Transfers and split transactions

A transfer moves money between two of your own accounts (paying a credit card from checking, topping up savings) without counting as income or spending. A split divides one transaction between several categories, or sends part of it to another account. This page shows you how to enter both, how they appear in each account, and how to edit them.

Before you begin

Transfers need two accounts in the same portfolio. Add them on the Accounts page first: Add and manage accounts. To enter transactions in general, see Enter transactions in the register.

Record a transfer between accounts

Open the Register and choose the account the money leaves in the Account picker.
Select New.
Choose Transfer.
Enter the Amount that leaves this account.
Choose the destination in Transfer to account. Only accounts of the same portfolio are listed.
If the two accounts use different currencies, check the Transfer amount, the amount that arrives in the other account. Studio fills it in at the latest exchange rate you have, or leaves it blank if there is none; type the figure from your bank if it differs. A read-only Exchange rate line shows the rate in use, or the rate your two amounts imply. In one currency the transfer amount is the amount.
Optionally set the Number, the Status, a Comment and Tags.
Select Add.

How a transfer looks in each account

A transfer is one transaction with two sides. In the account the money leaves, the row reads Transfer to followed by the other account’s name, with the amount in Withdrawal. In the receiving account it reads Transfer from followed by the first account’s name, with the amount in Deposit. Editing either side edits the same transaction.

Each side has its own status: you can mark the withdrawal Cleared when it leaves one bank and the deposit Cleared later when it arrives at the other. In the register’s Filters, Transfers under Type shows only transfer rows.

Go to the other side

Select a transfer row.
Select Go to account.

The register switches to the other account. If the selected row is not a transfer, Studio says Select a transfer row first.

Set the status of both sides at once

Tick Both sides in the toolbar.
Select the transfer row, open Set status and choose Uncleared, Cleared or Reconciled.

With Both sides unticked, Set status changes only the side you are looking at. Reconciling an account marks its own side of each transfer; the other account’s side is reconciled when you reconcile that account. See Reconcile an account.

Edit or delete a transfer

From either account, select the row and select Edit. On a computer, a double-click edits the cell you clicked in place; from version 1.2 you can make a double-click open the whole transaction with Settings ▸ Appearance ▸ Double-click opens the transaction.
Change the amount, date, destination or anything else, and select Save. When you open a transfer from the receiving side, the status field is labeled Status (this account) and changes only that side.
To delete a transfer, select Delete. It disappears from both accounts and the message Transaction moved to trash offers Undo for a few seconds.

Permanently deleting an account from View trash does not delete its transfers: the other account keeps each one as a regular transaction.

Move a transaction to another account

On a computer, right-click the row (or select it and press Shift+F10).
Choose Move to account and pick the account. Only other accounts of the same portfolio that you can edit are listed.

For a transfer, the side you are looking at moves. Studio leaves a row where it is if the move would make a transfer into its own account, or would cross into another portfolio, and says why in the message at the bottom.

Split a transaction between categories

Use a split when one payment covers several things: a supermarket receipt with groceries and household items, or a paycheck with tax and retirement lines.

Select New (or edit an existing transaction).
Choose Withdrawal or Deposit, enter the total in Amount and the Payee.
Tick Split into categories. The split editor replaces the single Category field.
In the first line, type or pick a Category and enter its Amount.
Select Add split line for each further line. Each new line is pre-filled with whatever is still unallocated. Under every line there is a Line comment field for a note of its own (up to 500 characters, kept with the line, apart from the transaction’s Comment).
Watch Remaining. It turns green at zero; the transaction only saves when the lines add up to the total.
Select Add or Save.

To take a line out, select Remove line. A negative amount on a line is allowed; it is useful for a discount or a cash-back line inside a larger purchase.

In the register, a split transaction shows a split icon and the word Split in the Category column; hover over it (or long-press) to see the lines. The register search matches the category of any split line, and the Categories filter finds transactions that contain the category on any line.

Send part of a split to another account

A split line can be a transfer instead of a category: for example, a paycheck deposit where part goes straight to savings, or a card payment that also covers a cash advance.

In the split editor, select the swap icon on a line (Make this a transfer to another account).
Choose the account in Transfer to and enter the Amount.
To turn it back, select the swap icon again (Make this a category).
Balance the remaining lines and save.

