursement and advance, the team, and each member's profile. If you are a team member it deletes your account and your profile, plus every expense, reimbursement, advance and notification filed in your name, and leaves the rest of the business alone. This is immediate and cannot be undone.
- Delete individual records — open the expense and use Delete; the owner of the business can delete any record, and the person who filed it can delete his own while it is still open.
- Remove a person — the owner can remove a member from the Team screen, which ends that person's access to the business's data on his next sign-in.
- Delete everything on this phone — Android Settings → Apps → Business Expense Manager → Storage → Clear data, or uninstall the app. Your agency's database keeps the records, so signing in again brings them back.
- Cannot sign in, and want the account gone — email hello@hemangbhai.in from the account's own email address, asking for the business and its accounts to be deleted. We will delete the business, its records, its members and their accounts from the Firebase project and confirm within 30 days. Because we hold no other copy, this is a complete deletion.
- Delete exported backups — delete the files wherever you saved them.
- Advertising data — reset or delete the advertising ID in Android Settings → Google → Ads.
This section is the data-deletion route referred to by the Play Store Data safety form: https://hemangbhai.in/apps/business-expense-manager-privacy-policy.html#delete
11. Third-party services
| Service | Used for | Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Google Firebase Authentication | Accounts and sign-in | firebase.google.com/support/privacy |
| Google Cloud Firestore | The shared agency database (Mumbai region) | firebase.google.com/support/privacy |
| Google AdMob (Mobile Ads SDK) | The banner ad | policies.google.com/technologies/ads |
12. Changes to this policy
If the app's practices change — a new SDK, a new kind of data — this page is updated and its effective date changes before the release that makes the change. Continuing to use the app after an update means you accept the updated policy.
13. Contact
Hemangbhai — Business Expense Manager
Email: hello@hemangbhai.in
Website: hemangbhai.in