Financio gives you full control over your categories. You can create new ones, rename existing ones, reorganise the hierarchy, and hide categories you don't use.
Accessing Categories
Click Categories in the main navigation menu to open the Categories page.
Use the Expenses and Income tabs to switch between category types.
Creating a Category
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Click the New Category button in the top right.
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Enter a name for your category.
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Optionally select a parent category to create a subcategory.
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Click Save.
Start Broad
If you're unsure, create a parent category first. You can always add subcategories later as you identify more specific spending patterns.
Editing a Category
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Click on any category name in the list.
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Update the name or change the parent category.
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Click Save.
Deleting a Category
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Click on the category you want to delete.
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Click the Delete button in the dialog.
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If the category has transactions, you'll see a count of affected transactions and the option to reassign them to another category.
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Select a new category from the dropdown, or choose Uncategorised to leave them without a category.
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Click Delete to confirm.
Reassign Before Deleting
When deleting a category with transactions, you can choose where those transactions should go. Any automation rules using this category will also be updated to use the new category.
Reordering Categories
Use the up and down arrows on the left side of each category to change its position in the list.
- Categories higher in the list appear first in dropdown menus
- Reordering is saved automatically
Creating Subcategories (Indenting)
Financio supports up to three levels of category hierarchy. You can move categories between levels:
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Hover over the category to reveal the indent/outdent arrows.
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Click the right arrow (indent) to move the category down one level (e.g., make a parent into a subcategory, or a subcategory into a sub-subcategory).
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Click the left arrow (outdent) to move the category up one level.
Nesting Limits
Categories at the third level (sub-subcategories) cannot be indented further. Parent categories that already have grandchildren cannot be moved under another category.
Hiding Categories
If you don't use certain default categories, you can hide them instead of deleting:
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Hover over the category row.
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Click the eye icon to toggle visibility.
Hidden categories:
- Won't appear in category dropdown menus
- Are shown greyed out in the Categories list
- Can be unhidden at any time
- Keep their transaction history intact
Hidden Parent Categories
When you hide a parent category, all its subcategories are also hidden.
Changing Your Category Preset
If you want to switch to a different set of default categories, you can change your preset in Settings:
- Go to Settings > Categories.
- Select a new preset (Simple, Standard, or Detailed).
- Click Save Changes.
Financio will ask how to handle your existing transactions — you can match them to the new categories by name or start fresh. See Category Presets for full details.
Tips for Organising Categories
Keep it simple
Too many categories makes tracking harder. Start with the defaults and only add new ones when you have a clear need.
Use subcategories for detail
If you want to track "Coffee" separately from "Restaurants", create them as subcategories under "Food & Drink" rather than as top-level categories. You can even go deeper—for example, create "Restaurants" under "Food & Drink", then add "Fine Dining" and "Fast Food" under "Restaurants".
Review periodically
Every few months, review your categories. Hide ones you never use and consider merging similar categories.