In the other account the line appears as a Transfer from row. That row is owned by the split: you cannot edit or delete it from the receiving account; select the row and choose Go to account to open the split in the account that owns it. You can set its status from the receiving account (Set status, or the keys), and Reconcile offers it: the line keeps a status of its own, apart from the status of the split in the account that owns it, and Undo puts it back. If the two accounts use different currencies and the line carries a transfer amount (an import from AceMoney Classic brings it), the row shows the amount that arrived in the receiving account, and that account’s balance agrees with it. The split editor has no field for that amount. In the split’s own register, a transfer line reads Transfer → followed by the account name in the Category tooltip.

Splits are not bill splitting

This page is about dividing an amount between categories or accounts inside your own books. Sharing a restaurant bill with friends and tracking who owes whom is a different feature, Split bill in the register toolbar and the Splits page; see Bill splitting.

Platform differences

macOS

Enter opens the selected row for editing; C, R and U set the status of the selected side (or both, with Both sides ticked). See Keyboard shortcuts.

Windows

As on macOS.

Linux

As on macOS.

iOS (iPhone and iPad)

From version 1.2, the first release of AceMoney Studio for phones and tablets, transfers and splits work the same way. The register lists the last 90 days, so a transfer older than that can be seen in Reports but not opened in the register; see Studio on mobile. The toolbar wraps, so Both sides and Go to account may sit on a second line.

Android

As on iOS.

Common questions

Why does the destination list not show one of my accounts?

Transfer to account lists only accounts in the same portfolio, and never the account you are in. Money between portfolios is entered as a withdrawal in one and a deposit in the other. See Portfolios.

Does a transfer count as income or spending in reports?

No. Reports leave transfers out unless you turn on Include transfers on the Reports page; Account balances is the exception, where the switch starts on so a transfer moves both accounts. See Reports and charts.

The two accounts use different currencies. Which amount do I enter?

Amount is what leaves the first account in its currency; Transfer amount is what arrives in the other account in its currency. Studio fills in Transfer amount at the latest exchange rate you have; change it to your bank’s figure so each balance is exact. The Exchange rate line shows the rate that results. See Currencies.

Can a split line be a transfer?

Yes. Select the swap icon on the line, pick the account in Transfer to and enter the amount. The receiving account shows a Transfer from row that must be edited from the split.

Can I split a transfer?

Not directly: a transaction is either a transfer or a split. Enter it as a Withdrawal or Deposit, tick Split into categories and make one of the lines a transfer.

How do I record a paycheck with deductions?

Enter a Deposit for the net pay, tick Split into categories, and add a line for the gross salary (an income category), then negative lines for tax, insurance and other deductions (expense categories). Remaining reaches zero when the lines net to the deposit. If part goes to a savings account, make that line a transfer.

Where did my AceMoney Classic transfers and splits go?

The import keeps them: transfers become two-sided transfers and splits keep their lines. See Import data.

Troubleshooting

“Every split line needs a valid, non-zero amount.” One line has an empty, zero or non-numeric amount. Fill it in or select Remove line.

“Add at least one split line.” Split into categories is ticked but there are no lines. Select Add split line, or untick the box to use a single category.

“Split lines total … but the amount is …” The lines do not add up to Amount. Adjust a line, or select Add split line to add the remainder. Remaining shows the difference.

“Select a transfer row first.” Go to account only works on a row that reads Transfer to … or Transfer from ….

“This is a split-transfer from “…” — edit it there (Go to account).“ The row is a line of a split in another account. Select Go to account and edit the split there.

Setting the status changed only one side. Tick Both sides before using Set status.

I deleted a transfer from one account and it vanished from the other too. A transfer is one transaction. Select Undo in the message at the bottom, or enter it again.

The transfer shows the wrong amount in the other account. Open it and check Transfer amount; for different currencies it must be the amount that actually arrived.

“No exchange rate is stored for this pair.” Studio has no rate between the two currencies, so Transfer amount stays blank. Type the amount that arrived, or add a rate in Settings ▸ Currency & Quotes.

Move to account left a row where it was. The message lists why, for example a transfer to that account, or an account in another portfolio.