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Categorize Your Transactions

After connecting your bank, Cashflowy imports your transactions and tries to auto-categorize them. Some will need your attention — look for the uncategorized transactions warning banner at the top of the Transactions page.

How to categorize a transaction

1

Go to Transactions

Navigate to BankingTransactions in the sidebar.
2

Find uncategorized items

Look for the warning banner that tells you how many transactions need categorization. You can also filter by account, date range, category, or search by merchant name.
3

Click on a transaction

Click any transaction row to expand the detail view.
4

Select a category

Click the Category dropdown and choose the right category from your chart of accounts. Categories are organized in a tree: main categories → subcategories → sub-subcategories.

Autocategorize similar transactions

This is the fastest way to clean up your books. When you categorize a transaction, Cashflowy can find all similar transactions (same merchant or description) and apply the same category to all of them in one click.
1

Categorize one transaction

Assign a category to a transaction (e.g., set a Starbucks charge to “Meals & Entertainment”).
2

Click 'Autocategorize similar'

After saving, you’ll see an option to autocategorize all similar transactions. Click it.
3

Confirm

Cashflowy applies the same category to every matching transaction instantly.
This can save you hours. If you have 50 “STARBUCKS” transactions, categorize one and autocategorize the rest. Do this for your top merchants first and you’ll clear most of your backlog in minutes.

Tips for staying on top of it

  • Spend 5–10 minutes weekly reviewing new uncategorized transactions
  • Create custom categories in the Chart of Accounts if the defaults don’t fit your business
  • Accurate categories = accurate reports — your P&L and Balance Sheet are only as good as your categorization
Uncategorized transactions won’t appear correctly in your financial reports. Keep that warning banner at zero for the most accurate picture of your business.