Split transactions should be treated as separate transactions (2 Merged Votes)
I love the ability to split transactions (it's a "must have" feature for me!) and the ability to separately tag portions of a split transactions is great. But Simplifi would be improved if the split portions of a transaction were treated as separate transactions. Even if they appeared as a single transaction when viewed in Simplifi (as they do now), treating them as separate transactions would solve some of the problems others have identified when exporting transactions. For example, currently, when exported, split portions of a transaction do not display the payee, date, or tags. If they were separate transactions, this information could be displayed for each portion of the split transaction, so that it would not have to be re-entered into the exported file.
Mint has long treated split transactions this way and I see that today Monarch Money added this feature, too. It is more intuitive this way and avoids lots of headaches when dealing with exported files. I hope Simplifi will consider revising how it deals with these split transactions.
Comments
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@bcrossman Great suggestion! I went ahead and moved it to our feedback and made it an Idea so we can have other members of the community vote on your idea as well!
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I'd like to be able to put Notes onto portions of split transactions, and that doesn't seem possible without treating them as separate transactions.
(I'd still want to be able to see where they came from / added to up, which is something Mint doesn't do, though. I guess I want the best of both worlds!)7 -
I would just like to reiterate my strong support for this feature. I love the ability to split transactions, but the way Simplifi handles split transactions is really limiting, especially if portions of the transaction should be treated differently, for example, when one portion should be an ignored transfer and another portion is spending that should appear in the Spending Plan and Reports. These problems are further discussed here and here.Treating split transactions as separate transactions would also allow separate notes for each portion of the transaction and hopefully solve the problem of losing data when the transaction is exported. I really hope Simplifi prioritizes this feature.5
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And also have the ability to have the split transactions have separate categories.
At lunch I bought a pizza, but also bought bread - I'd like to be able to say one is for groceries and one is for work lunch so my spending is tracked more accurately.0 -
adizzlefoto said:And also have the ability to have the split transactions have separate categories.
At lunch I bought a pizza, but also bought bread - I'd like to be able to say one is for groceries and one is for work lunch so my spending is tracked more accurately.I think split transactions already do exactly this. Once split, you can designate different categories (and tags) for different portions of the transaction, e.g., work lunch for the pizza and groceries for the bread.The problem is that the split portions of the transaction are not properly accounted for in the Spending Plan or Reports. Portions that should be ignored from one or both are not, and portions that should be included are sometimes ignored. I just recently discovered a similar problem with Reports: https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/1238/split-transactions-are-ignored-in-reports#latestThe second problem is that once exported, split transactions lose a lot of the transaction data, such as tags and payee. Separating the split transactions (but keeping them linked, as @EL1234 suggests) could solve this problem.
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I love that you have option to split categories in a transaction, but it's limiting when you can't treat each split as an individual transaction with ability to make tag, notes, or ignore from reports and spending plan. I want to be able to ignore certain categories from spending plan, but not capable of doing that when it's in a split transaction or it ignores all the category items in the split. It's also nice option to be able make a separate memo note on each split item when needed or add a tag without it tagging the entire transaction.0
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Yes! Coming from Mint this was very helpful when I was able to break out bulk purchases into months based on when I consumed them. I used this in Mint often. The big need for me is to be able split a transaction into multiple months more so than into multiple categories.2
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To vote on a "Notes" column being added to split transactions, please see here:
To vote on the ability to ignore just part of a split transaction from Reports and the Spending Plan, please see here:
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I just moved over form Mint to Simplifi. I am really loving Simplifi except for how transaction are split.
In Mint the transaction is actually split into individual transactions. You can add payee/description information and date for each split transaction and also category.
This is useful to split cash transactions where only assigning a category does not tell you who you paid the cash to or when. This would be a great feature in my opinion!
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For anyone who’s voted for this, are you saying that a split should become two (2) separate lines in the account transaction register?
