ClearCheckbook Money Management
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ClearCheckbook Knowledge Base

ClearCheckbook Knowledge Base

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Managing Transactions

The main purpose of ClearCheckbook is to be an online transaction register and your transactions are the main component of that. This page covers all aspects of managing your transactions.

Adding Transactions

There are three different ways to add transactions to ClearCheckbook:

  • The first is by using the Add Transaction gadget (available only on the Dashboard) and the Add Transaction form (available on every page). This is the method discussed on this page.
  • The second method is to use our Import Transactions tool. You can learn more about this tool by visiting the Tools Import Transactions Knowledge Base section.
  • The third method is to connect ClearCheckbook to your bank account and have your transactions automatically downloaded. You can learn more about this tool by visiting the General Sync with Banks Connect to a Bank Knowledge Base section.

The Add Transaction gadget is one of the default gadgets that appears on your Dashboard. If you add transactions from this gadget it will update any other gadgets that rely on transactions as well.

Account Dashboard - Add Transaction Gadget
Basic Add Transaction Gadget

You can access the global Add Transaction form from any page by clicking the + sign at the top of the page, to the right of Tools.

Global Add Transaction Form
Where to find the Add Transaction form

When you click the + sign, an Add Transaction form will appear. The current date will be populated by default. If you're viewing a specific account in the Transaction Register, that account will be set as the default in the Account drop down list.

The minimum information you must enter when adding a transaction are the date, amount and transaction type. All other fields are optional. When you're ready to add your transaction, click the blue Add Transaction button at the bottom of the form.

Auto-Complete Suggestions

Auto-complete is a list of suggestions that appear when you are typing in the Description, Memo or Payee fields. A maximum of ten suggestions appear at a time with the most recently used details showing up first. The suggestions are based on what you're currently typing and will show what information will be auto-filled if you select that suggestion.

Transaction Auto-complete suggestions
Auto-complete suggestion example

You can adjust what information auto-complete replaces or enable / disable auto-complete entirely via the General Settings page. To learn more about this, visit the Settings Manage Your... General Settings Knowledge Base section.

Splitting a Transaction

Splitting a transaction is an easy way to categorize a single transaction multiple different ways. The easiest scenario for splitting a transaction would be if you shopped at a big retailer that has both a grocery and clothing section. You can split the transaction to categorize each part separately so your reports and budgets properly reflect the amount spent.

To split a transaction, click the Split This Transaction link that appears above the Add Transaction button.

Splitting a Transaction
Click to Split a Transaction

The split form loads two split children by default but you're not limited to the number of split children a transaction can have. To add a new split child, click the + Add Another Split link. You can also change the transaction type between a withdrawal and deposit by changing the drop down option to the left of the amount field.

Splitting a Transaction
Split Transaction Form

When adding the split children details, make sure to enter the amount, description and select a category. If the split children amounts don't add up to the parent amount, you'll receive a warning message.

Splitting a Transaction
Example of a completed form

Once you add the transaction it will appear in your Transaction Register as normal but will have a «Split» identifier to let you know the transaction has split children.

Splitting a Transaction
Split transaction in register

If you click on the «Split» link a box will appear showing the details of the split children.

Splitting a Transaction
Split transaction details

Note: When splitting a transaction, you should leave the Category of the parent transaction blank or else you risk experiencing double reporting in the reports and budgeting tools.

Clearing / Reconciling Transactions

For more in-depth explanations of the clearing and reconciliation processes, visit the General Reconciliation Methods Knowledge Base section.

The simplest way to clear a transaction is to click the Cleared checkmark that appears with the transaction in the Transaction Register. When clicked, the transaction background will change color to dark green. To un-clear a transaction, simply click the cleared check mark again.

Clearing a Transaction
Click to Clear a Transaction
Example of Jived Transactions
Example of Cleared Transactions

You can also select multiple transactions in the Transaction Register and then click the blue Clear or Un-Clear button at the top or bottom of the transaction list to update them all at once.

Clearing / Un-Clearing Multiple Transactions
Clearing / Un-Clearing Multiple Transactions

We suggest enabling Cleared Lock on your transactions. This setting, when enabled, prevents cleared transactions from being modified after a certain time period. This is helpful to prevent accidentally deleting, editing or un-clearing a transaction which might cause balancing issues. To learn more about this, visit the Settings Manage Your... General Settings Knowledge Base section.

