GUIDES
How to track USD income and PHP spending in one workspace
7 mins read | August 9, 2026
Pick a primary currency for budgets and insights, create accounts that match your real wallets, log income and spending in the currency you actually received or paid, and review workspace totals once a month. Cash Captain keeps your $2,500 client payment and ₱890 lunch as original amounts while converting for rollups.
Step 1: Pick your primary currency
Your primary currency is the lens for budgets, insights, and net-worth style totals. Pick the currency you plan in. Many Manila-based freelancers choose PHP because rent and groceries are peso-priced, even when invoices are in USD.
Primary currency is set when you create your ship and cannot be changed later, so choose deliberately. Individual accounts can still hold USD, PHP, or other native currencies.
Step 2: Model your real accounts
Create accounts that match where money actually sits: a Wise or Payoneer USD wallet for client payments, a BDO or GCash PHP account for daily spending, maybe a separate PHP account for rent.
Each account's balance stays in its native currency. You are not forced to pretend everything is dollars or everything is pesos at the account level.
Step 3: Log client income in USD
When a $2,500 invoice lands, open Quick Entry on your USD account and type +2,500 USD upwork client (or +2500 with $ if that is faster). Cash Captain stores $2,500 as the source amount, credits your USD account, and converts into your primary currency for workspace totals.
If the client pays net of fees, log what arrived, not the invoice gross, so your ledger matches your wallet.
Step 4: Log PHP spending at source
Daily expenses go on your PHP accounts in pesos: 890 grab, 3,500 rent transfer, 249.75 mcdo last friday. Source amounts stay in PHP. Workspace rollups convert them using the transaction-date rate.
USD subscriptions on a PHP card ($12.99 spotify) can be logged in dollars at source. Mark them recurring from the Quick Entry preview so they appear on the Recurring tab without retyping each month.
Step 5: Budget with a conservative conversion
When planning a PHP budget from USD income, use a conservative peso estimate, not the day's best rate. If $2,500 might convert to ₱140,000 at mid-market but you historically see ₱136,000 after fees and spread, budget against the lower figure.
Cash Captain's budget screen works in your primary currency. Workspace totals reflect logged conversions. Your mental cushion for rate movement is still worth applying when you set allocation amounts.
Step 6: Review monthly, not per transaction
Once a week, skim Transactions for missed entries. Once a month, open Insights and Budget to compare USD inflow against PHP outflow in your primary currency.
Transfer between Wise USD and BDO PHP through Quick Entry (5k transfer from Wise USD to BDO) and edit the received peso amount if the bank's conversion differed from the quoted rate.
FAQ
- Should I pick PHP or USD as my primary currency?
- Pick the currency you use to decide whether you can afford rent and groceries. USD-primary works if you think in dollars. PHP-primary works if monthly costs are peso-priced. You cannot switch later, so choose the planning lens you will stick with.
- Do I log income when I invoice or when USD hits my account?
- Log when money moves in an account you track, usually when the deposit lands. Cash Captain is cash-flow oriented, not accrual accounting.
- How do I handle USD subscriptions on a PHP card?
- Log the USD amount at source ($12.99 spotify), pick your PHP card account, and mark it recurring in the preview. The PHP account balance reflects the converted debit. Workspace totals use your primary currency.
- What if my bank's PHP rate differs from Cash Captain's?
- Edit the received amount on transfers, or adjust the logged figure in the preview before saving. Cash Captain uses published daily rates for consistency, not your bank's spread.
- Where do I learn Quick Entry syntax?
- See the Quick Entry feature page for parser examples, or open the syntax guide inside the app from the transaction input.
Track your finances faster
by Cash Captain