Auto-Categorize Transactions
Use our Auto-categorize Transactions feature to help get you started! This feature will generate new category names, and apply these to your bank feed imported transactions.
When you connect to your bank feeds, Auto-categorize Transactions is enabled by default, however, you can change this at any time.
In this user guide
About Auto-Categorize Transactions
Our data providers provide us with rudimentary categories for each transaction imported from your bank. These provide a great starting point for many people!
However, as you get used to PocketSmith and set up your own categories, you may wish to turn this off. This will stop your transactions from being assigned to categories created by the bank feed. If you would prefer the bank feed to no longer create new categories for you automatically, follow the steps outlined here: Turning Auto-categorize off & on
When turning this feature off, consider setting up Category Rules and Filters to categorize future transactions the way that best suits you!
Tip
If you want to use a combination of the categories from the data provider and your own, there are options to override particular Auto-categorize categories. Learn more here: Overriding Auto-Categorize
What affects the quality of the categorization provided?
One of the largest factors contributing to the categories created is the country associated with your bank's data connection. Transactions occurring in the United States are categorized more accurately as most of Yodlee's connected banks are in the US.
Why do unwanted categories keep appearing?
- Turn Auto-Categorize off & on
- Override particular data provider categories
The difference between Akahu, Plaid, Salt Edge, and Yodlee created categories
The categories provided by each of our data providers are different. If you want to match a category created by one data provider to a category created by another data provider, you can delete one of the categories and merge this with the category you'd like to keep. This will then create a category map so that when the next transaction with the deleted category is imported, it is assigned to the chosen category.
For more details about deleting and merging categories and category mapping, see the following guides:
Turning Auto-categorize Transactions off & on
Reasons to turn this feature off
- You already have a well-established set of categories
- You find the categories provided for your bank's transactions don't match your preference, and you'd prefer not to use the override options
- Your requirements exceed what Auto-categorize can offer
Note
Turning off the Auto-categorize feature won't turn off any Filters or Category Rules that you have created.
Turning Auto-categorize Transactions off & on
- Head to Manage Feeds (Manage > Feeds)
Click the three-dot menu on the connection you'd like to change this setting for, and select Connection options
Tick or untick the Auto-categorize transactions check box
- Click SAVE CHANGES
- Repeat for any additional connections
Overriding Auto-categorize categories
Change the category name
Edit the auto-categorize category name to one of your choice, and PocketSmith will keep track of this name change. You can learn more about how PocketSmith remembers these changes here: Category mapping
Delete the category
You can delete the data provider-created category. This means any transactions that would have usually been automatically categorized to that category will be imported as uncategorized. You can learn more about how PocketSmith remembers these changes here: Category mapping
Create a new category rule or filter
If you create any Filters or Category Rules these will override categories applied automatically by the Auto-categorize.
Alternatives to Auto-categorize
One of the best ways to have control over your categorizing is to use Category Rules. After applying a Category Rule to a transaction, that rule will apply to all matching uncategorized transactions as they are imported into PocketSmith, assigning categories for you and making categorizing quick and easy!