Transactions

Budgeting Tools → Transactions

Every transaction from every connected account, in one place. This is where you keep your budget honest —
a transaction with no category is money your budget cannot see.

The screen opens with: "Review all activity in one place. Categorise transactions and add notes so your
budget stays accurate." Categorising is the part that matters here — for notes, use the
Notes and Documents tab on the related register item.

Reading the screen

The surplus banner

At the top, how this period went:

• "You're in surplus for this period. Great Job!" — you earned more than you spent.
• "Your spending exceeded income this period." — you spent more than you earned.

Two columns

Income on one side, Expenses on the other, each grouped by date. Each row shows the date, the
description from your bank, the amount, and its category.

Categorising

The most useful thing you can do here.

1. Select Change category on the transaction.
2. Search or scroll to find the right one.
3. Select it and save.

Swish categorises most transactions automatically from the description. The ones it cannot work out — a
new merchant, an unusual payment — need you.

Work through the uncategorised ones first. Use the Not categorised filter and clear the list. It
is usually a couple of minutes and it makes everything downstream accurate.

Transaction details

Details on any row opens more: the account and account number, the date it happened and the date it
was processed, its category and type, and the full reference from your bank.

Filtering

Clear resets everything.

Not budgeted is worth a look occasionally — it finds spending in categories you never set a target
for, which is usually where a budget quietly leaks.

Transaction rules

Rules save you categorising the same merchant forever.

Select Manage Rules to open Transaction Rules — "Manage automatic category changes for future
matching transactions."

To create one:

1. Give the Rule name a name that matches the transactions you mean.
2. Choose the Target category to apply.
3. Optionally tick Apply this category to existing matching transactions to fix the ones already
   there.
4. Save.

From then on, matching transactions categorise themselves.

To remove a rule, delete it and confirm at Delete rule?. Existing transactions keep whatever category
they have.

Rules worth setting up

Do these once and most of your categorising disappears.

Goal coverage

Some transactions can be covered by a goal — spending you planned and saved for, rather than
unplanned spending.

Select Cover with goal on the transaction and choose the goal. It draws from that goal's saved
balance instead of hitting your ordinary budget, so the holiday you saved for does not make it look like
you blew your budget.

See Goals and account allocation.

Keeping on top of it

A few minutes a week beats an hour at month end.

1. Filter to Not categorised.
2. Work down the list.
3. When a merchant appears more than once, make it a rule.
4. Glance at the surplus banner.

Common questions

Why is a transaction missing? Transactions arrive after balances — give the background sync a moment.
Banks also share only a limited history, though Swish keeps everything it has seen, so your history grows.

Can I edit a transaction? You can change its category. The amount, date, and description come from
your bank and cannot be edited.

Can I delete one? No. It is your bank's record.

Can I add a cash transaction? Not currently. Only transactions from connected accounts appear.

Why did a transaction change category? A rule matched it. Check Manage Rules.

What is a transfer between my own accounts? Categorise it as a transfer so it is not counted as
income or spending. The Subscriptions screen has a switch for internal transfers
too.