Recording Transactions

Transactions are the lifeblood of your budget — they record every movement of money in and out of your accounts.

What is a Transaction?

A transaction records:

• Which account the money came from or went to
• The date it occurred
• Who you paid or received money from (payee)
• What category it affects
• How much money moved
• Optional notes and details

Types of Transactions

Income

Money coming into your accounts:

• Paycheck
• Side income
• Refunds
• Interest earned

Income is recorded as a positive amount.

Expenses

Money going out of your accounts:

• Bills paid
• Purchases made
• Services paid for
• Subscriptions

Expenses are recorded as a negative amount (or just enter as positive and the system handles it).

Transfers

Money moving between your own accounts:

• Moving money from checking to savings
• Paying off a credit card from checking
• Depositing cash into the bank

Transfers don't affect categories — they just move money between accounts.

Creating a Transaction

1. Navigate to the Transactions page
2. Click "Add Transaction" or press Shift+N
3. Fill in the details:
   • Account: Which account this affects
   • Date: When the transaction occurred
   • Payee: Who you paid or received from
   • Category: What envelope this affects
   • Amount: How much (positive for income, negative for expenses)
   • Notes (optional): Additional details
4. Click "Save"

TIP

Record transactions as soon as they happen! Don't wait until the end of the week or month.

Payees

Payees are who you interact with financially:

• Stores and merchants
• Employers
• Service providers
• Other accounts (for transfers)

Zenvilope remembers payees and can auto-suggest them:

1. Start typing a payee name
2. Select from the dropdown or create new
3. Previously used payees are saved for next time

Categorising Transactions

Every transaction should be assigned to a category:

During Creation

Select the category when you create the transaction.

After Creation

Edit the transaction to assign or change the category.

Uncategorised Transactions

Transactions without a category show as "Uncategorised":

• They still affect your account balance
• They don't reduce any envelope's available amount
• Assign them to categories to track spending properly

WARNING

Uncategorised transactions mean money is "lost" from your budget tracking. Always categorise!

Transaction Status

Each transaction has indicators showing its state:

• Uncleared: Pending, not yet processed by your bank
• Cleared: Processed and showing on your bank statement
• Reconciled: Verified and locked during account reconciliation

Approval Status

Imported transactions arrive as unapproved and need review. Manually created transactions are approved by default.

Matched Status

When you import from your bank, Zenvilope may match an import to a transaction you already entered manually. Matched transactions show a link indicator.

Split Transactions

Sometimes one transaction affects multiple categories — for example, a supermarket trip that includes groceries and household items.

Creating a Split

1. Create or edit a transaction
2. Click Split to add multiple category lines
3. Assign each portion to a different category with its own amount
4. The split amounts must add up to the transaction total

INFO

Example: A $75 Target purchase:

• Groceries: $45
• Household Items: $20
• Entertainment: $10

Bulk Actions

Select multiple transactions to act on them at once:

• Bulk Clear / Unclear: Mark multiple transactions as cleared or uncleared
• Bulk Approve: Approve multiple imported transactions
• Bulk Delete: Remove multiple transactions

Select transactions using the checkboxes, then use the bulk action toolbar that appears.

Context Menu

Right-click a transaction (or use the menu icon) to access:

• Edit — open the transaction for editing
• Delete — remove the transaction
• Toggle Cleared — switch between cleared and uncleared
• Approve / Reject — for imported transactions
• Unmatch — break a match between manual and imported transactions
• Flag for Attention — flag a transaction for another budget member (see Sharing)

Filters

Narrow down your transaction list:

• Needs Attention — show only transactions requiring review
• Date Range — filter to a specific time period
• Cleared Status — show cleared, uncleared, or all

Editing Transactions

To edit an existing transaction:

1. Find the transaction in the list
2. Click to open or click the edit icon
3. Make your changes
4. Save

WARNING

Editing transactions affects your account balances and category amounts. Reconciled transactions cannot be edited.

Deleting Transactions

To delete a transaction:

1. Open the transaction or select it
2. Click "Delete" or use the context menu
3. Confirm the deletion

DANGER

Deleted transactions are removed permanently. Reconciled transactions cannot be deleted.

Recurring Transactions

The recurring transaction model exists but is not yet available in the interface. This feature is planned for a future release.

Search and Filters

Find specific transactions quickly:

• Search: By payee, category, or notes
• Filter by account: Show only one account
• Filter by category: See all spending in a category
• Date range: View specific time periods

Reconciliation

Compare your transactions with your bank statement:

1. Get your latest bank statement
2. Go to the account's transaction list
3. Mark each transaction as "Cleared" when it appears on the statement
4. Compare your cleared balance with the statement balance
5. Investigate any discrepancies
6. Complete the reconciliation to lock cleared transactions

Why Reconcile?

• Catches mistakes and errors
• Finds missing transactions
• Detects unauthorised charges
• Ensures your budget data is accurate

TIP

Reconcile at least once a week, or after every bank statement!

Importing Transactions

Instead of manually entering every transaction, you can import them from your bank:

1. Download an OFX/QFX file from your bank
2. Click "Import" on the account page
3. Preview the transactions
4. Confirm the import
5. Review and approve imported transactions

TIP

Bank imports are matched against existing manual entries automatically. If you've already entered a transaction, the import will link to it rather than creating a duplicate.

See Importing Transactions for a detailed walkthrough, or Transaction Imports & Matching for technical details.

Common Scenarios

Paying a Credit Card Bill

1. Create a transfer from checking to credit card
2. Amount: What you're paying
3. This reduces the credit card balance
4. Does NOT affect categories (the original purchases did)

Getting Paid

1. Create a transaction on your checking account
2. Payee: Your employer
3. Category: "Income" or "Paycheck"
4. Amount: Positive (money coming in)

Buying Groceries

1. Create a transaction on the account you used
2. Payee: Store name (e.g., "Tesco")
3. Category: "Groceries"
4. Amount: Negative (money going out)

Splitting a Purchase

1. Create a transaction for the full amount
2. Click Split to divide across categories
3. Assign each portion to the right category

Best Practices

Record Immediately

Don't wait — record transactions as they happen to avoid forgetting.

Be Accurate

Use the exact amount, date, and payee from your receipt or statement.

Always Categorise

Assign every transaction to a category. Uncategorised = untracked money.

Review Regularly

Look through your transactions weekly to catch errors early.

Next Steps

• Learn about envelope budgeting methodology
• Understand budget months and allocation
• Review categories to organise spending
• Explore importing to save time on data entry
• Set up sharing for collaborative budgets