AceMoney Studio
Payees, tags and banks
Three small lists sit behind your transactions: Payees (who you paid or who paid you), Tags (colored labels you can put on any transaction, independent of its category) and Banks (the institutions your accounts belong to). This page shows you how each list works, how it is used in the register, and how to tidy it up.
Payees
A payee is the store, person or company on a transaction. Payees are created for you as you type new names in the register, and the Payees page lets you add, rename, merge, tidy, deactivate, and give each one a default category.
Open the Payees page
- Select Payees in the navigation rail. On a computer you can also press F4.
- The header shows how many payees you have, Show inactive, Merge…, Delete unused payees, Tidy payees…, View trash and Add payee.
Each row shows the name and, under it, a quiet line that can hold Inactive, Default category: … and the payee’s Notes (as one short line, cut with … when long; the whole note is in Details). From version 1.2 the line also shows the payee’s city and one way to reach it (a phone number, or else the website), when Details has them. The buttons are Show transactions, Details, Default category, Deactivate (Reactivate for an inactive payee), Delete payee and Rename (and Available in in a document with several portfolios). Tap or click the row to rename it. Show transactions opens the Reports page on the Transactions report for that payee over all dates. In a narrow window, such as a phone (AceMoney Studio Mobile, from 1.2), the first four are one ⋮ menu, with the same words, to leave room for the name.
Find a payee
From version 1.2, the top of the Payees page has a Search payees box and a Sort by list.
- Type in Search payees to show only the payees whose name, city, e-mail or website contains what you typed. Type three or more digits to find a phone number.
- Sort by offers Name (the default), Most used (the payees with the most transactions first) and Most recent (the payees used most recently first).
Add or rename a payee
- Select Add payee, or tap an existing payee to rename it.
- Type the Name (the helper says A store, person, or company).
- Select Save.
Renaming a payee changes it on every transaction that uses it.
How payee autocomplete works
In the Payee field of a transaction or a scheduled transaction, start typing: the list shows every payee whose name contains what you typed, anywhere in the name and regardless of capitals. Pick one, or keep typing a new name; it is created when you save. The helper text says Type to search or add a new one. The Category field works the same way.
Give a payee a default category
- On the Payees page, select Default category on the payee’s row.
- In Default category for “…”, type or pick the Category (the helper says Type to search or add; leave blank for none).
- Select Save. To remove an existing rule, select Clear.
From now on, when you pick that payee from the suggestion list in a transaction or a scheduled transaction and the Category field is still empty, Studio fills the category in. You can always change it before saving.
Deactivate a payee you no longer use
Select Deactivate on the payee’s row. The payee leaves the suggestion lists, and every transaction that uses it stays as it is. Inactive payees are hidden from the Payees page; switch on Show inactive to see them, marked Inactive (or Inactive, no transactions). Select Reactivate to bring one back.
Delete and restore a payee
- Select Delete payee. There is no confirmation: the payee moves to the trash and … moved to trash offers Undo for a few seconds.
- Later, select View trash, find it in Deleted Payees and select Restore, or Delete permanently.
Transactions that used the payee are not deleted.
Merge payees
Select Merge… above the list to fold one payee into another. To merge several at once, tap the icon at the left of each row first (it turns into a tick); the first field of the dialog then reads Selected payees. In Merge payees, pick the payee for Merge payee (it is filled in when exactly one row is ticked), pick the payee to keep for with, and select OK.
Every transaction and scheduled transaction that used a merged payee now uses the payee you kept; amounts, dates and cleared or reconciled states do not change, and nothing is asked first. Each merged payee goes to the trash with its details. A line such as Merged … into …. 12 replacements were made. offers Undo, which puts the payees and the transactions back as they were. Nothing is merged when a transaction that uses one of the payees is in an account that is read-only on the free version.
Delete unused payees
Delete unused payees asks one question that gives the count, then moves every payee that no transaction or scheduled transaction uses to the trash. Undo brings back exactly those.
Tidy payees imported from your bank
Bank files and bank feeds often bring payee names like “STORE #123456 CITY 03/14”, so one store becomes many payees. Tidy payees… cleans them up.
- Select Tidy payees… on the Payees page.
- Read the preview: it says how many payees become how many. Bank text is cleaned, payees that are the same after cleaning are merged, and your AceMoney Classic import rules are applied first.
- If it offers Review suggestions (…)…, open it to see payees that start with the same words. Tick the ones that really are the same payee (Tick all and Untick all help), then go Back to the preview. Nothing in the suggestions merges without a tick.
- Select Apply tidy.
Nothing is deleted: merged payees are hidden, and the original bank text is kept in each transaction’s comment. To take the last tidy back, open Tidy payees… again and select Undo last tidy. If there is nothing to clean, the dialog says Nothing to tidy: your payee names are already clean.
Let Studio learn categories from your changes
From version 1.2. When you give an imported transaction a category, a message at the bottom of the Register asks Always use … for …? for its payee. Choose Always to save a rule; the message that follows offers Undo. From then on, transactions from that payee that you import get that category, and when you pick the payee in a new transaction with an empty Category field, Studio fills it in and says so under the field.
To see your rules, open Categories and select Rules. Each rule shows its payee, the category and how often it was seen; Delete rule removes one. In the Register, the row menu of a transaction that matches a rule offers Rule for …, which opens the same list.
Tags
A tag is a colored label (Reimbursable, Tax, Holiday) that you can attach to any transaction alongside its category, so a Travel transaction can also be Reimbursable. Tags belong to the whole document, not to one portfolio.
Add or edit a tag
- Select Tags in the navigation rail.
- Select Add tag (or tap a tag, or its Edit tag button, to change it).
