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Categories help you organize transactions for accounting, tax reporting, and financial analysis. This guide covers everything from basic categorization to advanced auto-categorization.

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Why Categorize?

Categorized transactions enable:
  • Better reports - See spending by category
  • Tax preparation - Group deductible expenses
  • Financial analysis - Understand where money goes
  • Cleaner exports - Professional CSV exports for accountants

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Setting Up Categories

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Default Categories

New accounts include default categories:
CategorySuggested Use
IncomeReceived payments
ExpensesOutgoing payments
TradingExchange activity
TransferInternal movements

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Creating Custom Categories

1

Go to Categories

Navigate to Settings → Categories.
2

Click Add Category

Click the Add Category button.
3

Name your category

Enter a descriptive name:
  • “Client Revenue”
  • “Operating Expenses”
  • “DeFi Yield”
Be specific enough to be useful, but not so specific that you have dozens of rarely-used categories.
4

Choose a color (optional)

Select a color for visual distinction in charts.
5

Save

Click Create to add the category.
For Personal Use: 
├── Income
│   ├── Salary
│   ├── Freelance
│   └── Investments
├── Expenses
│   ├── Bills
│   ├── Shopping
│   └── Entertainment
├── Savings
└── Transfer
For Business Use: 
├── Revenue
│   ├── Product Sales
│   ├── Services
│   └── Other Income
├── Expenses
│   ├── Payroll
│   ├── Software & Tools
│   ├── Marketing
│   └── Operations
├── Capital
│   ├── Equipment
│   └── Investments
└── Internal Transfer

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Manual Categorization

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Single Transaction

1

Open Transactions

Click Transactions in the sidebar.
2

Find the transaction

Use filters or scroll to find the transaction you want to categorize.
3

Click the transaction

Click to open the transaction details or inline edit.
4

Select a category

Click the category dropdown and choose from your categories.
The category is saved immediately.

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Bulk Categorization

Categorize multiple transactions at once:
1

Filter transactions

Use filters to show only the transactions you want to categorize:
  • Filter by contact (all from same sender)
  • Filter by date range
  • Filter by uncategorized
2

Select multiple transactions

Check the boxes next to transactions you want to categorize.
3

Apply category

Click Bulk Actions → Set Category and choose your category.
All selected transactions are updated.
Use bulk categorization after filtering by contact—transactions from the same address often share a category.

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Auto-Categorization

Let Chainbook automatically categorize transactions based on patterns.

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How It Works

  1. Learning: Auto-categorization analyzes your existing categorized transactions
  2. Patterns: It identifies patterns (e.g., “transactions from address X are usually Revenue”)
  3. Applying: New matching transactions are automatically categorized
  4. Reviewing: Auto-assigned categories are marked for your review

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Enabling Auto-Categorization

1

Go to Settings

Navigate to Settings.
2

Find Auto-Categorization

Locate the Auto-Categorize toggle.
3

Enable it

Turn on the toggle.
Auto-categorization works best after you’ve manually categorized 50+ transactions to establish patterns.

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Training Auto-Categorization

Improve accuracy by:
  1. Categorizing consistently - Same type of transaction = same category
  2. Using contacts - Transactions from contacts are easier to pattern-match
  3. Reviewing suggestions - Correcting mistakes improves future suggestions
  4. Categorizing diverse examples - Show the AI different transaction types

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Reviewing Auto-Assigned Categories

Auto-assigned categories show an “auto” indicator:
  1. Go to Transactions
  2. Look for the auto-assignment indicator
  3. Review each suggestion
  4. Confirm or change as needed
Always review auto-categorized transactions before relying on them for reports.

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Disabling Auto-Categorization

To turn off:
  1. Go to Settings
  2. Toggle off Auto-Categorize
Disabling removes existing auto-assignments. Manually assigned categories remain.

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Category Workflows

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New Transaction Workflow

When new transactions sync:
  1. Check notifications - See new transaction alerts
  2. Review in Transactions - Sort by date, newest first
  3. Categorize - Assign categories to new transactions
  4. Verify auto-assignments - Review any auto-categorized transactions

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Weekly Review Workflow

Maintain clean data with a weekly review:
  1. Filter uncategorized - Find transactions without categories
  2. Review each - Assign appropriate categories
  3. Check auto-assignments - Verify AI suggestions
  4. Add contacts - Label any new addresses

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Month-End Workflow

Prepare for reporting:
  1. Review all transactions - Filter by current month
  2. Ensure all categorized - No uncategorized transactions
  3. Verify accuracy - Check category assignments make sense
  4. Export - Download categorized data for accounting

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Using Categories in Reports

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Dashboard Charts

The “Chart by Categories” shows:
  • Pie chart of transaction distribution
  • Category totals for selected period
  • Uncategorized percentage
Use it to:
  • Verify categorization completeness
  • Spot large expense categories
  • Track category trends over time

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Filtered Views

Filter transactions by category:
  1. Go to Transactions
  2. Click the Category filter
  3. Select a specific category
  4. View all transactions in that category

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Exports

Categories appear in CSV exports:
DateAmountFromToCategory
2024-01-15+1000Client AMy WalletRevenue
2024-01-14-50My WalletVendorExpenses
Use categorized exports for:
  • Accounting software import
  • Tax preparation
  • Financial analysis

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Troubleshooting

Improve accuracy:
  • Manually categorize at least 50 transactions first
  • Be consistent with categories
  • Use contacts to identify transaction partners
  • Review and correct auto-assignments
Consolidate by:
  • Merging similar categories
  • Using broader category names
  • Keeping 10-20 categories maximum
  • Using descriptions for specifics instead
Use bulk categorization:
  1. Filter to find transactions
  2. Select all matching transactions
  3. Apply the new category
Ensure:
  • Transactions have categories assigned
  • You’re exporting the correct columns
  • CSV viewer is displaying all columns

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Best Practices

Be Consistent

Always use the same category for the same type of transaction.

Keep It Simple

10-20 categories is usually enough. Too many creates confusion.

Review Regularly

Weekly categorization keeps data clean and current.

Use Descriptions

Add transaction descriptions for details that don’t fit in categories.