Auto-link manually created transactions to synced transactions
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Danny Fuhriman
I would like to be able to create a manual transaction in advance of the transaction occurring and have the incoming synced transaction automatically matched and "merged" into the manually created transaction.
This is a great feature that YNAB has that allows me to proactively manage my finances.
Use Case:
I make a purchase on Amazon for $15. In the moment, I already have Lunch Money open so I decide to just throw the transaction in since I can categorize it right then and there.
Later, when the transaction syncs from my credit card, it should automatically detect that I created a manual transaction and "merge" the incoming transaction details with the manual details.
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Aric
This is the main thing holding me back from trusting lunch money 100% with my financial tracking right now.
My use-cases for manual then merging synced transactions are:
- saving receipts right after purchase
I want to be able to know for certain i have a copy of the receipt attached to my transaction, so doing it right away after purchase manually ensures this. The current workaround of deleting the manual transaction when the synced version comes in does not work here - i don't want to lose my notes / attached receipts from my manual transactions!
- It's more reliable manually inputting transactions (especially in Canada! Our banks are so bad) but when I finally DO get my bank to finally resume syncing transactions, I want the manual transactions to merge, instead of duplicate. Duplication is the worst, it creates a huge headache of needing to manually update all my transactions, painstakingly trying to notice the differences between $, payee, date etc. Reliable and trustworthy merging existing manual transactions with imported ones would be a HUGE time saver here, and make me NOT hate budgeting and tracking finances again.
- I don't want the "All or Nothing" option of syncing, OR manual. There's times you need both!
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Dan
I am definitely in this camp of manually putting in transactions once they occur, versus waiting for sync updates.
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Amelia
Another use case for this that hasn't been mentioned yet is the ability to split a future transaction ahead of time into multiple categories, and then match it when the actual transaction comes in. It's much easier to remember when something was purchased that it needs to be split between three categories in x ways than to try and go back and figure it out later once the transaction clears. This would require the software to recognize the "total" of the split against the incoming. Software like QuickBooks Online can do this with JEs, and it's very useful.
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JP Shipherd
There has been some recent activity in our Discord channel discussing this type of feature.
Din from Lunch Money described how you can set up a rule when you manually enter a transaction to have it automatically deleted when the synced transaction shows up: https://discord.com/channels/842337014556262411/1438922463022026802/1438959372326666240
I'm curious if extending this feature even easier to use in Lunch Money would make sense for the people looking for this functionality. For example if there was a "Merge When Synced" button that was available in the Create Transaction flow, that asked you to specify the account it will be synced from, would that meet the need?
Perhaps Lunch Money could extend this beyond just deleting the original transaction, but doing the "merge" as suggested in the original ask, capturing the category, notes, tags, etc from the manual transaction and adding it to the synced one.
Please comment if this approach would work, or if you have other ideas on how it should work.
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John Farrar
JP Shipherd I completely agree. Though on YNAB that does delete the original entery and overwrite it with the new one. It merges them by doing things like taking notes from the original and adding it to the new one, and or any category changes.
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Aric
I think it's important for them to merge existing details from the manual transaction - like attachments + notes + tags.
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Vadim R
Also budgebackers had this feature for ages (migrated from it)
In our more mobile world, this a must have feature imho.
Another use case:
Went shopping with family, various stores, while in-between shops, pre-enter purchase details on the go. Then when doing accounting in front of computer it would be much faster and easier to do.
Now I have to maintain a separate note, that I then reconcile when accounts get synced, not efficient :(
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Vadim R
bump this thread please.
Another use case:
Payment with card for something, but actual tx will appear on your statement in few days (over the weekend for example). Then you could pre-enter details for what it was, and when it actually hits - "link to existing transaction" similar how you link to "Recurring".
Also just experienced this during holidays in another country: a lot of small txes, with random payee and notes that are hard to decypher. However, If I can pre-enter tx - that would help a lot.
Even as simple as amount (mandatory) and then optional for category or note (at least one of two)
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Simon Apperloo
This is the biggest feature holding me back from moving away from ynab. When you have multiple people sharing a budget, entering purchases right away makes it so much easier, then to chase them a few days later for a receipt so that it can be categorized properly.
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Dustin Dauncey
Absolutely. This needs to be implemented 100%.
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Max
Not that they're used much anymore but another great use case for this would be for check writing, to preemptively deduct the money from your account balance in between the time you write the check and the recipient cashes it.
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Maria Kulikova
I love this. Especially with how infrequently some banks sync.
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