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Transactions record the movement of money into and out of your accounts. Each transaction belongs to exactly one account and can optionally link to a budget line and a merchant.

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Transaction properties

  • Amount—the monetary value of the transaction. Negative amounts represent expenses (money going out), and positive amounts represent income (money coming in). Zero-amount transactions are not allowed.
  • Merchant—the business or entity associated with the transaction. Optional, but you must provide either a merchant or memo.
  • Memo—a text note or description. Optional, but you must provide either a merchant or memo.
  • Date—when the transaction occurred. For manually created transactions, you set this directly. For imported transactions, Commander selects the most relevant date from the data your bank provides.
  • Account—the account this transaction belongs to. Required.
  • Budget line—the budget category for this transaction. Optional; you can categorize unassigned transactions later.
  • Status—either Settled or Pending.

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Transaction status

  • Settled—the financial institution has fully processed the transaction.
  • Pending—the financial institution has authorized the transaction but has not yet settled it.
For synced accounts, Commander automatically updates a transaction’s status when your bank reports that a pending transaction has settled. For manual transactions, you set the status when creating or editing the transaction.

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Transaction direction

The sign of the amount determines the transaction’s direction:
  • Negative amounts represent expenses—money leaving the account.
  • Positive amounts represent income—money entering the account.
When creating a transaction, a toggle button switches between expense and income modes. You can also type a minus sign in the amount field to change the sign.

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Data sources

Transactions enter Commander through one of two paths:
  • Manual—you create the transaction by hand through the transaction form.
  • Plaid—Commander imports the transaction automatically from your linked bank account.
Both types function identically once in the system. You can edit imported transactions if the bank data is incorrect or incomplete.

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Sorting and display

Commander sorts transactions by date (most recent first), then alphabetically by name, then by amount. In list views, transactions display their merchant name as the primary identifier. When viewing transactions grouped by merchant, the memo field identifies individual transactions within that merchant’s group.

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Budget line assignment

Assigning a transaction to a budget line connects the transaction’s amount to that budget category’s totals. You can assign a budget line during transaction creation, from the transaction detail page, or from the transactions list. Transactions dated before your budget start date do not require assignment. If you have linked a merchant to a budget line, selecting that merchant when creating a transaction automatically fills in the budget line field.