How categories work
Every transaction has exactly one category, shown as an emoji and a name. Categories sit in groups, FIYR picks a category for each new bank transaction, and you can change it any time or set a rule to change it automatically.
What a category is
- An emoji and a name, like ☕ Coffee & Tea. Categories have no color setting; chart colors are picked automatically.
- A group, like Food & Drink. Groups organize your budget, the category menus and the donut. See Category groups.
- A budget, if you set one. See Set up your monthly budget.
A transaction has one category. To tag a transaction with more than one thing (a trip, a reimbursement, a tax item), use labels alongside the category.
The categories you start with
New accounts start with more than 70 categories in 15 groups: Food & Drink, Home, Personal Care & Wellness, Utilities, Subscriptions, Shopping & Entertainment, Charitable Giving, Family & Pets, Transportation & Auto, Finance & Loans, Savings, Housing, Travel & Leisure, Business Expenses and Income. You can add, rename, delete and move them. See Add, edit or delete a category.
How FIYR picks a category for bank transactions
Your bank sends each transaction to Plaid, our bank connection partner, with a detailed category such as "restaurant" or "gas and electricity". FIYR translates that into one of your categories. A few examples:
| Bank category | FIYR category |
|---|---|
| Restaurants, fast food, bars | Eating Out |
| Coffee shops | Coffee & Tea |
| Wages | Payroll Income |
| Transfers to investment and retirement accounts | Investments |
| Transfers to savings and between accounts | Transfer |
| Credit card payments | Credit Card Payment |
| Gas and electricity | Electric |
| Most general merchandise | Miscellaneous |
If the bank sends no category, or one FIYR cannot place, the transaction lands in Uncategorized. You will find those in Review > Uncategorized (see Review transactions).
Renaming a category keeps the translation pointed at it. Deleting a category sends future transactions that would have landed there to Uncategorized.
Special categories
- Income group
- For paychecks and other money coming in. Income categories are kept out of budget and spending totals.
- Savings group
- Investments and Internal Transfer. Money moved here is left out of spending and counts toward your savings rate. These categories are locked.
- Credit Card Payment
- A locked system category FIYR uses to pair card payments and ignore them. See Transfers and credit card payments.
- Transfer
- In Finance & Loans. It does count as spending, so move transfers to your own accounts to Internal Transfer or label them ignore.
- Uncategorized
- Where transactions go when FIYR cannot pick a category.
Changing a transaction's category
Click the category on any transaction and pick a new one. See Edit a transaction. To see everything in one category, open its category page.
Common questions
Can I give a category a color?
No. Categories have an emoji and a name. Chart colors are assigned automatically.
Can a transaction be in two categories?
No, one category each. Split the transaction if it really covers two things, or add labels for extra tags.
Can I change how my bank's categories map to mine?
Not directly. Create a transaction rule for the merchant instead; rules override the bank's category on every new transaction.
Why is a transaction Uncategorized?
The bank sent no category FIYR recognizes, or the category it used to land in was deleted. Pick a category and add a rule for repeat merchants.
Still stuck?
Email us. A real person who builds FIYR reads every message.