# Transactions

Transactions are the individual money movements in your accounts. They power categories, cashflow, budgets, and automation rules.

## Quick start

1. Add transactions manually, import them from a file, or sync them from a connected account.
2. Check dates, descriptions, and amounts.
3. Add categories and labels.
4. Use filters to find groups of transactions.
5. Use bulk actions when many transactions need the same update.

## Transaction flow

```mermaid
flowchart TD
    new[New transaction] --> review[Review]
    review --> category[Category]
    review --> labels[Labels]
    category --> reports[Reports and budgets]
    labels --> reports
    rules[Automation rules] --> review
```

## What a transaction contains

### Date

The day the money moved.

Dates control which month the transaction appears in.

### Description

The text from your bank or the text you entered manually.

Descriptions are useful for search and automation rules.

### Amount

The money value.

Positive amounts usually mean money coming in. Negative amounts usually mean money going out.

### Category

The meaning of the transaction.

Categories decide where the transaction appears in reports.

### Labels

Extra tags you can use for filtering and budgets.

A transaction can have more than one label.

### Creditor and debtor name

Who received the money, and who sent it.

Banks supply these separately from the description on connected accounts. They
are often cleaner than the description, which makes them good for both filters
and automation rules.

### Notes

Private context for yourself.

Use notes when the bank description is not enough.

## Filtering and search

Use filters when the list is too large.

![The transaction filter bar, with the date range, account, category and label pickers open above the list](https://whisper.money/docs/documentation/transaction-filters.png)

You can filter by:

- Date range
- Amount range
- Category
- Account
- Label
- Creditor or debtor name
- How the category was set: by you, by a rule, by Whisper Money, or by your bank
- Search text

A good search often starts with the merchant name or a word from the bank
description.

### Saved filters

A filter combination you keep coming back to can be saved and given a name. It
then sits alongside the transaction list, one click away, instead of being
rebuilt every time.

![The bookmark button next to the filters, its menu open on a list of saved filters](https://whisper.money/docs/documentation/saved-filters.png)

Saved filters are useful for the reviews you repeat: uncategorized transactions,
one account's month, a merchant you are keeping an eye on.

## Bulk actions

Bulk actions help when many transactions need the same change. Selecting rows
brings up a bar with everything that can be applied to all of them at once.

![The bulk actions bar, showing the number of selected transactions next to the category and label pickers](https://whisper.money/docs/documentation/bulk-actions-bar.png)

Good uses:

- Assign one category to several transactions.
- Add the same label to a group.
- Update notes for matching transactions.
- Re-evaluate automation rules for selected transactions.

Before bulk editing, double-check the filtered list. Bulk actions can update many rows at once.

## Uncategorized transactions

Uncategorized transactions make reports less useful.

Try this approach:

1. Filter for uncategorized transactions.
2. Categorize obvious merchants first.
3. Create automation rules for repeated merchants.
4. Leave unclear items for later instead of guessing.

## Re-evaluating automation rules

If you create or change rules after transactions already exist, older transactions may not update automatically.

Use re-evaluation when you want rules to run again on existing transactions.

Use it after:

- Creating a new rule.
- Fixing a rule condition.
- Importing many transactions.
- Cleaning up old uncategorized items.

## FAQ

### Why does a transaction show in the wrong month?

Check the transaction date. Reports use that date.

### Can one transaction have multiple categories?

No. A transaction has one category. Use labels when you need extra tags.

### What is the difference between categories and labels?

Categories define the main meaning. Labels add flexible tags for filtering and budgets.

---

Pages inside this one:

- [Create a transaction](https://whisper.money/documentation/transactions/create.md?lang=en): Add a transaction by hand when it did not arrive from a bank file or a connected account: cash, a repayment between friends, or something the bank never recorded.
- [Import transactions](https://whisper.money/documentation/transactions/import.md?lang=en): Importing brings a bank file into Whisper Money when automatic syncing is not available for that bank, or when you would rather do it yourself.
- [Splitting a transaction](https://whisper.money/documentation/transactions/split.md?lang=en): One payment is not always one thing. Splitting turns a single transaction into several, each with its own category and labels, that still add up to what the account really moved.

Full documentation index: https://whisper.money/documentation.md?lang=en