---
key: categorize-bank-transactions
title: Categorize bank transactions
audience: staff
section: bookkeeping
routes: ["/bookkeeping/transactions"]
permissions: ["bookkeeping.transactions.categorize"]
features: ["bookkeeping"]
since: 0.0.1
updated: 0.0.1
status: published
summary: "Tell Nova what each bank line was for: pick a category and sales tax, mark it personal or a transfer, match it to an invoice, or split it, one at a time or in bulk."
keywords: [categorise, code transactions, bank review, uncategorized, personal expense, transfer, split transaction, match invoice, bulk categorize]
related: [import-a-bank-statement, set-up-auto-categorize-rules, record-an-expense, run-a-financial-report]
---

In the sidebar, open **Bookkeeping**, then **Transactions**. The page address is `/bookkeeping/transactions`.

## Before you start

- Import or add the lines first (see [[import-a-bank-statement]]).
- Your role needs permission to categorize transactions. Transfers, matching and splits need permission to manage transactions as well.
- If the same store shows up every month, set up a rule once instead; see [[set-up-auto-categorize-rules]].

## Steps

To categorize one line:

1. Under **Account** at the top, pick the bank account.
2. Click a line, or open its actions menu and choose **View / categorize**. A window opens with the line's description, date, amount and status.
3. Under **Categorize**, choose the **Category**, which is the income or expense account the money belongs to.
4. If tax was charged, pick it under **Sales tax**, or leave **No tax**. Nova treats the amount as including tax and splits the tax out. If the tax you need is missing and your role can manage tax profiles, press **+ New tax profile**, add a name and its rates, and press **Create tax profile**; Nova picks it for the line.
5. Press **Save category**. Nova shows **Transaction categorized.** and the window closes. The line's status reads categorized and it now counts in your reports.

To categorize many lines at once:

1. Tick the box on each line, or tick the header box to select every line showing. A bar appears with the count selected.
2. Press **Categorize selected**. Choose the **Category** and, if it applies, the **Sales tax**.
3. Press **Apply to selected**. Nova tells you how many lines were categorized. **Clear** drops the selection.

## What you see

The line's window also offers, when your role allows:

- **Mark personal**: for money that is not business. Confirm in **Mark as personal?**. Nova records money out as an owner's draw and money in as an owner's contribution, never as income or expense.
- **Transfer between accounts**: pick the other bank or card account under **Transfer to** and press **Mark as transfer**. Each line you mark records the whole move, so if the same transfer also shows in the other account, mark only one of the two lines.
- **Match to a document**: ties the line to an invoice or expense already in Nova, so the money is not counted twice. The **Document / invoice #** box does not take the invoice number; paste the code at the end of the invoice's page address, or an expense's **Ref** (both start with cdoc_), then press **Match**.
- **Split across categories**: type an amount and pick a category for each part, press **+ part** for more parts, then press **Apply split**. You need at least two parts that add up to the line's total. The line then shows the status split; the parts are not listed separately.

## If something looks different

- A categorized line reads Unknown under **Category** in the list: the list cannot show the category's name. Open the line to see it.
- The window only shows a **Category** line with a dash and no controls: your role can see transactions but not categorize them.
- **Save category** is greyed out: you have not chosen a category yet.
- Split must sum to the transaction total shows under the split: the split failed. The pop-up message says why, for example a part with no category.
- Nova says the accounting period is closed: the line's date is in a closed period. Reopen the period first (see [[close-the-books-for-a-period]]).
- Nova says the transaction is locked by a completed reconciliation: reopen that reconciliation before you change the line (see [[reconcile-a-bank-account]]).
- **Match** answers Not found: the box got an invoice number instead of the page-address code.

[[route:/bookkeeping/transactions|Open Transactions]]