Splitting a transaction has annoying behavior

bdougherty

I have a lot of trouble creating split transactions because of annoying recalculation behavior. It works ok if the split is in two, but if you have more, it is really frustrating. Here's what I do:

1. Hit split
2. Edit the amount on the first split and it correctly re-calculates the second
3. Edit the amount of the second split

Instead of adding an additional split to account for the extra amount, it changes the amount of the first split, which I explicitly typed in. Furthermore, if I attempt to create all of the splits ahead of time, it will still go back and keep changing the value on a previous split that I explicitly typed in, instead of moving the amount into one of the $0 splits.

This is maddening, please fix it! Simplify should never be changing amounts that I explicitly typed in.

Coach Natalie

Hello @bdougherty,

Thank you for posting to the Community regarding this issue, although I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing difficulties when splitting transactions in Simplifi.

I haven't personally noticed any issues when it comes to splitting transactions, and I'm also currently unable to reproduce the behavior that you've described here. With that being said, are you seeing this issue on the Simplifi Web App, the Simplifi Mobile App, or both? 

I'd suggest following the steps outlined here (or here if you're using the Simplifi Mobile App) under the section titled " Split a Transaction" to see if doing so helps to resolve this matter for you. If the issue persists, please provide a video or some screenshots of what you're seeing so we can take a closer look. 

Please let us know how it goes!

-Coach Natalie

bdougherty

@Coach Natalie sorry for the delay, I didn't get any kind of notification about your reply. I am using the website in Safari, but it seems to be working properly now. I'll update this thread with a video if I encounter the issue again.

Coach Natalie

Sounds good @bdougherty!

You can also enable your Community Notifications by following the steps here.

-Coach Natalie

Flopbot

@bdougherty

I do A LOT of splits and have noticed a pretty annoying and consistent behavior when entering them from a desktop.  I'm not sure if the behavior I've noticed is the same as yours.

Could you confirm if your issue is different than my issue?  Also, one additional question, before doing your Step 1, are you waiting for the transaction to download from your bank (ex. starting with $42.36) or are you entering the receipt manually (starting with $0.00)?


My Issue:

The problem I typically experience (usually when entering splits from a desktop) is that after the YELLOW amount is automatically downloaded, I enter my splits.  When I edit the BLUE amount, Simplifi automatically adds a new Uncategorized line with the RED amount.  What SHOULD HAPPEN - and what usually happens on Mobile - is that the YELLOW amount decreases to $7 (decreases by $1.49).




Some Things I've Generally Noticed:

1. Most of the time, I just wait for the transaction to download from the bank.  When I get around to entering my splits, the YELLOW Amount field already has a number in it.  Generally, I've found that this seems to lead to less frustration and glitches.
2. Personally, I've found that entering splits on Mobile is far less glitchy than when entering them via Desktop.  It rarely leads to the error I outlined above while the Desktop almost always leads to the error.
3. For the first row, I always reserve that for my largest grouping of items.  If my receipt has these items on it (Grocery | Grocery | Milk | Grocery | Filtered Water), then I always put Grocery in the first row since that ends up leading to less hand calculations.  This ends up grouping "Everything Else" into the first row which seems to work well with the way that Simplifi Mobile handles the calculations.

Let me know if I'm missing something from your post.

MrGood

Simplifi's treatment of the splits varies depending on the categorization of the 1st split in the list

• IF the category for the first split item is set to a SPECIFIC category, then other splits will result in additional line items being added.  This is the behavior demonstrated in flopbot's screenshot above.
  
  
• IF the category for the first split item is Uncategorized, then the subsequent splits will REDUCE the Amount listed in the first split item, which it sounds like is the default behavior in the mobile app.

Flopbot

@MrGood

This is really awesome, thanks for sharing!  I didn’t know that’s how Simplifi was processing splits so I’m really, really excited to learn this!  I’ve been trying to figure out what was going on for awhile now and couldn’t work it out…I just couldn’t see the pattern.

 I’m really looking forward to playing with this tonight!

Flopbot

@MrGood

Thanks so much for describing Simplifi's treatment of splits.  I'm documenting these screenshots as much for myself as for anyone else.  Sorry this is so detailed and in the weeds.

MrGood's Key Rules:
These appear to be accurate only on the Web App, not the Mobile App.

1. IF the category for the first split item is set to a SPECIFIC category, then other splits will result in additional line items being added.
2. IF the category for the first split item is Uncategorized, then the subsequent splits will REDUCE the Amount listed in the first split item.

When Using the Web App:

The key seems to be three splits.  When you start with this...



And when there are two split lines and you adjust the second line amount (RED), it reduces/decreases the first line amount (YELLOW) whether or not the first line is categorized.





When you have three or more split lines, THEN Simplifi functions exactly according to MrGood's Key Rules.






When Using the Mobile App:

Regardless of how many split lines you have or whether or not you categorize the first line, any amount change in a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th split lines reduces/decreases the first line's amount.  Stated another way, Mobile doesn't follow MrGoods Key Rules.


My Two Takeaways:

• For me and the way I think, I'm going to keep entering my splits primarily from Mobile.  That method consistently does exactly what I want it to do the way I want it to do it.

• For @bdougherty , it sounds like with the way you think - wanting the first line's amount to be left alone - you might consider entering your splits primarily from the Web App AND always enter a specific category in the first split line AND always entering 3 or more split lines right from the start; even if you're only going to have 2 split lines in the end...you can always remove one of them when your done.  That way, Simplifi will function the way you want by NOT reducing/decreasing the amount on the first split line.  Said another way, when editing a split transaction, before actually entering any amounts in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th slit lines, make sure your screen looks something like this...
  
  
  

Simplifi, this setup makes it nearly impossible for people to pick out any sort of pattern when using the Desktop App and really just opens yourself up for frustration from users.

MrGood

@Flopbot -- Awesome work documenting. 

Coaches -- If the "split behavior" will remain like this on the web app, I propose we take the last write-up above and make it into a help article.  I struggled with this for a while too (as the others here) and there are likely others in our situations.  

Coach Natalie

Hello All,

Thank you for the outline and screenshots of this behavior!

I am also seeing an issue when adding at least 3 split lines where Simplifi is adding an additional split that's "Uncategorized" and has a positive amount instead of adjusting the first amount in the split. The issue appears to only occur when the first line in the split has a Category, as using "Uncategorized" for the first line appears to result in a properly functioning split, no matter how many lines are added or when they're added.

With that being said, I went to report this behavior as a bug, however, it appears that it's already been reported. I did go ahead and add what I'm personally seeing to the Ticket, as well as added a video of the behavior, and I'll be sure to post back here as soon as an update is received.

-Coach Natalie

SIMPL-12259

Coach Natalie

Hello everyone!

Our product team is working on a complete redesign for how transaction splitting works, which should resolve the funky behavior outlined in this thread. I no longer have a way to track the issue, and we don't currently have an ETA to provide on the splits redesign, so I just wanted to let everyone know that this is being worked on and a fix can be expected in a future release.

Thanks!

-Coach Natalie