Categories
Categories help you organize your spending and income. Manage your categories by going to Settings > Categories.
Managing Categories
The Categories settings page shows all your categories and category groups. From here you can create, edit, and delete categories.
Default Categories
FinWise includes commonly used categories for groceries, dining, shopping, transportation, housing, utilities, healthcare, entertainment, and income. You can customize or add your own.
Creating Categories
Click "New Category" to create a custom category. Give it a name, choose an emoji icon, and select a color.
You can also assign the category to a category group to keep related categories organized together.
Editing & Deleting Categories
Click on any category to edit it. You can change the name, emoji icon, color, or assign it to a different category group.
To delete a category, click on it and select Delete. Note that deleting a category will uncategorize all transactions that used it.
Category Groups
Category groups help you organize related categories together. For example, create a "Food" group with categories like Groceries, Dining, and Coffee.
Creating Category Groups
Click "New Category Group" to create a group. Give it a name and optionally an emoji and color.
Common groups: Housing, Food & Dining, Transportation, Shopping, Bills & Utilities, Entertainment.
Organizing Categories into Groups
Categories can belong to one group at a time. To add a category to a group, edit the category and select the group.
Ungrouped categories appear in a default "Other" section.
On the Budget page, categories are organized by group. You can collapse or expand groups to focus on what matters.
Income vs Expense Categories
Categories in FinWise are flexible and can be used for both income and expenses. The same category works for transactions in either direction.
For example, you might have a "Clothing" category. When you buy clothes, it appears as an expense. If you return an item and receive a refund, it appears as income - both using the same category.
FinWise automatically determines whether each transaction is income or expense based on the transaction amount (positive or negative).
You can consolidate income and expenses into a single line item in Settings > Preferences.