Can Banktivity remember transactions I enter more than once?

Memorized payees are used to help you quickly re-enter transactions you have entered before, so you can work more efficiently. Autofill, scheduled transactions, and import rules are all based on memorized payees, as described below. Payees only apply to banking transactions, so investment transactions cannot be memorized, scheduled, or used with import rules.

Each time you enter a transaction manually or edit an existing one, Banktivity automatically creates a memorized payee using the transaction's type, payee, category, and amount. If it is a split transaction, the split categories and amounts will also be memorized.

View and manage memorized payees

Click "Configuration" in the sidebar, then "Payees, Schedules & Rules," then "All Payees" at the top of the list. By default, the list is sorted alphabetically by payee. Click any column label to sort the list by that field; click the same label again to reverse the direction of the sort. Double-click a memorized payee to invoke the transaction editor and change the details.

Memorized payees are similar to transactions, but they do not have dates, numbers, currencies, status, tags, or attachments. They have memos and notes, but these fields are not populated automatically (Banktivity assumes these fields should typically not be autofilled based on previous transactions you recorded).

As with regular transactions, you can edit any of the fields shown here and click "Save" to record the changes or "Cancel" to discard them. Any changes you make to your memorized payees will automatically be applied to new transactions that are created using those payees (through any of the means described below). Transactions that were already recorded in your accounts are not affected by the changes.

Memorized payees automatically update themselves based on the information you enter in your accounts. If you create a new transaction with the same payee as an existing memorized payee, or edit a transaction that is based on a memorized payee, the memorized payee will be updated to reflect the new details that you enter.

You can create a new memorized payee from scratch by clicking the plus (+) button at the top of the list and filling in the relevant transaction details. To delete a memorized payee so that it will no longer be used for autofill, scheduled transactions, or imports, select it and press the Delete key or choose Edit > Delete. Banktivity will prompt you for confirmation before permanently deleting the payee along with its associated schedules and import rules (see below).

Autofill transaction details

When you create a transaction in an account register and begin typing in the payee field, Banktivity will automatically suggest names based on your memorized payees. As you are typing, a drop-down list will appear showing the payees that match what you are typing:

In this example, only the letter 'B' was typed. Use the mouse to click one of the names, or use the arrow keys to select one and then press the Tab or Return key. Banktivity will fill in several of the transaction details (type, category, memo, note, amount, and split details) associated with that payee. If you don't want to accept a suggestion, simply ignore it and continue typing - when you save the transaction, Banktivity will create a new memorized payee automatically. You can view a list of all known payees by pressing the down arrow key before you begin typing a payee name.

Split templates

Transaction templates may also have split items associated with them; these can be viewed by clicking the "split" button. When editing a template, split balancing is handled differently than when editing regular split transactions. Instead of the split balancer icon, each split item has a "Fixed" checkbox at its right side. Checking this box will designate the item's amount as fixed: it will not change if you adjust the overall transaction amount, whereas unchecked items will fluctuate depending on the overall transaction amount. On templates, the transaction total is always variable and cannot be fixed. A couple of examples will help to illustrate this feature:

• Consider that you set up a memorized payee to represent your paycheck. Once a month, a paycheck is deposited into your checking account, and though the amount of payment varies, you always put $100 into your savings account. In Banktivity, you would set up a payee with an estimated total amount (your net pay) and two split items: one with the amount of your gross pay, and one to transfer $100 into savings. The gross pay is variable, and the transfer is fixed, so you check off the transfer and leave the gross pay item unchecked. When it comes time to record your paycheck, you create a new transaction in your checking account, autofill the details, and then adjust the main transaction amount. Banktivity automatically adjusts the split item with your gross pay, and leaves the transfer at $100.
• Consider a payment towards a loan, which is split between principal and interest. You create a memorized payee for this transaction by entering the total payment amount on the main transaction (as a withdrawal), then splitting the payment into principal and interest portions. The principal portion should be made a transfer to the loan account, while the interest may be assigned to a category so that it can be tracked with reports. Since the interest amount is fixed for each payment but the principal payment is variable, leave the principal unchecked and check off the interest. When you record the payment, you create a new transaction in your banking account, autofill the details, and adjust the main transaction amount. Banktivity automatically adjusts the split item with the principal payment, and leaves the interest at the amount you specified.

Schedule repeating transactions

Select a memorized payee, click the button to the right, and choose "Add Schedule" to configure the payee to post a transaction to one of your accounts at regular intervals. Doing so will also add the memorized payee to the "Scheduled Transactions" tab within the main payee list. For more information, see Scheduled Transactions.

Manage import rules

Select a memorized payee, click the button to the right, and choose "Add Rule" to configure which transactions the payee is applied to when you import data via Direct Access, direct download, Banktivity's built-in browser, or a file. For more information, see Import Rules.