For those who use splits, that would make it excessively confusing since right now there is a one to one match between Simplifi and the bank. IfI sees line in the register, I know there’s a corresponding lines in the bank’s register. I’ve had transactions with up to 10 splits before - apparently I really like splits - and I absolutely DON’T want to see 10 different lines in the account register!Chris
Quicken Desktop user since 2014.
New to Simplifi in 2021.1 -
I second this request. Because they are not treated as separate, I cannot apply them to bills or subscriptions. It also prevents me from splitting income that I get as cash against two separate expected incomes. If I deposit a bunch of cash at the bank, it usually isn't just from one source.
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+1 for this feature request! I should not have to see the whole transaction amount ($96.98) in the auto and transport category, when only $30 of that transaction is going into that specific category. Also, it would be nice if the transaction category was more specific beyond "—split—". That isn't helpful when reviewing transactions. Thanks!!
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Hi @Flopbot,
I really like split transactions, too, and have lots of transactions with several splits — maybe not 10, but close 😁
To answer your question, I think split transactions could — but wouldn't necessarily have to — appear as individual lines in the register. For what it is worth, this is how Mint and Monarch treat split transactions and I've never found it to be a problem or too cluttered. It creates more "lines" when viewing all transactions, but the portions of a split transaction appear adjacent to one another and are denoted by some "split" icon in the register. I'm often looking at transactions by category, anyway, so many portions of a split transaction are filtered out.
I wouldn't mind separate lines, but I don't think it is essential as long as each portion of the split transaction has separate categories & tags (like now); notes (still needs to be added); and the biggie — all data for each portion of the split transactions is retained and available when exported to CSV. For some reason, Simplifi treats exported split transactions differently than any other program I've uses and it necessitates a lot cutting and pasting or re-entry of data which should be unnecessary.
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Thanks @bcrossman for the added detail. I personally wouldn’t want separate lines on a transaction register, but adding notes - and maybe other stuff - makes complete sense.
By chance, could you add a screenshot of how Mint does splits for the visual folks…of which I’m one?
Chris
Quicken Desktop user since 2014.
New to Simplifi in 2021.0 -
It's really not that confusing having your transaction become two or more separate transactions and it MASSIVELY improves the flexibility of a budgeting tool. It's hard to overstate for me how much this has made Mint a powerful tool for me in so many ways.
A basic example, my girlfriend and I share a credit card. We only use it for shared expenses and split the bill every month. So when we buy a concert ticket on there for both of us it'll show up in Simplifi as the total price, but I only want to see/count my ticket. In Mint I would split the transaction manually and divide it in two then recategorize it to a custom category "Split with Becks" (my gf) and just ignore it for budgeting purposes. (My dream feature from a really good budgeting service would do this stuff automatically, so I could just press a button and it could hide half of a transaction from the ledge but still show it when you click on the main details) I'll show an example:
You'll notice that because the transaction fully splits off you can edit its date, tags, notes, and even the title.
It's important to note that this is like 50% or more of all my spending. This is a core feature for anyone who shares spending but not income and honestly it doesn't seem like it should be hard to input software wise. It would solve the dozens of idea requests I've found in the last hour that Simplify seems intent on keeping separate instead of just putting one easy feature in.
Another VERY frequent example to illustrate how helpful this is.
I go out to dinner with about 8 friends and I offer to put the whole thing on my card to save ourselves and the waiter the trouble of splitting the bill. I take a picture of the receipt and send it to everyone and have them Venmo me (the only money sending service anyone I know uses). The transaction will only show up as the total purchase in Simplifi but in reality I only spent money for my dinner because everyone paid me back. Now it would be easy to just split the transaction and ignore the friends part but what I used to do because I'm obsessive about reconciling ALL of my spending is make sure the Venmo transfers cancelled out. Better put, when I look back and my memory fails me, I have no real record of this cancellation, it's gone.
So I would transfer all of the paybacks for dinner from Venmo along with whatever else I have money in there for. When that transfer hit my bank account and Mint I would split it up accordingly. Say 150 bucks was money from friends for dinner, 20 bucks was a split with my gf for something we couldn't use our card for, and 300 was payment for a job I did for a client. I can manually split this transaction, I can rename each part of it, I can recategorize the money from friends so that it cancels out part of the purchase in that category and technically only shows what I spent for my dinner, and maybe I can change the date for the 300 payment for a job to next month because I want to count that as income for the next month.
