How Transactions Work
Tutorial Guide: How Transactions Work Inside Fina
Managing your financial transactions effectively is crucial for accurate reporting and financial health. In Fina, transactions are central to how you track and analyze your finances. This guide will walk you through the transaction management features in Fina, helping you to categorize and clean up your transactions so that your financial reports are precise and meaningful.
How Categories Are Set
In Fina, every transaction is assigned a category, which determines how it appears in your financial reports. Categories help you organize transactions into meaningful groups like expenses, income, and transfers.
There are three ways that categories are set in Fina:
Auto-Categorized Using AI Classification
Fina uses AI classification to automatically assign categories to your transactions. The AI analyzes transaction data such as the merchant name and amount to predict the most appropriate category. This feature saves you time by reducing the need for manual categorization.
Customizable AI Categories: You can modify the AI classifications to better suit your needs by adjusting your category list.
Uncategorized Transactions: If the AI cannot determine a category, the transaction will appear as 'uncategorized', prompting you to assign it manually.
Set by a Rule
You can create rules in Fina to automatically categorize transactions based on specific criteria you define. For example, you might set a rule that any transaction from "Starbucks" is categorized as "Coffee".
Priority of Rules: Rules take precedence over AI classifications, ensuring your custom preferences are applied.
Overridden by User
You have the ability to manually override both AI classifications and rules by changing the category of a transaction directly.
Highest Priority: Manual overrides have the highest priority in Fina's categorization system.
Flexible Control: This feature allows you to make exceptions or adjustments as needed.
Note: Before you start categorizing transactions, it's advisable to review and set up your category schema to match your financial tracking preferences.
Category Status (Review Checkbox)
Fina provides a review system to help you keep track of which transactions you've verified.
Changing a Category
When you change the category of a transaction:
Click on the current category of the transaction.
Select the new category from your list.
The transaction will now show that it was set manually.
Option to Remove Review Requirement
If you prefer not to manually review each transaction:
Go to Profile Settings by clicking on the settings icon.
Toggle the Transaction Review Feature on or off according to your preference.
On: You will need to manually review and mark transactions.
Off: Transactions won't require manual review, streamlining the process.
Snapshot Feature
Before making significant changes to your transactions or categories, it's a good idea to use the Snapshot feature:
Purpose: Saves the current state of your data, allowing you to revert back if needed.
How to Use: Navigate to the Snapshot option in your profile settings and create a new snapshot.
Creating a New Rule
Creating rules in Fina automates the categorization of transactions, saving you time and ensuring consistency.
After Changing a Category Manually: When you change a transaction's category, Fina will prompt you to create a rule.
Setting Up the Rule:
Define the conditions (e.g., Merchant includes "Starbucks").
Specify the category to assign when conditions are met.
Optionally, add more conditions (e.g., Amount over $5).
Applying the Rule:
Choose to apply the rule to all matching transactions, both past and future.
Saving the Rule:
Click Save, and the rule will be added to your rules list.
Viewing Your Rules
Access: Go to the Rules tab in your profile.
Priority: Rules are prioritized based on their order in the list; higher rules take precedence.
Management: Edit or delete rules as needed to maintain accurate categorization.
Detailed Transaction Card View
For more granular control, you can access the detailed view of a transaction.
Rules Associated with a Transaction
Create a Rule: Click on Create Rule within the transaction card to set up a new rule based on this transaction.
View Existing Rules: See if any rules are currently affecting the transaction.
Changing the Date of a Transaction
Adjusting Dates: Change the date of a transaction if it was recorded on a different date than when it actually occurred.
Purpose: Useful for aligning transactions with the correct reporting periods, especially for end-of-month expenses.
Adding a Description or Note
Notes: Add additional information or context to a transaction.
How to Add: Enter your note in the Description field within the transaction card.
Visibility: A note icon will appear next to transactions with descriptions.
Excluding Transactions or Marking for Review
Exclude Transactions: Remove transactions from reports without deleting them.
Useful for non-recurring or irrelevant transactions.
Mark for Review: Flag transactions that require further attention.
Splitting Transactions
Purpose: Divide a single transaction into multiple categories.
Ideal for receipts that cover multiple expense types.
How to Split:
Click on Split Transaction.
Allocate amounts to different categories.
Ensure the total split amounts equal the original transaction amount.
Date Range and Quick Summaries
Adjusting the Date Range
How to Change: Use the date picker at the top of the transactions page to select the desired period.
Preset Options: Quickly select common ranges like current month, previous month, or custom dates.
Viewing Quick Summaries
Summaries: At the bottom of the transactions page, Fina provides totals and counts for the selected date range.
Information Provided:
Total number of transactions.
Total income, expenses, and transfers.
Search Functionality
Search Bar: Use the search bar to find specific transactions by name, merchant, or description.
Instant Results: As you type, Fina filters the transactions to match your query.
Quick Filter for Non-Reviewed Transactions
Purpose: Easily identify transactions that haven't been reviewed yet.
How to Use: Click on the Unreviewed filter button to display only transactions that need your attention.
Filters & Views
Using Filters
Access Filters: Click on the Filter button to open filter options.
Filter Options:
Name/Merchant: Filter transactions by merchant name.
Category: Select specific categories to view.
Amount: Set minimum or maximum transaction amounts.
Date: Further refine the date range.
Saving Views and Toggling Between Them
Save a Filtered View:
Set your desired filters.
Click on Save as View.
Name your view (e.g., "Grocery Expenses").
Toggle Views:
Switch between saved views using the Views dropdown menu.
Useful for quickly accessing frequently used filters.
Importing or Exporting Transactions
Importing Transactions
Manual Import: If needed, you can manually import transactions from a CSV file.
How to Import:
Click on Import Transactions.
Follow the prompts to upload your file.
Export Roll-Up for Taxes
Purpose: Provides a summary of transactions by category, helpful for tax preparation.
How to Export:
Click on Export.
Choose Export Roll-Up.
Select the date range and other preferences.
Download the file.
Export Raw Transaction List
Purpose: Exports all transaction data in a detailed list.
How to Export:
Click on Export.
Choose Export Raw List.
Select your preferences and download the file.
Conclusion & Notes on Auto-Categorization
Managing your transactions effectively in Fina ensures that your financial data is accurate and up-to-date. By utilizing features like AI classification, rules, and manual overrides, you have full control over how transactions are categorized.
Auto-Categorization Accuracy:
Initial Accuracy: AI classification may be 60-80% accurate out of the box.
Improving Accuracy:
Review Transactions: Manually review and correct categories as needed.
Create Rules: Set up rules to handle recurring transactions.
Result: Accuracy can improve to 95% or higher, saving you time in the long run.
By taking the time to set up your categories, rules, and preferences, you'll streamline your financial management process and gain better insights into your spending and income.
For more tutorials and to start managing your finances more effectively, visit fina.money.