Step-by-Step Guide to Adding a Category

1. Navigate to the Categories page
2. Click the Add Category button
3. Enter the required information:
   • Name: A descriptive name for the category (e.g., "Charitable Giving")
   • Description: (Optional) Additional details about what belongs in this category
   • Parent Category: (Optional) If this is a subcategory, select its parent category
   • Color: Choose a color for visual identification in charts and reports
   • Icon: Select an icon that represents this category type
4. Click Save to create the category

Understanding Subcategories NEW v3.3

Subcategories allow you to organize categories hierarchically without cluttering your top-level category list.

How Subcategories Work:

• Two-level hierarchy: Parent → Child (e.g., Utilities → Electric)
• Flexible organization: Group related expenses under a parent category
• Parent categories selectable: You can choose "Utilities (All)" for combined bills or pick specific subcategories
• Clean dropdowns: Transaction forms show organized optgroups with indented subcategories
• Better reporting: Roll up to parent or drill down to subcategory
• Automatic categorization: Mappings work with both parents and subcategories

Examples of Subcategory Structures:

How to Create a Subcategory:

1. Click Add Category/Subcategory button
2. Enter the subcategory name (e.g., "Post Office")
3. In Parent Category dropdown, select the parent (e.g., "Government Services")
4. Add description, icon, and color
5. Click Save

Tips for Creating an Effective Category System

• Use subcategories for granularity - Keep top-level clean, use subcategories for detail
• Be specific enough - Categories should be useful but not overwhelming
• Use consistent naming - Follow a consistent naming pattern for related categories
• Consider tax implications - Create separate categories for tax-deductible expenses
• Balance depth vs simplicity - Too many subcategories can be as confusing as too many top-level categories

What are Category Mappings?

Category Mappings are rules that automatically assign categories to transactions based on keywords in the transaction description. This powerful feature:

• Saves time by eliminating manual categorization
• Ensures consistent categorization across similar transactions
• Improves the accuracy of reports and budgets
• Trains the system to become smarter over time

How Category Mappings Work

When you add a new transaction (manually or through import), Cognito Money:

1. Scans the transaction description for keywords
2. Checks if any of these keywords match your defined mappings
3. If a match is found, automatically assigns the corresponding category
4. If multiple matches are found, uses the most specific mapping
5. If no match is found, leaves the category blank or uses AI prediction if enabled

Types of Mappings

Cognito Money supports two types of mappings:

• User-Defined Mappings: Rules you create manually
• Learned Mappings: Rules the system creates based on your categorization habits

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Mapping

1. Navigate to the Categories page and click the Mappings tab
2. Click the Add Mapping button
3. Enter the required information:
   • Keyword: Enter a word or phrase that appears in transaction descriptions (e.g., "STARBUCKS")
   • Category: Select which category to assign when this keyword is found
4. Click Save to create the mapping

Editing Mappings

To edit an existing mapping:

1. Find the mapping in the list
2. Click the (Edit) button
3. Modify the keyword or category as needed
4. Click Save to update the mapping

Deleting Mappings

To delete a mapping you no longer need:

1. Find the mapping in the list
2. Click the (Delete) button
3. Confirm the deletion when prompted

Tips for Effective Mapping

1. Be specific with keywords - Use unique portions of merchant names to avoid false matches
2. Start with your most frequent transactions - Focus on creating mappings for merchants you use regularly
3. Use consistent capitalization - Cognito Money's mappings are case-insensitive, but using consistent capitalization makes mappings easier to manage
4. Review transaction imports - After importing transactions, check for any that weren't automatically categorized and create mappings for them
5. Use partial keywords strategically - For example, mapping "AMZN" will catch "AMZN MKTP", "AMZN.COM", etc.

Advanced Mapping Strategies

Handling Multi-Purpose Merchants

For merchants where you make different types of purchases (like Amazon or Walmart):

• Create a general mapping for the merchant name to your most common category
• Manually recategorize exceptions as they occur
• Consider using the Notes field when entering transactions to help identify specific purchase types

Seasonal Mappings

Some expenses might need different categorization at different times of year:

• School supplies might be "Education" normally but "Gifts" during holiday seasons
• In these cases, rely on manual categorization during the exception periods

Maintaining Your Category System

A well-maintained category system makes financial tracking more effective:

• Regular Review: Periodically review your categories to ensure they still match your financial needs
• Consistent Use: Use your categories consistently to get the most accurate reporting
• Avoid Category Proliferation: Resist creating too many specific categories that make reporting unwieldy
• Consider Tax Implications: Organize categories in a way that helps with tax preparation

Category Reports and Analysis

Categories enable powerful reports and analysis in Cognito Money:

1. Use the dashboard to view spending by category
2. Create budgets aligned with your most important spending categories
3. Track spending trends in specific categories over time
4. Identify opportunities for saving by analyzing category spending patterns

Using Categories for Financial Planning

Categories form the foundation of effective financial planning:

Short-term Planning:

• Review category spending weekly or monthly to stay on track with budget goals
• Prioritize essential categories during tight financial periods
• Adjust discretionary category budgets based on changing financial needs

Long-term Planning:

• Analyze year-over-year category trends to understand changing financial patterns
• Use category data to set realistic long-term saving and spending goals
• Identify categories where consistent reduction could significantly impact savings

Common Issues and Solutions