This is a core feature for me. As I type this I guess I'm realizing I should go try Monarchs trial to see if they're any better.
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This is similar to how I have used split transactions, too. For things like your venmo transfer, I often only transfer a portion of money from my venmo account so I don't have to worry about creating split transaction. I guess it's a manually split transaction, in a sense.
I haven't used Mint in a few years, but I've played around with Monarch recently and they do a very nice job of splitting transactions. There are enough other shortfalls with Monarch that I still prefer Simplifi, but I see this as a major area where Simplifi could improve.
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It boggles my mind to see so many good suggestions like this one still not implemented after more than 3 years from its suggestion.
Quicken, arguably the greatest finance management software since its inception in 1984 has used splits with a memo for as long as I can remember.
If the Quicken wasn't so buggy and supported modern fintech I'd likely have hit my 40th anniversary of using the product next year.
I'm not sure the owners of Simplifi are listening to their customers…for if they had, I would not be writing comments to great suggestions made over 3 years ago.
-Phil-
Former Quicken Desktop user 1984 -2023. Currently Testing Simplifi as its replacement.
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Just wanted to add another comment in support of the above. Especially appreciate what bval2023 included as I've often used Mint similarly for splitting Venmo payments and would really like to split a venmo trasaction into part "transfer" and part "rent" (I pay the full rent after my roommates transfer me the money). I've spent a lot of time trying to find a solution for this one the past three weeks, and if this got resolved, I think this would get me to be fully onboard with Simplifi for the long term.
Also a side note - I just want to also say how much I appreciate the Simplifi team's community responsiveness - both admins and supportive community members. I know a lot of these features are a work in progress and may be rolled out slower then I'd like, but I think the back and forth of suggesting features we would like to see and responsiveness is a positive one and feel good about supporting this platforms continued growth.
With the end of Mint it seems like quality free budget apps may be a thing of the past, so hoping Simplifi will become the best budgeting app it can be.
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Gotta disagree, they are listening and I believe it shows. Both you and I were using the ‘traditional’ Quicken Desktop software long enough to see the transition in ownership from Intuit to Quicken. I don’t know about you, but I personally saw a marked improvement once Intuit finally got their grubby hands off the software. When owned by Intuit, I had experienced a steady decline in the software right up till they sold it. Then, I saw a steady improvement from the date of the sale - just not enough for me to remain as a user. Intuit had dug too deep a hole.
With Simplifi, I’ve seen numerous Idea Posts get implemented in my relatively short time using the software. Sure, not all of them, but honestly, how realistic is it to expect any software company to implement some 1.3 thousand ideas!
Understand that I’m not saying there aren’t Idea Posts I don’t care about and want to see implemented, there are. However, I just want to give credit where credit is due.
Chris
Quicken Desktop user since 2014.
New to Simplifi in 2021.2 -
@Flopbot I concur that somethings got better with Quicken Desktop…but I hung in there too long. I feel either company feels the longer they have you as a customer, the less likely you are going to leave because of the historical value of the data. They value getting new customer more than do the existing.
In my short time I continue to see very good suggestions still waiting to see the light of day. Which has caused me to start other trials with other emerging products…it is so frustrating seeing things that Simplifi doesn't have or support, or vis-versus with other products…which proves that features, and functionality, such as getting data from an institution is possible. Seeing data in a well-organized way is possible.
The Straw that broke the camel's back in Quicken, was Sofi bank wasn't pulling data…yet seems to do just fine in Simplifi.
I have tried many services that have much better support for aggregating data…but it's what they do with it that hasn't convinced me yet…I just don't know which horse to saddle up…for my ride into the sunset. 🙄
I want an owner who takes good care of their horses, nourishes them quality feeds (aggregators), uses quality trainers (engineers)…if they want me to pay to ride their horse. 🐎😁
-Phil-
Former Quicken Desktop user 1984 -2023. Currently Testing Simplifi as its replacement.
