Categorise transactions
Travada Books suggests a category for each transaction as it arrives. Fix one, fix many at once, and set up your own categories.
By Travada SystemsUpdated 2 min read
Categories tell you where your money comes from and where it goes. Travada Books suggests one for each transaction, so your job is mostly checking and correcting.
Automatic categories
When you import a statement or add a transaction, the Category column shows Analyzing for a moment while Travada Books works it out. It also tidies up messy statement descriptions into a clear name, and fills in who the money went to or came from where it can. This works for bank statements and mobile money such as M-Pesa.
If Travada Books isn't confident, it leaves the category blank for you to choose. It won't overwrite a category you've already set.
Change a category
- Select the transaction in the list.
- Choose a new Category. To make a new one, type its name and choose Create "…".
- Select Save changes.
If other transactions look similar, for example payments to the same supplier, Travada Books asks whether to apply the same category to them. Select Apply to update them all.
Change many at once
- Tick the box beside each transaction you want to change. Tick the box in the header to select every transaction on the page.
- A bar appears at the bottom of the screen showing how many you've selected. From it you can:
- Categorize: search for and pick a category.
- Actions, then Set status: mark them Completed, Pending, Excluded or Archived.
- Actions, then Payment mode: set how they were paid, such as Bank Transfer, Card or Cash.
- Actions, then Recurring: set a frequency, such as Monthly, or choose Not recurring.
- Export: download them as a spreadsheet. See Export transactions.
- Delete: remove them and their attachments for good.
Select the × beside the count to clear your selection.
Find transactions to categorise
Use Search or filter transactions… above the list.
- Type one word, such as a supplier's name, to search.
- Type a phrase, such as "fuel expenses last month" or "income over 50,000 in August", and press Enter. Travada Books turns it into filters for you.
To add filters yourself, select the filter icon inside the search box. You can filter by Date, Amount, Type, Status, Category, Payment Mode, Recurring and Has Attachment. Active filters appear under the search box. Remove one with its ×, or select the × in the search box to clear your search and every filter.
Manage your categories
Go to Settings, then Categories.
- System categories are built in. You can't rename, recolour or delete them.
- Custom categories are yours. Select Add category, pick a colour, type a Category name and select Save. Select Add another to add several at once.
- To change a custom category's colour, select its coloured dot.
- To delete a custom category, select its bin icon.
Good to know: You can only delete a category that no transactions use. Move those transactions to another category first. Custom categories can't be renamed, so add a new one and move your transactions across.