Categories
Spending analysis is an important part of managing a budget. This analysis is done on the spending page, but requires transactions that have a category assigned. A category can be assigned whenever a transaction is created. This happens when events are completed on the schedule page or transactions are imported or entered manually. The category is automatically assigned based on keywords in the description and what category was assigned to other transactions with a similar set of keywords.
Creating categories
New categories can be created when entering or editing a transaction by simply entering the category name. They can also be
created by clicking on the additional actions
icon above many data grids and
selecting the "Edit categories..." menu option. If you already have a text file with a list of categories that you would like to
use click the additional actions
icon above the category list and
select the "Import categories" menu option.
Each category has a name, reference count, color and an optional monthly budget spending goal. The reference count indicates how many transactions have been assigned to that category. If you want to see how many categories don't have any transactions assigned just click on the Refs column to sort by reference count. To clear the sorting right-click on any column header and select "Clear sorting".
You can also view a list of transactions corresponding to one or more categories by selecting the categories and clicking the search icon.
Changing category assignment
If the category assigned to the transaction is wrong it can be easily changed. Just pick a new category from the drop-down list of all categories or from the shorter suggested category list by clicking the "..." button just right of the description. This shorter category list is based on keyword matches with the best match on the top and the worst on the bottom. If the category needed is hasn't been created yet just type it in. If the transaction is not supposed to have a category then just click the "Clear Category" button below the drop-down list of categories. Below is an example where the category "Office expense" was selected to override the automatic category assignment of "Dining out".