Editing Transaction(s)

You can edit transactions from the Transaction Register, Search results and, as a ClearCheckbook Premium member, the Latest Transactions gadget. From the Transaction Register and Search results you can either click on the transaction which will bring up an edit form or you can select the checkbox to the left side of the transaction and then click the blue Edit button at the top or bottom of the transaction list.

The Edit Transaction form looks just like the Add Transaction form and all of the same required fields are necessary. Make your changes and then click the green Edit Transaction button at the bottom of the form.

If you're a ClearCheckbook Premium member you can edit multiple transactions at once by selecting the transactions you want to edit and then click the blue Edit button at the top or bottom of the transaction list.

Deleting Transaction(s)

You have two choices to delete a transaction. First, you can click on the transaction from the Transaction Register or Search results to bring up the edit form, then click the red Delete button.

Deleting a Transaction
Deleting from Edit form

The next option is to select a transaction (or transactions) by clicking on the checkbox on the left side of the transaction, then click the blue Delete button at the top or bottom of the transaction register or search results.

Deleting a Transaction
Deleting by selecting

If you want to delete all the transactions globally or for a specific account, you can do that through the Delete All Transactions setting. To learn more about this, visit the Settings Permanent Actions Delete All Transactions Knowledge Base section.

Transfers

Transfers are a way to move money between accounts within ClearCheckbook without having to create two separate transactions. To add a transfer, change the `Transaction Type` of a transaction to `Transfer`. Once you do that, the Account and Category fields will change to an `From Account` and `To Account` field.

Creating a Transfer Transaction
Selecting the Transfer option

The `From Account` field is the account you're moving money from and will be entered in the register as a withdrawal. The `To Account` field is the account you're moving money to and will be entered as a deposit in the register.

You can also categorize transfers by clicking the `Show / Hide Transfer Categories` link.

Categorizing a Transfer Transaction
Categorizing your transfers

When clicked to show the categories, you'll see a category field appear under the `From Account` and `To Account` fields. You can categorize each part of the transfer as needed for your tracking purposes.

Categorizing a Transfer Transaction
Categorizing your transfers

Check Number, Memo, Payee and File Attachments

The ClearCheckbook Premium membership upgrade gives you access to additional fields for your transactions. When enabled, they will appear anywhere you can add or edit transactions. You can pick and choose which fields you would like enabled and don't need to enable all of them.

Check Number - The check number field lets you add text up to 25 characters to a transaction.

Memo - The Memo field acts the same as the Description and Payee fields. It's a great way to add additional information to a transaction.

Payee - If you want to keep track of the payee for the transaction, the Payee field is the place to do it. We also have a Tools Payee Management tool to help you manage your Payees.

File Attachments - File attachments let you attach a PNG, JPG, PDF and XLS file to your transactions. This could be anything from an invoice to a receipt.

Custom Transaction Fields
Add Transaction form with all custom fields enabled

To learn more about enabling these custom fields, visit the Settings Premium Membership Custom Transaction Fields Knowledge Base section.

Transaction Form Order

The ClearCheckbook Premium membership upgrade lets you customize in which order the transaction form fields appear on the Add and Edit Transaction forms. To learn more about changing the order of the transaction form, visit the Settings Premium Membership Transaction Form Order Knowledge Base section.

Find Missing Transactions

If you don't see a transaction in your register after you added it, the first thing you should do is make sure you didn't add it for an incorrect date. This usually happens around the New Year when transactions get added with the previous year instead of the current one.

To find these missing transactions, use the Search tool to help you locate them. The first thing you should do is change the Date Range in the Search form to `All Time`. This will make sure you don't miss out on any transactions if the date was incorrect. You can then use a combination of the other search options mainly focusing on the keyword and amount range fields to help you narrow down the search.

We have an entire Knowledge Base section dedicated to searching for transactions. You can learn more at the General Search Tool Knowledge Base section.

We have an entire Knowledge Base section dedicated to searching for transactions. You can learn more at the General Search Tool Knowledge Base section.

Scheduling Recurring Transactions

As a ClearCheckbook Premium member you can turn existing transactions into recurring transactions. This will not affect the current transaction but will use the details from the transaction to pre-populate an Add Reminder form. To do this, find the transaction you want to turn into a recurring transaction from the transaction register list or search results page and click on it. Next, click the `Schedule as a recurring transaction` link at the bottom of the form.

Schedule a Transaction
Turn existing transaction into a recurring transaction
You can schedule recurring transactions via our Reminders and Recurring Transactions tool. To learn how to set up and manage your recurring transations, visit the Tools Reminders / Recurring Transactions Knowledge Base section.