Tags

Tags are custom colored labels you can attach to any transaction for flexible tracking alongside categories. Tag a vacation expense, flag something for review, or mark work-related purchases.

What are tags?

Unlike categories, where each transaction has exactly one, a single transaction can carry multiple tags. That makes them perfect for cross-cutting concerns:

• Trips & events: tag every expense for a vacation, wedding, or renovation, across multiple categories.
• Review flags: mark transactions to review later, track reimbursable expenses, or flag unusual charges.
• Tax tracking: label deductible expenses for tax season without changing your budget categories.
• Personal vs work: separate personal and work spending on shared accounts.

ℹ️ Tags are budget-scoped: each budget has its own tag list. With multiple budgets, you create tags independently for each one.

Creating tags

1. Open Manage Tags: open the budget menu in the sidebar (click your budget name) and choose Tags, the same menu where you manage payees.
2. Add a new tag: click Add tag, give it a name (up to 40 characters), and pick a color (it starts on blue).
3. Save: click Create. The tag appears at the bottom of the priority list, ready to use.

💡 Tip: you can also create tags on the fly from the tag picker. Type a name that doesn't match any existing tag and select the Create "…" option; Zerosum auto-picks the next available vibrant color so each tag gets a unique look.

Applying tags to transactions

Desktop

A tags column, marked with a small tag icon, sits between the checkbox and the date on every transaction table. Click any cell in this column to open the tag picker.

1. Click the tags cell: if the transaction has no tags yet, you'll see a faint tag outline.
2. Select tags: check or uncheck tags from the dropdown; apply as many as you like, and use the search field to find them quickly.
3. Changes save automatically: tags save as you toggle them. Close the picker when you're done.

Mobile

On mobile, tagged transactions show small colored bars in the details row. Tap a transaction to open the actions sheet, then tap Tag to open the picker drawer (titled "Tag transaction"), select or deselect tags, and tap Save.

ℹ️ Split transactions work differently: the parent row has no top-level tags cell. Each child line has its own tag picker inside the inline edit form. Open the transaction for editing, expand the split, and tag each child independently. In the saved view, tags appear on each child row rather than the parent.

Priority & ordering

Tags have a user-defined priority order that controls two things:

• Stack order: when a transaction has multiple tags, the highest-priority tag appears first in the colored bar stack.
• Column sort: clicking the tags column header sorts transactions by their highest-priority tag. Untagged rows sink to the bottom.

To reorder, open Manage Tags from the budget menu (click your budget name → Tags), then grab the drag handle on any tag and drag it up or down. The tag at the top has the highest priority.

💡 Tip: put your "review" or "unresolved" tag at the top so it always stands out in the color stack, even when a transaction has other tags.

Filtering by tag

Tags work as a filter just like categories, payees, and accounts.

You can also filter by tag straight from the search box: type Tag: Holiday, or start with # to search tag names only. See Searching transactions.

1. Open filters: click the Filters button in the transactions toolbar.
2. Select tags: in the Tags section, check the tags you want to see. Only transactions carrying at least one checked tag show. Use Select all / Select none to select or clear everything at once; while you search, the buttons act only on the shown results. Click Done to apply.
3. Exclude instead: uncheck the tags you want to hide. When you uncheck just a few, the filter flips to exclude mode automatically and the trigger reads "Excluding N Tags".
4. Combine with other filters: tag filters stack with category, payee, account, and date filters, so you can build precise views like "everything in the Reimbursable tag from last month."

Bulk tagging

Apply or remove tags across many transactions at once.

1. Select transactions: use the checkboxes to select rows. The selection bar appears at the bottom.
2. Choose Tag: click the Tag action, then use the Add / Remove toggle to switch between adding and removing.
3. Pick tags: select one or more tags. Each pick applies to every selected transaction immediately, and the picker stays open so you can add or remove several in a row.
4. Undo if needed: bulk tag changes can be undone from the sidebar or with the undo shortcut.

ℹ️ The Tag action is unavailable only when the selection includes a row that can't take tags (system rows such as a starting balance or balance adjustment). Split parents can be bulk-tagged; the tags apply to their child lines.

Tags & recurring transactions

Tags flow through your recurring templates just like categories and payees.

• Template carries tags: tag a recurring template (by editing the next scheduled instance) and every future occurrence inherits those tags.
• Edit propagation: editing tags on a scheduled-but-unposted instance updates both the instance and the template, like editing the amount or category.
• Past instances are independent: editing tags on an already-posted recurring transaction changes only that instance, not the template.
• Split recurring templates: per-child tags propagate when you make a split transaction recurring. Editing tags on a scheduled split instance updates that occurrence only; the template's per-child tags remain the source of truth for future spawns.

ℹ️ Transfers keep both sides in sync: notes and tags you set on either leg apply to the other leg automatically. Editing a scheduled transfer instance, from either account, also updates the template so future occurrences carry the same notes and tags on both legs.

Managing tags

Editing

In the Manage Tags dialog, click the edit button on any tag to change its name or color.

Deleting

Click the delete button on any tag. If the tag is attached to transactions, you can choose to:

• Remove from all transactions: detach the tag from every transaction before deleting.
• Reassign to another tag: move all transactions to a different tag before deleting. If a transaction already has the target tag, duplicates are resolved automatically.

Hiding the tags column

If you don't use tags, turn off the Tags toggle in the toolbar's View options. This hides the column on desktop, and on mobile it hides the tag bars on transaction cards. It also hides the tag field when you add or edit a transaction, on desktop and mobile alike. The choice applies to every account and syncs across your devices.

Where to next

• Transactions
• Analytics & Reports