Accounts & Transactions
How do I split a transaction across categories?
Itemize one purchase or deposit into exact category amounts while keeping a single account-balance entry.
Use an itemized transaction when one total belongs to more than one category. A supermarket visit might contain $62 of groceries, $18 of household supplies, and $10 of pet care, while the account still shows one $90 charge.
Create or edit a split
- Add a transaction, or select an existing ordinary transaction to edit it.
- Beside Category, turn on Itemize.
- Add at least two items. Give every item a description and an amount, then choose a category when that item should affect the budget.
- Use quantity and unit price when they help. Pocketwatch calculates the item amount and keeps the two values in sync.
- Keep adding or adjusting items until the remaining amount reaches zero, then save.
The itemized amounts must equal the transaction total exactly. Pocketwatch will not save a partial or over-allocated split.
How the math is counted
- The parent transaction changes the account balance once, using the full amount.
- The items divide that same signed amount across descriptions and categories for budgeting and reports.
- The parent has no category while itemization is on, so reports never count both the parent and its items.
- All items follow the parent direction: a Spent split contains outflows, and a Received split contains inflows.
Remembered item categories
Pocketwatch remembers the category you most recently used for an item description inside the active pocket. Reusing the same description can prefill that category, and you can still change it before saving.
Remove a split
Open the transaction, turn Itemize off, choose one parent category if needed, and save. Transfers cannot be itemized because their two linked legs already describe the entire movement.
Last updated August 18, 2026