Transactions
Learn how to record your spending, income, and transfers. Keep your budget accurate by logging transactions as they happen.
Adding Transactions#
Transactions are the heartbeat of your budget. Every time money moves – whether you're spending, receiving income, or transferring between accounts – you record it as a transaction.
Creating a Transaction
- Navigate to an account – Click on the account where the transaction occurred
- Click "Add Transaction" – Or use the keyboard shortcut
- Fill in the details:
- Date of the transaction
- Payee (who you paid or received from)
- Category (what the money was for)
- Amount (positive for income, negative for spending)
- Optional: Add a note for reference
- Save the transaction – It's now recorded and your category balances update automatically
Quick Entry Tip
Zerosum remembers the last categories you used with each payee. When you select a payee, it suggests those categories to speed up entry.
Transaction Types#
There are several types of transactions in Zerosum, each serving a different purpose:
Expense (Outflow)
Money leaving your account for purchases, bills, or payments. Enter as a negative amount (or Zerosum will handle the sign automatically).
Income (Inflow)
Money coming into your account like paychecks, reimbursements, or gifts. Income goes to your "Ready to Budget" amount, not directly to a category.
Transfer
Moving money between your own accounts. Transfers don't affect your category budgets (the money just moves from one place to another).
Adjustment
Corrections to account balances, like initial balances when setting up or reconciliation adjustments. These affect Ready to Budget.
Recurring Transactions#
For regular bills and expenses that repeat on a schedule, you can set up recurring transactions. Zerosum will automatically create scheduled transactions for you.
Creating a Recurring Transaction#
When adding a new transaction:
- Fill in the transaction details as usual
- Enable the "Recurring" toggle
- Select the frequency:
- Daily, Weekly, or Fortnightly
- Monthly, Bimonthly, or Quarterly
- Semiannually or Yearly
- Optionally set an end date
- Save the transaction
How It Works
When you create a recurring transaction, Zerosum creates the initial transaction (if the date is today or in the past) plus one scheduled transaction for the next occurrence. When that scheduled date arrives, the next one is automatically created.
Setting an End Date#
End dates let you create recurring transactions that automatically stop after a certain date – perfect for limited-time subscriptions, loan payments, or temporary expenses.
How End Dates Work
- When the next occurrence would fall after the end date, no new scheduled transaction is created
- Past transactions remain in your history – only future occurrences stop
- The recurring template stays active until the end date passes
Visual Indicator
Recurring transactions with an end date show a calendar-sync icon instead of the regular repeat icon, so you can easily identify time-limited recurrences.
Scheduled Transactions#
Scheduled transactions are future-dated transactions that haven't happened yet. They're shown with a blue calendar icon and a "Scheduled" badge.
Scheduled Indicator
Scheduled transactions don't affect your account balance or category budgets until their date arrives. They serve as reminders of upcoming expenses.
Info
You can hide scheduled transactions from your transaction list using the "Hide Scheduled" filter if you prefer a cleaner view.
Stopping a Recurring Transaction#
There are two ways to stop a recurring transaction:
Option 1: Delete the Scheduled Transaction
Simply delete the upcoming scheduled transaction. This automatically stops the recurrence and removes the recurring schedule. Past transactions remain unaffected.
Option 2: Edit and Turn Off Recurring
Edit any transaction in the recurring series and turn off the "Recurring" toggle. This stops future scheduled transactions while keeping the current transaction.
Deleting Past Transactions
If you delete a past transaction from a recurring series (not the scheduled future one), the recurrence will continue. Only deleting the scheduled transaction or turning off the toggle stops future occurrences.
Undo Support
Both actions can be undone. If you accidentally stop a recurring transaction, use the undo feature to restore it.
Editing Recurring Transactions#
When you edit a transaction that's part of a recurring series, the behavior depends on which transaction you edit:
Editing Past Transactions
Changes to past transactions (already occurred) only affect that specific transaction. Future scheduled transactions will continue with their original values.
Editing the Scheduled Transaction
Changes to the scheduled (future) transaction update the recurring template. This means all future occurrences will use the new amount, category, payee, and note.
Updating Future Occurrences
To change the amount, category, or payee for all future recurring transactions, edit the scheduled (future) transaction – not the past ones.
Visual Indicators#
Recurring and scheduled transactions have distinct visual indicators:
- Purple repeat icon – Transaction is part of an ongoing recurring schedule
- Purple calendar-sync icon – Transaction is part of a recurring schedule with an end date
- Blue calendar icon – Transaction is scheduled for a future date
Categorizing Spending#
Every expense transaction needs a category. This is how Zerosum knows which budget category to deduct the spending from.
Choosing the Right Category#
Ask yourself: "What purpose does this money serve?" The answer guides your category choice.
Examples:
Info
There's no single "correct" way to categorize. What matters is consistency. If you always put coffee shop visits in "Dining Out," stick with that choice.
Payee Category Memory#
Zerosum learns your habits. When you categorize a transaction from a payee, it remembers the last three categories you used with that payee.
- Next time you select that payee, suggested categories appear
- Click a suggestion to instantly fill in the category
- The more you use Zerosum, the faster transaction entry becomes
Income Transactions#
Income is a special case. When you record income (like a paycheck), it doesn't go to a regular spending category. Instead, it goes to your "Ready to Budget" amount.
Income Flow
1. You receive a $2,000 paycheck
2. Record it as income in your checking account
3. Your Ready to Budget increases by $2,000
4. Budget that money to your categories
Editing & Deleting Transactions#
Made a mistake? No problem. You can edit or delete transactions at any time.
Editing Transactions#
Click on any transaction to edit its details:
- Change the date, payee, category, or amount
- Add or update the note
- Move to a different account
- Change the cleared/reconciled status
Warning
When you edit a transaction's amount or category, your budget automatically recalculates. This may affect category balances for the current and future months.
Deleting Transactions#
To delete a transaction:
- Select the transaction(s) you want to delete
- Click the delete button or use the keyboard shortcut
- Confirm the deletion
When you delete a transaction:
- The amount is removed from the account balance
- If categorized, the category's activity and available amount update
- For transfers, both sides of the transfer are deleted
Duplicating Transactions#
For recurring purchases from the same payee, you can duplicate a transaction:
- Select a transaction and choose "Duplicate"
- A copy is created with today's date
- Edit the amount if needed and save
Search & Filter#
As your transaction history grows, finding specific transactions becomes important. Zerosum provides powerful search and filtering tools.
Search
Use the search bar to find transactions by payee name, note, or amount. Results update as you type.
Filters
Filter transactions by date range, category, account, or cleared status to narrow down your view.
Bulk Operations#
Need to manage multiple transactions at once? Zerosum supports bulk operations to save you time.
Select Multiple Transactions
Click the checkbox on transactions to select them. Once selected, an action bar appears with bulk options.
Available Bulk Actions
- Move – Move selected transactions to a different account
- Duplicate – Create copies of selected transactions
- Delete – Remove multiple transactions at once
- Change category – Recategorize multiple transactions together
Tip
Bulk operations are great for cleaning up after importing data or fixing categorization mistakes across many transactions.
Next: Setting Goals
Learn how to set up savings goals and track your progress toward financial milestones.