How to add a transaction
Published on June 11, 2026
Every time money enters or leaves your accounts, you record it as a transaction in Aspire. This keeps your category balances accurate and your budget up to date.
Adding a transaction
- Open the Transactions tab in your spreadsheet.
- Find the next empty row in the Transactions table.
- Fill in the following columns:
| Column | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Date | The date of the transaction (e.g., 06/12/2026) |
| Outflow | The amount you spent. Leave blank for income. |
| Inflow | The amount you received. Leave blank for spending. |
| Memo | A short description — the merchant name, what you bought, or any note for future reference. |
| Account | Select the bank account or credit card used for this transaction from the dropdown. |
| Category | Select the budget category this transaction belongs to (e.g., Groceries, Dining Out, Rent). |
| Status | Choose ✅ Settled if the transaction has cleared your bank, or 🅿️ Pending if it hasn’t. |
That’s it — the Dashboard will update automatically to reflect your new transaction.
Adding income
When you receive a paycheck or other income:
- Enter the amount in the Inflow column (leave Outflow blank).
- Select the account the money landed in.
- For the Category, select Available to budget (or whichever inflow category you use).
After logging income, head to the Category Transfers tab to assign those new dollars to your categories.
Tips for logging transactions
- Log daily. Check your bank app at the end of the day and record anything new. This takes 2–3 minutes and prevents backlogs.
- Use Pending for uncertain amounts. Restaurant tips, gas station holds, and online orders that haven’t shipped can all be logged as Pending. Update the amount and switch to Settled once it clears.
- Keep memos short but useful. “Target — household stuff” is better than just “Target” when you review transactions months later.
- Use CSV Import for bulk entry. If you prefer to log transactions weekly or after the fact, CSV Import lets you upload a bank export and bring in many transactions at once.
Account transfers
To record money moving between your own accounts (e.g., checking to savings):
- Create a transaction with the amount in the Outflow column, the source account selected, and the category set to ↕️ Account Transfer.
- Create a second transaction with the same amount in the Inflow column, the destination account selected, and the same ↕️ Account Transfer category.
Both transactions should have the same date and amount. This tells Aspire the money moved between accounts but wasn’t spent.