Categories (Income & Expenses)
Categories describe what your money was for. Set up income and expense categories for proper classification.
Categories describe what your money was for. Every transaction needs a category so Acctally knows how to classify it in your reports and apply the right tax treatment.
Types of categories
Categories are organized by what kind of transaction they apply to:
Income categories
Used when you receive money from customers. These show up in your revenue reports.
Expense categories
Used when you spend money. These reduce your profit and may be tax-deductible.
Special categories
For transactions that aren't income or expenses. These don't affect your profit calculation.
Default categories
When you create a workspace, Acctally sets up default categories based on your jurisdiction. These include:
- General Sales - Catch-all for revenue
- Transfers - Moving money between your own accounts
- Owner Contribution/Withdrawal - Personal money in or out
- Provider Processing Fees - Stripe, Paystack, etc. fees
- Professional Services - Consulting, legal, accounting
System categories are marked with a badge and can't be deleted. You can rename them or add your own categories alongside them.
Creating a category
To add a new category:
- 1.Go to Settings → Categories
- 2.Click "Add Category"
- 3.Choose what it applies to (Sale, Expense, or Cash Only)
- 4.Enter a name and optional description
- 5.Optionally set a tax profile for automatic tax handling
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | How it appears when selecting a category |
| Applies to | Sale (income), Expense, or Cash Only (transfers/equity) |
| Tax profile | Optional tax rules (VAT/WHT treatment) |
| Require attachment | Force receipts for transactions over a threshold |
| Match patterns | Keywords for auto-categorization of imports |
Auto-categorization
Categories can have match patterns that automatically assign them to imported transactions. When Acctally imports a transaction from a provider or CSV, it checks the description against your patterns.
Example:
A category "Software & Tools" with patterns zoom, slack, github, notion will automatically match any transaction containing those words in the description.
- Patterns are case-insensitive
- Multiple patterns can match (first match wins by priority)
- Low-confidence matches go to review for confirmation
Categories and tax
Each category can have a tax profile that determines how tax is calculated. This is especially useful for:
VAT-taxable sales
Automatically calculate output VAT
Zero-rated exports
Sales with 0% VAT
Professional services
May require withholding tax
Provider fees
Reverse charge or input VAT
Don't worry about tax profiles if you're not sure. Start with the defaults and consult your accountant before making changes.
Best practices
- Keep it simple - Start with fewer categories, add more as needed
- Be consistent - Use the same category for similar transactions
- Use match patterns - Save time on recurring transactions
- Review periodically - Clean up unused categories
Next steps
Learn about Tax basics to understand how Acctally handles VAT and other taxes, or start recording payments.