When I first created Inzolo, I thought it would be nice to have a way to set up filters to automatically assign transactions to envelopes based on filter rules – much like you can set up filters in email applications like gmail. Since someone else suggested it and this feature request got pushed to the top of the list in the feature vote system, it became top priority.

How it works

In order to auto-assign transactions, you must first create an auto-assign filter. You can create filters by going to the Filter Rules menu option. There is also a shortcut on the Unassigned Transactions list. If you click on the [] icon, it will take you to the add new filter view and pre-populate the payee and memo fields with the transaction payee and memo fields.

Rules are very basic and simple. Enter text in the Payee and/or Memo fields. If a transactions comes in that contains the text in the payee or memo field, then it is assigned to the envelope you select for that filter rule. The verify checkbox provides a way to see what will be auto-assigned before it actually happens. I personally prefer to leave this checked for every rule because I like to see every transaction that comes in.

For example, lets say you create a filter with the payee text as “Costco”, leave memo field bland and set “Groceries” as the envelope. Any transaction that comes in where the transaction payee field contains the word “costco” (it is NOT case-sensitive), then it will trigger this filter rule. If you don’t have the verify option checked, it will automatically assign it to the Groceries envelope. If you do have the verify option set, it will assign Groceries as the pending Envelope. Below is what it will look like in a pending state:

Now, you have the option of first verifying the envelope assignment. If you click the accept button [] then it will be assigned to the Groceries envelope. But, as is often the case with stores like Costco, Target, Wal-Mart etc., this may not be groceries. You may want to move it to a different envelope or split the transaction amount multiple envelopes.

Pro Tip: Notice the accept button on the table header. If you click this accept button, it will accept all pending envelopes in the unassigned transactions list.

Don’t worry, as always, if you make a mistake assigning a transaction to the wrong envelope, just click the envelope to view the transactions and click the undo button [].

It is also important to note that the order of filters is significant. Let’s say you also purchase gasoline as Costco. You could create a filter that has “Costco gas” in the payee field and goes to a Gas/Oil envelope. Filters will be triggered in the order you see them in the list, so if your previous filter of “Costco” is listed first, it will trigger and the transaction would go to the Groceries envelope. So you would want to drag & drop the “Costco gas” filter rule above the “Costco” filter rule. This way, a transaction that has the payee as “COSTCO WHSE #0487 00SANDY CITY” for example, would not trigger the “Costco gas” rule and be assigned to the Grocery envelope, while a transaction with the payee of “COSTCO GAS #0733 000LEHI” would be assigned to the Gas/Oil envelope.

Another time saving feature

Now, while we are on the topic of saving time and assigning envelopes, there is another little feature I have added to give you an alternate method for assigning envelops. If you click on the pending envelope icon, or, if there is no pending envelope, you can click on the assign envelope icon [] to bring up a pop-up dialog box with all your envelopes.

Note: It may not be obvious from the screenshot, but this list is scrollable if all your icons are not displayed.

The drag and drop is nice, but I will probably find myself using this new method of assigning envelopes far more. What about you? Do you think you’ll prefer the old drag & drop method, or this new method?

So last night I was curious how much money I spent on groceries last month. I realized there wasn’t a report yet to give me this information. So I added this view today that shows a summary of the transactions in a given envelope or category.

(Wow, it was a hectic month. I have a perfectly good explanation for this really!)

A new feature has been added to undo transaction assignments. Once a transaction has been assigned to an envelope it cannot be edited or deleted. In can however be "undone". If you undo an "Income Allocation" transaction it will simply move the amount back to the unallocated income box. If you undo a transaction, it will move back to the unassigned transactions view. From there you can edit or delete the transaction if that is what you wish to do.

Yet another feature update for today. I’ve added the ability to filter transactions on dates when you are viewing transactions assigned to envelopes. Once you select an envelope or category, there will be a filter to limit the transactions shown. It will default to show only transactions for the current month.

Also, there was a minor bug when deleting transactions that has been fixed.

I found the natural urge to click on a transaction memo or payee to edit it directly in the table, so that feature has been added this morning. Note that it only edits the payee and memo, to edit other aspects of the transactions such as the date and amount you will still need to click the edit icon.

Also transactions from an American Express card I have were not being downloaded automatically. That has been fixed.