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@Philk
Good analogy! As you search, don’t forget that traditional Quicken Desktop and Simplifi are functionally the same company. I truly believe that Quicken (the company) is moving toward Simplifi and away from the Quicken Desktop software. Though, I am NOT an employee of Quicken so it’s just a feeling.Chris
Quicken Desktop user since 2014.
New to Simplifi in 2021.1 -
Been a Simplifi user since 2019. Didn't use Quicken extensively prior to SM, so can't opine on that.
I concur with @Philk. On the feature front, IMHO, I think SM moves slow. There are numerous highly requested posts that have been in Active / In Review mode for years. Just the basic capability to "hide closed accounts" took 2 years 4 months. Investment transactions have been in BETA for what feels like an eternity. Just read a sampling of the "web release" product updates and the ones I read (I believe most are like this) are 85% "FIXES" vs. "ADDED" items.
With each year, I begruddingly renew, mostly because of my general inertia (laziness) to convert to another application.
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+1 to this feature request, especially being able to set a different date for the split transactions. My use case is paying internet monthly, but reimbursed every few months. I’d like to be able to split the reimbursement and align the split transactions to each month’s spend, so that I can have net zero each month for this category.
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Shouldn't be a big deal to work through 1,300 requests. Simple requests sitting around for three or more years seems like a problem.
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Don’t forget that not all the 1,300 requests are good ones. “Good” - in this case - being a very subjective term. That’s where voting comes in. I’d rather it takes them three years to finish and get it spot on than to take one year and it to half baked.
Chris
Quicken Desktop user since 2014.
New to Simplifi in 2021.5 -
Here is an example of split transactions in a CSV export. The child transactions should inherit account, state, postedOn and payee from the parent transaction. That is basic. As far as keeping a one to one correspondence between the number of rows displayed in the Simplifi transaction list and what I see at my bank account's website, I am not sure that is a necessity. But seems like a display issue, either way. It is likely faulty database design to create records with missing attributes. And it makes no sense to create a CSV file with missing attributes.
More about bad database design. Not that I am qualified. But I think that creating CSV records with missing attributes, and depending on sort order to point to the parent record, is violating some normalization requirement.
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Someone said 1.3k discussions equates to 1.3k functional changes which is unrealistic for any software company. I disagree on both counts. Working through a backlog is fundamental for any software company. I want them to do the right things right. If any request would take three years, that is probably not a viable request. I'd give Simplifi an F on their handling of this issue. It is three years old. You might say their implementation of splits is half-baked.
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There are a couple of different conversations going on in this thread now, but @dsfreddy identified the most important issue for me — it's the loss of data when exporting split transactions. The "child" transactions should absolutely reflect the constant data from their parent (account, state, postedOn, and payee). At one time, any tags or notes entered in Simplifi were lost on export as well; I'm not sure whether that issue has been fixed. But this single correction would go a long way towards fixing Simplifi's split transaction deficiencies for me.
Secondarily, transactions searches and reports need to be able to segregate responsive portions of split transactions from the non-responsive portions. For example, if I have a $100 transaction that is split between Groceries ($75) and Pharmacy ($25) and then search or run a report on my Pharmacy spending, only the $25 should appear in the search/report total. I think this is how it works now, but it's not obvious.
With these two features in place and running smoothly, I don't have a super strong opinion whether split transactions should appear separately in the transaction log or bundled into a single transaction that must be "opened" to review. I see pros and cons to both approaches and could live with either.
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@Flopbot I was addressing this statement/question: "how realistic is it to expect any software company to implement some 1.3 thousand ideas"
I think it is reasonably realistic for Simplifi to address 1,300 ideas in a timely manner.
Regardless, this particular feature request has been around for three years. They get an F.
If someone, preferably someone that works for Simplifi, has information as to why this issue has not been addressed, I'd like to hear from them.
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