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Overview

Categories help you organize and analyze your financial transactions. Budgetron uses a two-level hierarchical system with parent categories and subcategories for flexible transaction classification.

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Category Structure

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Parent Categories

Top-level categories that group related subcategories: Income Categories
  • Employment
  • Investments
  • Other Income
Expense Categories
  • Housing
  • Transportation
  • Food & Dining
  • Shopping
  • Entertainment
  • Healthcare
  • Utilities
  • Personal Care
  • Education
  • Miscellaneous

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Subcategories

Specific classifications under parent categories: Example: Food & Dining
  • Groceries
  • Restaurants
  • Coffee Shops
  • Fast Food
  • Alcohol & Bars
Example: Transportation
  • Gas & Fuel
  • Public Transit
  • Parking
  • Auto Insurance
  • Vehicle Maintenance
Transactions are assigned to subcategories, not parent categories. Parent categories exist only for grouping and reporting.

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Category Types

Categories are typed based on transaction type:

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Income Categories

  • Used for income transactions
  • Track sources of money coming in
  • Appear in income reports and analytics

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Expense Categories

  • Used for expense transactions
  • Track where money is spent
  • Can be budgeted for spending control
  • Appear in expense reports and analytics
Transfer transactions don’t use categories. They simply move money between accounts without affecting income or expense tracking.

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Category Scope

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System Categories

Built-in categories available to all users:
  • Pre-configured common categories
  • Cannot be edited or deleted
  • Provide a consistent starting point
  • Shared across the entire platform

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User Categories

Custom categories you create:
  • Specific to your account
  • Fully customizable
  • Can be edited or deleted
  • Private to your account

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Group Categories

Categories shared within a group:
  • Available to all group members
  • Useful for family or business expense tracking
  • Managed by group administrators
Group functionality may be a premium or future feature. Check your account level for availability.

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Using Categories

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Assigning Categories to Transactions

During Transaction Creation
  1. Select the transaction type (Income/Expense)
  2. Choose a category from the filtered list
  3. Only categories matching the transaction type appear
After Transaction Import
  1. Review imported transactions
  2. Assign categories manually or use AI categorization
  3. Edit categories anytime from the transactions table
With AI Categorization
  1. Enable auto-categorize during import
  2. AI analyzes transaction descriptions
  3. Suggests best-matching categories
  4. Review and adjust suggestions as needed

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Category Filtering

Categories filter based on: Transaction Type
  • Income transactions show only income categories
  • Expense transactions show only expense categories
  • This prevents mismatched categorization
Category Scope
  • Your custom categories
  • System-wide default categories
  • Group categories (if in a group)

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Technical Details

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Data Structure

Categories include:
  • id: Unique identifier
  • name: Category name
  • icon: Visual icon for UI display
  • type: INCOME or EXPENSE
  • parentId: Reference to parent category (null for parents)
  • userId: Creator of custom category (null for system categories)
  • groupId: Associated group (null for user/system categories)

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Hierarchical Queries

The category service provides two query methods: findAllCategories
  • Returns parent categories with nested subcategories
  • Useful for hierarchical displays and navigation
  • Groups subcategories by parent
findAllSubCategories
  • Returns only subcategories with parent info
  • Useful for transaction assignment dropdowns
  • Flattened list for easier selection

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API Integration

Category operations:
  • categories.getAll(): Fetch all categories (hierarchical)
  • categories.getSubCategories(): Fetch only subcategories
  • categories.create(): Add a custom category
  • categories.update(): Modify a category
  • categories.delete(): Remove a category

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Category Selection in Forms

When selecting categories in transaction forms:
  1. Category field is filtered by transaction type
  2. Subcategories display with parent name: “Parent / Subcategory”
  3. Search/filter by typing category name
  4. Icons provide visual identification

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Reports and Analytics

Categories power several reporting features: Category Reports
  • See spending or income by category
  • Compare categories over time periods
  • Identify top spending categories
  • View category trends
Budget Tracking
  • Create budgets for expense categories
  • Monitor category spending against limits
  • Get alerts for overspending
Cash Flow Reports
  • Aggregate income and expenses by category
  • Visualize category contributions to cash flow
  • Analyze category patterns over time

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Best Practices

Use the most specific subcategory available. For example, “Restaurants” instead of just “Food & Dining”. This provides better insights in reports.
Create custom categories for recurring expenses unique to your situation, like “Pet Care” or “Hobby Supplies”.
Review uncategorized transactions regularly and assign categories to maintain accurate reports and budgets.
Deleting a category that’s used by transactions may cause those transactions to become uncategorized. Consider reassigning transactions before deleting categories.

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