Reference Data

Categories, merchants, tags, and projects are the building blocks for organizing your expenses. Manage them all from Settings → Reference Data.

Overview

All four types of reference data are managed from a single hub in Settings. The interface is consistent: tap a row to edit, tap + to add, tap the trash icon to delete.

Viewer role: Members with Viewer access can browse reference data but cannot add, rename, or delete.

Categories

Categories classify your expenses and income. Each has a name and a color.

• Tap a category row to rename it or change its color
• Tap + next to “Expense Categories” or “Income Categories” to create a new one
• Tap the trash icon to delete a category
• Deletion is blocked if the category is in use by active expenses or budgets
• System (predefined) categories cannot be deleted

Tip: Use distinct colors for categories you want to spot quickly in charts.

Merchants

Merchants are created automatically when you add expenses — from manual entry, receipt scanning, or voice input. Use the Merchants screen to clean up duplicates or fix typos.

• Tap a merchant row to rename it
• Renaming merges all existing expenses with the old name under the new name (bulk update)
• Deleting removes the merchant name from all matching expenses (the expenses themselves are kept)

You cannot create merchants manually — they appear automatically as you add expenses.

Category rules

The app learns from your corrections. Every time you change the category of an expense that has a merchant name, a category rule is saved automatically. The next time you import a bank statement or Wise CSV containing that merchant, the app applies your rule and assigns the category without any manual fix.

• Learned rules appear in the Category rules section at the bottom of the Merchants screen
• Each row shows the merchant name and the category it maps to
• Tap the trash icon to delete a rule (the app will no longer auto-assign that category)
• Rules are stored on the server and sync across all your devices

Example: You import a Revolut statement and fix “AMAZON” → Shopping. Next month’s import automatically puts Amazon transactions in Shopping.

Tags

Tags let you label expenses with free-form keywords that cut across categories.

• Tap + to create a tag (enter a name and choose a color)
• Tap a tag row to rename it or change its color
• Tap the trash icon to remove the tag from all expenses

Tip: Use tags for short-lived tracking: “Business trip”, “Renovation”, “Gift budget”.

Projects

Projects group expenses by goal or activity — client work, travel, home renovation, and so on.

• Tap + to create a project (name, optional description, color, optional budget limit)
• Tap a project row to open its detail screen
• See all linked expenses, total spent, and budget remaining
• Use the pencil icon (top right) to edit the project
• Use the trash icon (top right) to delete it
• To link an expense to a project, open the expense and choose a project in the Project field

Tip: Set a budget on a project to track spending against a target and see the remaining amount.

See also: Expenses & Income | Analytics | Settings