Payee and Category rule together

oldit51

Does a Category rule which is based on the Payee, use only the downloaded Payee name from the bank , or will it use the Payee name of the transaction itself if it has been renamed in a Payee rule ?

UrsulaA

With the rules setup, the renaming rule runs first and then the category rule triggers. My Simplifi transactions modified with rules show the renamed payee and the category I assigned in the rules.

oldit51

great. That’s what I need and set up, just have to wait for a transaction fitting the rule to come through to test it now.

Wish there was a way to get rules to work on manual transactions for just this reason. Thanks for the reply

UrsulaA

To get rules to work in manual accounts, there is a workaround. Import transactions in the manual account using a CSV file.

https://help.simplifimoney.com/en/articles/4413430-how-to-manually-import-transactions

oldit51

perfect. I will give that a try. Thank you !

oldit51

Update: I exported some of the transactions I had issues with the rules on, modified the Payees back to make the rules trigger again on import and made amounts different for testing.

They Payee rule changed the Payee name correctly but the Category rule which was to make a transfer using the "transfer to Cash" category…. did not appear to complete correctly,

While it did appear to have the category named "Cash", and when I look at the transaction in the account it was imported tom it does show that "both sides of transfer detected and has a link to go to other side" which should go to the transaction it created in the CASH account, but there is no matching transaction in the CASH account and the link goes nowhere.

This is the same think that happens when the transaction comes in on a download normally from the bank.

If I go into the transaction in the Account it was imported to, and re-choose the same "transfer to Cash" Category…..then it will create the other side of the transaction in the other account.

Maybe there is another way to accomplish my goal which is to have a way to track Cash spending. When I withdraw cash via an ATM transaction, I just want it to reflect an increase in a manual "cash" account. Basically… cash in my pocket, so when I spend cash, I can enter transactions against the cash account.

UrsulaA

Sounds like you have created a manual cash account in Simplifi, is that correct?

If so, when you withdraw funds from the ATM, categorize the transaction as transfer:cash when it comes downloaded from the bank. This will move the funds from the bank account to the cash account. Also, I find it easier to enter the transfer transactions manually as Simplifi automatically creates the other side of the transfer when doing this. For the CSV import to work, you will need to import the ATM withdrawal/transfer to the checking account (category Transfer:Cash, account checking) and the deposit transfer to the cash account (category Transfer:Checking, account cash). This is two lines to be imported with two files to two accounts, a more complicated process.

I enter my ATM withdrawals manually when I do them when I want to see my cash balance updated without waiting for the bank download. Simplifi matches the downloaded ATM withdrawal transaction to the manual transfer to cash with ease when the bank download comes in.

oldit51

yes, I created a manual cash account in Simplifi for this.

I am trying to accomplish what you describe, but only was trying via import to test the rules which haven't been working when the downloads occur from the bank,

What I feel should happen…is…when the ATM transaction is downloaded which has a payee named "ATM Wdl mm/ddyy etc", the rule is set to rename it to "ATM", and the category rule says if payee is "ATM" , make the category.."Transfer:Cash".

That happens to the transaction when it comes in but it doesn't create the actual transfer.

I guess my only choices are manually change the category on the ATM transaction after it downloads (even though its set correct), or manually enter the ATM transaction when I make it and let the download match it.

Thank you for your assistance with this. appreciate it.

UrsulaA

@oldit51 you are right on your choices. I use the second choice: manual entry and then let the downloaded transaction match.