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Rules

Rules categorize, rename and split transactions for you. They run on every new transaction, whether you add it by hand, import it from a CSV file or sync it from your bank.

A rule has two parts​

Conditions decide which transactions it applies to. Match on the payee, the original bank text, notes, account, category, amount, direction (money in or out) or date. Text conditions include is, contains, starts with, ends with, one of and regular expressions, and ignore upper and lower case. Choose whether all or any conditions must match.

Actions say what to change: set the category, set the payee, set or add to the notes, or split the transaction into fixed amounts, percentages and a remainder.

For example:

If payee contains AMZN → set payee to Amazon and category to Shopping.

Order matters​

Every matching rule runs, from top to bottom, and each sees the changes made above it. That means a rule that renames SQ *BLUE BOTTLE to Blue Bottle Coffee can sit above one that categorizes Blue Bottle Coffee. Once a rule sets a field, rules further down don't change it. Drag rules to reorder them.

Applying rules to past transactions​

When you save a rule, FlyBudget offers to run it on the transactions you already have. You'll see a preview first and choose which ones to change. Reconciled transactions, transfers and splits are never touched.

Quick ways to create a rule​

  • From a transaction: open it and choose Create rule. The payee and category are filled in.
  • From a payee: set a default category on the Payees page. It's used when no rule sets a category.