> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.guito.pt/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Split a transaction

> Divide one transaction across several categories, each with its own amount, without changing the balance or duplicating the line.

Not every purchase fits one category. A Continente receipt can mix groceries, a book and a toaster; a payment to a landlord can include rent and building fees. Instead of picking the "least wrong" category, you can **split the transaction**: divide its amount across several categories, each with its own share. The transaction stays a single line in your list and the account balance does not change, but budgets and charts count each part under the right category.

You'll find **Split transaction** next to the transaction's category, on the transaction's page and whenever you edit it.

## Split a transaction

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the transaction">
    In **Transactions**, click the transaction you want to divide, or open it from an account's transaction list and click **Edit**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose Split transaction">
    Next to the **Category** field, click **Split transaction**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter the parts">
    For each part, choose the category and type the amount. You can have between two and ten parts, each with its own category — the same category cannot appear twice. On an expense the parts are expense categories; on income, income categories. The last part always takes whatever is left to reach the total, so you only need to type the amounts of the earlier ones.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm">
    The parts must add up exactly to the transaction's amount, and none of them can be zero. If the earlier parts already cover the whole total, there is nothing left for the last one — guito tells you and won't save until you reduce one of them.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Example: an **€87.40** purchase at Continente split into **Groceries €61.90**, **Books €12.50** and **Appliances €13.00**. The list still shows a single €87.40 line; the groceries budget counts only €61.90.

## How a split transaction is counted

* **It is still one transaction.** The list shows one line, with the full amount, and the account balance is what it always was. Instead of a category, the line shows the parts' categories; open the transaction to see each amount.
* **Each category counts only its part.** Budgets, the category breakdown, the evolution charts and any per-category total add up only the part that belongs to that category, never the whole transaction. A **Books** budget counts €12.50, not €87.40.
* **The category filter finds it.** When you filter transactions by a category, a split transaction shows up whenever one of its parts has that category, and the filter's totals add up only the matching parts.

## What you can and cannot split

* Only **expenses** and **income** can be split. Transfers between your own accounts and transactions marked **Exclude from cash flow** cannot, because they are already left out of the per-category totals.
* **A split outranks transfer detection.** If you split a transaction guito would later have paired with its counterpart in another of your accounts, that pairing no longer happens — not on the next sync, and not when you link the two transactions by hand. To mark it as a transfer, remove the split first.
* **A split transaction cannot be excluded either.** Marking **Exclude from cash flow** on a split transaction has no effect; in a multi-transaction selection the split ones are left out and guito tells you how many. If you really want it excluded, remove the split first.
* **A transaction in another currency is split from the account.** On the transaction pages, a purchase in dollars or pounds is shown converted to euros, and parts typed there would never add up to the original amount. Split it from the account's transaction list, where the amounts are shown in the currency the purchase was made in. If it is already split, the other pages show you the parts read-only.
* **Amounts with more than two decimal places cannot be split.** Parts are typed to the cent, so they could never add up exactly to a more precise total. This only happens on transactions you entered by hand with extra decimal places.
* A split is your decision: [automatic categorization](/en/concepts/automatic-categorization) never rewrites it. When you correct another transaction and accept extending the change to your history, or when you apply a category to every transaction from one merchant, split transactions are left as they are. When you change the category of several transactions at once they are left alone too, and guito tells you how many were skipped. The same goes for the assistant: asking it to change a split transaction's category does not remove the split.
* A manual transaction that is split won't let you change its amount. If the amount is wrong, remove the split first, fix the amount, and split it again.

## If you delete a category used in a part

When you [delete a category](/en/features/categories), guito also counts the transactions that only use it inside a split, and gives you the usual ways out:

* **Migrate and delete**: the parts move to the category you choose. If the transaction already had a part in that category, the two merge into one; if a single part is left, the transaction is no longer split and moves to that category as a whole.
* **Delete without migrating**: the split transactions that used the category stop being split. The parts disappear and the transaction goes back to a single category — the automatic suggestion, when there is one, or none.

## Remove the split

To go back to a single category, open the transaction and choose **Remove split**, or simply pick a category the way you would on any other transaction. The parts disappear and the whole transaction moves to the category you chose. To change the parts without removing anything, open **Split transaction** again and adjust the categories or amounts.

## Frequently asked questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Does splitting a transaction change the account balance?">
    No. The balance adds up the whole transaction, as before. The split only changes how the amount is distributed across categories.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I split a transfer or an excluded transaction?">
    No. A transfer between your own accounts and a transaction excluded from cash flow are left out of the per-category totals, so there is nothing to divide. If a transaction was marked as a transfer by mistake, fix the category first. The other way around: a transaction you have already split never becomes a transfer — guito won't pair it with its counterpart in another of your accounts while the split exists — and it cannot be excluded either. Remove the split first.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why don't I see Split transaction on this transaction?">
    The option is not offered on transfers between your own accounts, on transactions excluded from cash flow, on forecasts, or on transactions with no amount. In two cases an explanation appears in its place: when the transaction is in another currency (split it from the account's transaction list) and when the amount has more than two decimal places.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why can't I change the amount of a split transaction?">
    Because the parts would no longer add up to the total. Remove the split, fix the amount, and split it again.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can guito re-categorize a transaction I split?">
    No. A split counts as a correction of yours, and guito never overwrites your corrections — not on the next sync, and not when extending another correction to your history.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related pages

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Transactions and cash flow" icon="https://mintcdn.com/guito/Z2-mKthyIORVPFl5/icons/orbit.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=Z2-mKthyIORVPFl5&q=85&s=15024db7279b8e04c679a37ef479014b" href="/en/features/transactions" width="24" height="24" data-path="icons/orbit.svg">
    View, filter and correct the category of your transactions.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Budgets" icon="https://mintcdn.com/guito/qyCDktPAmiF08sQd/icons/gauge.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=qyCDktPAmiF08sQd&q=85&s=bbc9fd1caad46615fed5e5d5ad39cc35" href="/en/features/budgets" width="24" height="24" data-path="icons/gauge.svg">
    How each part of a split transaction counts toward a budget's cap.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Custom categories" icon="https://mintcdn.com/guito/Z2-mKthyIORVPFl5/icons/tags.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=Z2-mKthyIORVPFl5&q=85&s=e6f74e0f1905dd9d42d8b2043c48e4fd" href="/en/features/categories" width="24" height="24" data-path="icons/tags.svg">
    Create and organize the categories you split your transactions into.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Automatic categorization" icon="https://mintcdn.com/guito/Z2-mKthyIORVPFl5/icons/layers.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=Z2-mKthyIORVPFl5&q=85&s=8907ca1f8620b36146dce2a27a6d01b0" href="/en/concepts/automatic-categorization" width="24" height="24" data-path="icons/layers.svg">
    How guito picks each transaction's category and why it never rewrites your corrections.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>
