Automatic duplicate transactions

Hi @kishore Boopathi,

thanks for your bug report. I’m sorry about this. Based on the behavior you described, this does not appear to be a normal duplicate-transaction issue. It strongly suggests that an existing, inconsistent iCloud state is being merged back into the restored local backup after the app has been open for a short time.

The newly created automatic backup is most likely a consequence rather than the cause: once iCloud adds the old or duplicated records again, Budget Flow detects changes and creates another backup.

To prevent this, the recovery needs to be performed against a completely empty iCloud store:

1. Save the last known-good SQLite backup in at least one external folder outside Budget Flow. If possible, also export all Budget Books as CSV files. Verify that the files are accessible before continuing.

2. Close Budget Flow completely on every other device.

3. Disconnect the device from the internet and restore a copy of the known-good backup.

4. While still offline, close and reopen Budget Flow several times. Confirm that the balances remain correct and no duplicates appear.

5. Create another backup and CSV export of this working state and save both externally.

6. Reconnect the device to the internet and use Budget Flow → Settings → Reset App to remove the local and synchronized data.

7. Additionally, open the device’s System Settings → Apple Account → iCloud → Manage Account Storage → Budget Flow and delete any remaining Budget Flow data from iCloud.

8. Allow some time for the deletion to complete. Then open Budget Flow and check under Settings → Sync & Data → iCloud → Show More that the previous transactions are no longer present. If they are still shown, stop and send me a screenshot before restoring anything.

9. Once iCloud is confirmed to be empty, disconnect the device from the internet again and restore the externally secured, known-good backup.

10. Verify the data again while offline. Afterwards, reconnect the device and keep Budget Flow open until the restored data has finished uploading to the empty iCloud store.

11. Only then open Budget Flow on your other devices again, one device at a time.

The important part is confirming that the previous iCloud data has been completely removed before restoring the backup. Otherwise, the incorrect records can simply be merged into the restored database again.

You can also find general iCloud troubleshooting information here:

https://help.budget-flow.app/articles/what-to-do-if-my-icloud-sync-doesnt-work

If the duplicates return even after following this clean recovery procedure, please preserve a backup from immediately before reconnecting to iCloud and another one from after the duplicates return. I can then compare both database states to identify exactly which records were added.

I’m also planning a complete overhaul of the backup and restore mechanism for version 4.0.0. The revised process should handle the interaction between restored backups and existing iCloud data more safely, so conflicts like this should no longer occur in the future.

Best regards,

Fabian