Transactions and categorization
A transaction that says SQ *LANDSCAPE SUPPLY 4412 isn’t bookkeeping yet. Categorizing is the step that turns it into “materials, for the Hendricks job” — which is what makes job costing and your P&L true.
Growth and up. Requires banking.view to see transactions and
banking.manage to categorize them.
The basic loop
Open the list
Books → Banking, then pick an account. Uncategorized transactions are surfaced first, because they’re the ones that need you.
Pick a category
Choose what the money was for. The list is your chart of accounts — fuel, materials, subcontractors, and so on.
Attach it to a job, if it belongs to one
This is the step people skip, and it’s the one that pays off. A material purchase tied to a job shows up in that job’s true cost. One that isn’t just disappears into overhead.
Save
The transaction moves out of the uncategorized list.
Let it learn
When you categorize the same vendor the same way twice, create a rule so LawnLedger does it next time. Look for Create a rule from this on a categorized transaction.
Rules match on the description and, optionally, the amount. They run on transactions as they arrive, so the uncategorized list stays short instead of becoming a monthly chore.
Splitting a transaction
One trip to the supply yard often covers three jobs. Use Split to divide a single transaction across multiple categories or jobs, by amount or percentage. The parts must add up to the whole before it will save.
Matching, not duplicating
If you already recorded an expense or took a customer payment in LawnLedger, the matching bank transaction should be matched to it, not categorized separately — otherwise the same money is counted twice. LawnLedger suggests matches when it spots one; accept it rather than categorizing over it.
Tips
- Do it weekly, not monthly. Ten minutes on Friday beats four hours in April, and you’ll still remember what a vendor charge was for.
- If you don’t know what something was, leave it uncategorized rather than guessing. An honest gap is easier to fix later than a wrong answer you’ve forgotten making.
Troubleshooting
A transaction appears twice. Usually a real duplicate from the bank (a pending and a posted version), or an expense you also entered by hand. Check for a match before deleting anything.
The job I want isn’t in the list. Only open jobs appear. If the work is finished and invoiced, the cost still belongs to it — reopen it or attach the cost from the job itself.