Skip to main content
Categories help you classify transactions for reporting, analysis, and accounting purposes.

​
What are Categories?

Categories are labels you assign to transactions to organize them by type or purpose. Examples include:
  • Revenue - Income from clients or sales
  • Operating Expenses - Day-to-day business costs
  • Trading - Buy/sell activity
  • Subscriptions - Recurring payments
New accounts start without any categories — create the ones that match your workflow.

​
Managing Categories

Categories are managed from the New Category modal on the Transactions page. It lists all your categories and lets you create, edit, and delete them in one place.

​
Creating a Category

1

Open Transactions

Navigate to Transactions from the sidebar.
2

Click New Category

Click the New Category button in the toolbar.
3

Enter category details

Keep names short but descriptive for easy selection.
4

Save

Save to add the category. It’s immediately available in every category dropdown.

​
Editing a Category

  1. Open the New Category modal from the Transactions toolbar
  2. Find the category in the list and click its Edit button
  3. Change the name or emoji icon
  4. Save your changes
Editing a category name updates it on all previously assigned transactions.

​
Deleting a Category

Deleting a category removes the categorization from all transactions that used it. The transactions themselves are not deleted.
  1. Open the New Category modal from the Transactions toolbar
  2. Find the category in the list and click its Delete button
  3. The category is removed

​
Assigning Categories

Assign categories to individual transactions:
1

Open Transactions

Navigate to Transactions from the sidebar.
2

Click the category cell

Click the category directly in the transaction’s row, or open the transaction’s details panel.
3

Choose a category

Select from your categories in the dropdown.
The category is saved automatically.
Use the Uncategorized filter in the filter drawer to find transactions that still need a category.

​
Auto-Categorization

Chainbook can automatically categorize transactions based on your contacts. Each contact can have a default category — when auto-categorization is enabled, transactions with that contact as the counterparty receive the contact’s default category.

​
Enabling Auto-Categorization

1

Set default categories on contacts

On the Contacts page, assign a default category to the contacts you want auto-categorized.
2

Turn on the toggle

Enable Auto-Categorize in Settings → Preferences, or use the toggle on the Transactions page.

​
How It Works

When auto-categorization is enabled:
  1. Existing uncategorized transactions matching your contacts are backfilled with each contact’s default category
  2. New transactions from those contacts are categorized automatically as they sync
  3. Categories you assigned manually are never overwritten
On a shared wallet, auto-categorization uses the wallet owner’s contacts and default categories.

​
Disabling Auto-Categorization

If you prefer manual control, turn off Auto-Categorize in Settings → Preferences or on the Transactions page.
Disabling auto-categorization also removes existing auto-assigned categories. Manually assigned categories are preserved.

​
Category Best Practices

​
Keep Categories Consistent

Create a category structure that works for your needs: For personal use:
  • Income
  • Expenses
  • Savings/Investment
For business use:
  • Revenue
  • Operating Expenses
  • Payroll
  • Taxes
  • Capital Expenses

​
Use Specific Names

Specific category names make reports more useful.
✅ Good names:
  • “Client Payments”
  • “Software Subscriptions”
  • “Exchange Withdrawals”
❌ Avoid vague names:
  • “Misc”
  • “Other”
  • “Stuff”

​
Match Your Accounting

If you use accounting software:
  • Mirror your chart of accounts in Chainbook
  • Makes export reconciliation easier
  • Consistent reporting across systems

​
Regular Review

Set a routine to categorize transactions:
  • Daily: Categorize new transactions
  • Weekly: Review uncategorized transactions
  • Monthly: Audit category assignments

​
Using Categories in Reports

Categories power several reporting features:

​
Dashboard Charts

The By Categories chart on the dashboard shows how your transactions are distributed across categories, so you can see your largest categories at a glance.

​
Filtered Views

Filter transactions by category to:
  • View all income transactions
  • Review specific expense types
  • Find uncategorized transactions with the Uncategorized filter

​
Exports

Category information is included in CSV exports:
  • The “Category” column shows the assigned category (or “Uncategorized” if none)
  • Use for accounting import
  • Filter in spreadsheets by category

​
Frequently Asked Questions

No, each transaction can only have one category. If you need multiple classifications, consider:
  • Using more specific category names
  • Tracking in separate systems for different purposes
  • Using the description field for additional notes
Transactions lose their category assignment but are not deleted. They become “uncategorized” and can be assigned to a different category.
Currently, categories must be created manually. For bulk creation, contact support for assistance with larger category lists.
There’s no limit on the number of categories. However, we recommend keeping your list manageable (10-20 categories) for easier selection and reporting.