Auto Categorization Rules

Rules are per-account conditions that automatically categorize transactions when they are imported or entered. When a transaction comes in, Peak Budget checks each rule from top to bottom. The first rule whose conditions all match is applied immediately—no manual categorization needed.

Why Rules Matter

The default behavior handles most payees well on its own (more on that below). Rules become valuable when the same payee can mean different things depending on the transaction.

For example, your employer might send both your regular paycheck and occasional expense reimbursements. The payee is identical, but a $4,000 deposit belongs in Income while a $47 reimbursement might belong in Business Expenses. A rule that says Payee is Acme Corp + Inflow greater than $1,000 will correctly categorize your paycheck every time, while smaller deposits fall through to be handled differently.

Rules are also useful for ensuring certain transactions are always marked as transfers—like a recurring credit card payment—so they never get misread as spending.

What Happens Without Rules

If no rule matches a transaction, Peak Budget automatically uses the category from the most recent transaction with the same payee. For most recurring transactions—groceries, subscriptions, utilities—this works without any setup at all. The first time you categorize a payee, that choice is remembered going forward.

You don't need rules for every payee. Start with the cases where the default isn't specific enough.

Creating a Rule

1. Open Rules

Open an account, click the Rules button in the toolbar. Then click Add Rule.

2. Set Your Conditions

Each rule starts with one condition. Click + Add condition to add more - all conditions in a rule must match (AND logic).

There are three condition fields:

  • Payee - Matches when the transaction payee exactly equals the text you enter (case-insensitive). Operator: is.
  • Inflow - Matches incoming (positive) transactions by amount. Operators: is, is not, less than, greater than.
  • Outflow - Matches outgoing (negative) transactions by amount. Operators: is, is not, less than, greater than.

A single rule cannot combine Inflow and Outflow conditions. You can combine a Payee condition with either one.

3. Choose an Outcome

Choose whether the rule should assign the transaction to a budget category, or mark it as a transfer to another account.

4. Save the Rule

Click Save Rule. The rule is added to the bottom of your list.

Rules are evaluated top to bottom—the first match wins. Use the up and down arrows on each rule to reorder them. More specific rules should come before more general ones.

Editing and Deleting Rules

  • To edit, click on a rule, make your changes, and click Update Rule.
  • To delete, hover over a rule and click the trash icon.