Subcategories

Subcategories let you refine transaction classification by creating a two-level hierarchy: a parent category groups several child categories.

The parent / child model

Each category can optionally have a parent category. This creates a simple two-level tree:

• Food (parent) → Groceries (child)
• Food (parent) → Restaurants (child)
• Transport (parent) → Gas (child)
• Transport (parent) → Public transit (child)

Use cases

• Group Groceries and Restaurants under Food to see your total food spending at a glance.
• Separate Rent, Electricity, and Internet under Housing for precise tracking by line item.
• Distinguish Doctor, Pharmacy, and Fitness under Health & Wellness.

Create a subcategory

1. Go to Settings → Categories.

2. Create a new category or edit an existing one.

3. In the "Parent category" field, select the desired parent.

4. Save. The category now appears indented under its parent.

In transactions

When you assign a subcategory to a transaction, the parent category is automatically associated. Filters and search work across both levels: filtering by "Food" returns all Groceries and Restaurants transactions.

In budgets

You can set a budget on a parent category (e.g. Food) to track all subcategories in one budget, or create a budget per subcategory for finer control.

In reports

Advanced reports show spending by parent category with the option to drill down into subcategories. This makes tax preparation and monthly analysis easier.

Tips

• Stick to two levels — a deeper hierarchy becomes hard to manage.
• Name parents with broad terms (Food, Transport, Housing) and children with precise ones (Groceries, Gas, Rent).
• A transaction can have a subcategory without the parent being directly selected — Piastro rolls it up automatically.