- Type the Tag name and pick a Color from the sixteen swatches.
- Select Add (or Save).
In the Register, a tagged transaction’s text takes the color of its tag. From version 1.2, a tag whose color is too light to be read that way says so on the Tags page: Too faint to colour a row in the Register; it shows only as a dot.
Tag a transaction
- Open a transaction (New or Edit in the register).
- Under Tags, tap a chip to add or remove that tag. Select the New tag chip to create one on the spot: type the Tag name and select Add; it is created and selected immediately.
- Select Add or Save.
On a computer, with a row selected in the register, press 1 to 9 to toggle the first nine tags (in the order of the Tags page) and 0 to remove every tag from the row.
Find tagged transactions
- In the register, type the tag’s name in the search box, or open Filters and tick tags under Tags. The chip Tags: … shows the active filter.
- To see tags in the grid, select Columns above the register (or Set columns in a column header menu) and tick Tags. See Enter transactions in the register.
Delete a tag
- Select Delete tag on the row.
- Confirm in Delete tag?: the tag will be removed from every transaction it is assigned to, and this cannot be undone.
Banks
The Banks page is the list of financial institutions you can attach to an account: name, country, phone, website and address. It starts with a short built-in list of about forty well-known banks and you can add your own. Attaching a bank to an account gives the account’s Open login page button a website to open when you have not entered a login address yourself.
Pick a bank for an account
- On the Accounts page, add or edit an account.
- Start typing in Bank (optional); the helper says Type to search. Suggestions from the Banks list appear as you type.
- Pick a suggestion, or finish typing a name that is not in the list; it is added to Banks when you save the account. Clear the field to detach the bank.
- Select Add or Save. See Add and manage accounts.
Add or edit a bank
- Select Banks in the navigation rail. On a computer you can also press F3. The first time you open it, a spinner shows for a moment while the built-in list is loaded into your document.
- Select Add bank, or tap a bank (or Edit bank) to change it.
- Fill in Bank name (required), and if you like Country (optional), Phone (optional), Website (optional), Address (optional), Bank number, SWIFT, Transfer code and Comment.
- Select Add (or Save).
Each row shows the name, a line with the country, phone and website that are set, and then the bank number, SWIFT code, transfer code and comment, when they are set.
Delete a bank
Select Delete bank on the row. A bank that one of your accounts uses cannot be deleted: Studio names the account (or the first of them and how many more) and changes nothing. Any other bank is removed at once, with no confirmation and no undo; add it again if you need it.
Delete unused banks, above the list, deletes every bank that no account uses, after one question that gives the count; Undo brings them back. The built-in list is not added again, but the Bank (optional) field of the account dialog still suggests its banks as you type.
Platform differences
macOS
F4 opens Payees, F3 opens Banks; register keys 1 to 9 and 0 toggle tags on the selected row. See Keyboard shortcuts.
Windows
As on macOS.
Linux
As on macOS.
iOS (iPhone and iPad)
In AceMoney Studio Mobile (from version 1.2) the three pages work the same way. On a narrow phone the header buttons of Payees may be tight; turn the phone sideways if Add payee is hard to reach. There are no keyboard shortcuts.
Android
As on iOS.
Common questions
Do I have to add payees before I can use them?
No. Type the name in a transaction’s Payee field and it is created when you save. The Payees page is for tidying, renaming and default categories.
How do I merge two payees?
Use Merge… on the Payees page; see Merge payees. Tidy payees… finds and merges look-alike bank text for you; see Tidy payees imported from your bank.
Why did the category fill itself in?
The payee you picked has a default category, or (from version 1.2) a rule Studio learned. It only applies when you pick the payee from the suggestion list and the Category field is empty. Change the category before saving, clear a default category on the Payees page with Clear, or delete a learned rule in Categories ▸ Rules.
What is the difference between a tag and a category?
A transaction has exactly one category (or split categories), which drives budgets and reports. It can have any number of tags, which are labels for your own cross-cutting views: reimbursable, tax-deductible, a trip. Tags appear in the register’s search, Filters and the optional Tags column.
Are tags shared between portfolios?
Yes. Tags belong to the whole document, while payees and categories can be shared or pinned per portfolio with Available in. See Portfolios.
Is my bank not in the list?
Type its name in Bank (optional) on the account and save; it is added to the Banks page, where you can fill in its website and phone.
Does adding a bank connect my account for downloads?
No. The Banks page is a directory. For automatic transaction downloads see Bank feeds.
Troubleshooting
Autocomplete does not suggest a payee I know exists. Suggestions match anywhere in the name, ignoring capitals. Check the spelling on the Payees page; the payee may be inactive (switch on Show inactive), in the trash (View trash) or pinned to another portfolio.
A payee is missing from the Payees page. It may be inactive: switch on Show inactive. From version 1.2, also clear the Search payees box.
Tidy merged two payees that are different. Open Tidy payees… and select Undo last tidy, then run it again and leave that suggestion unticked.
I created a duplicate payee by mistake. Re-file its transactions from the register and delete the extra one.
The default category did not apply. It applies only when you pick the payee from the list and Category is still empty. Typing the full name without picking it does not trigger the rule.
A tag does not color its transactions in the Register. Its color is too light to read on the register’s background; it shows only as a dot in the Tags column. Pick a darker color for the tag.
I deleted a tag and want it back. Tag deletion is permanent. Create the tag again and re-tag the transactions using the register’s search to find them.
I deleted a bank by mistake. There is no undo. Select Add bank and enter it again, then re-attach it on each account.
Open login page is missing on an account. The account has no Login page URL (optional) and its bank has no Website (optional). Add either.
The Banks page shows a spinner. The built-in list is being loaded into your document the first time you open the page. It finishes in a moment.