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This ledger is read-only

Last verified October 13, 2026

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If your AI says a ledger is read-only, that ledger has no active subscription. Nothing in it is lost: you can still view and export everything, and you can delete the whole ledger. Adding, changing or deleting individual items in it is paused until it has a subscription. Your other ledgers aren't affected.

What you'll see

When your AI tries to change something in that ledger, Pennyweight refuses with a message that names the ledger by its id:

Ledger <id> is read-only: it has no active subscription. Viewing, exporting and deleting the whole ledger still work; adding, changing or deleting individual items is paused. Other ledgers are unaffected. To subscribe this ledger, open Billing in the web app: https://app.pennyweight.ai/app/settings?section=billing&ledger=<id>

The error code is SUBSCRIPTION_REQUIRED. Your AI may put the message in its own words.

In the web app:

  • On a ledger other than your default one, pages such as Transactions show "This ledger needs its own subscription" with a Subscribe this ledger button. It opens that ledger's row in Billing.
  • When your default ledger is the read-only one, the notice reads "Your trial has ended" or "This ledger's subscription has ended", with a Choose a plan button.
  • When a payment dispute on the ledger is open, or closed with the charge returned, a dispute notice replaces either one.
  • Reports shows these notices only once every ledger is read-only (see below).
  • In Settings → Accounts, the Edit and Remove controls for that ledger's accounts are turned off, with the hint "This ledger is read-only until it has a subscription".
  • The connect-bank page, when it would add the bank to that ledger, shows "Connecting a bank is paused while your plan is expired. Everything you already added stays viewable and exportable."
  • When every one of your ledgers is read-only, the Reports page shows your last 30 days, with links to each report, where you can export. Demo ledgers don't count here.

Why it happens

A ledger becomes read-only when:

  • your free trial ends and the ledger has no subscription of its own
  • you create a ledger after your trial, until you subscribe it
  • its subscription ends: canceled, paused or unpaid. A payment that is only past due doesn't do this.
  • a payment for its subscription is refunded in full, or disputed with your card issuer

Cancelling during the trial doesn't make a ledger read-only early: the trial covers every ledger until it ends. How billing works across several ledgers is in billing when you have more than one ledger. For the full lifecycle, see what happens when your trial or plan ends. For card problems, see your payment didn't go through.

While a ledger is read-only, everything your AI would do to add, change or delete items in it is paused:

  • adding, editing, recategorizing, splitting, deleting or restoring transactions
  • linking or unlinking transfers
  • importing files and undoing an import
  • creating, changing or applying rules
  • budgets and alerts
  • new accounts and changes to accounts
  • updates to what your AI remembers about that ledger
  • restoring a backup that covers that ledger

New transactions from banks connected to that ledger stop arriving too.

These keep working:

  • every question, search and report
  • exports and backups
  • your other ledgers, and switching between ledgers
  • creating a new ledger
  • deleting the whole ledger in the web app
  • links to web app pages, including Billing
  • bug reports and feature requests

How to fix it

  1. Open Billing. Use the link in the message, or ask your AI "take me to billing". It's Settings → Billing in the web app. See open the web app from chat.
  2. Under Billing by ledger, find the ledger and select Subscribe monthly or Subscribe yearly. While a payment dispute is open on that ledger, these buttons are hidden.
  3. Ask your AI to try the change again. Pennyweight checks the ledger's subscription on every change, so it goes through once the subscription is active.

Bank syncing for that ledger resumes after you subscribe. If you no longer need the ledger, export it first, then delete the ledger.

Good to know

  • Your data stays. Nothing is deleted when a ledger becomes read-only. To take a copy, see export your data.
  • Backups work; restores into a read-only ledger don't. See back up and restore.
  • Your AI can still offer a bank link. The connect page it opens shows the paused message until that ledger has a subscription.
  • You can still report a problem. If you've subscribed the ledger and still get the message, tell Pennyweight. See report a problem.
  • Billing when you have more than one ledgerEach Pennyweight ledger has its own subscription. Here is how to subscribe each one, read its status in Billing, and what happens to a ledger without one.
  • What happens when your trial or plan endsWhen your trial ends, a ledger without its own subscription becomes read-only. You can still view and export it. Here is what stops and how to keep access.
  • Your payment didn't go throughA failed renewal doesn't lock a ledger right away. Here is what Pennyweight shows and emails you, and how to update your card to keep the ledger active.
  • Export transactions or the audit logAsk your AI for a CSV or JSON file of your transactions or your audit log. The download link lasts about 2 minutes, so open it right away.