Transactions
Here is the core concept for Reckoner (and really any financial tracker): Transactions.
Transaction Page UI
The transaction page is deservedly the most complex of any of the current pages. An effort was made to try and display as much information as possible for the device Reckoner is on. To that end, there are different layouts depending on if viewing from a mobile device or a desktop and the display width of those devices.
Desktop View
In the desktop view, transactions are displayed on a tabular grid. This displays key information at a glance and allows the user to sort data based on amount, date (default), source, or destination. This grid view also allows for bulk editing of transactions to set the category or add specific tags or to bulk delete transactions.
Narrow View
When the width of the display window less than 32 cm/12.5 in, then the table displays in the narrow view. In this view, only the description, amount, date, source, and destination are displayed. Editing a transaction will open up the single transaction edit page.
Widescreen View
In the widescreen view, transactions can be directly edited. In this view, to edit a transaction, one only needs to click on a row and it is editable. In this view all fields are visible, whether editing or not.
Mobile View
In the mobile view, display space is at a premium. Thus certain pieces of data are not displayed. In particular, the transaction list is sorted by date only, the displayed date only shows the month and day, and the only displayed fields are the date, description, account (possibly destination account for transfers), and amount.
To take action on a transaction, a user just needs to swipe the row. Swiping partly to the left reveals the delete action. Swiping fully to the left will automatically apply the delete action (with user confirmation). Swiping partly to the right reveals the edit and copy actions. Swiping fully the right opens the transaction for editing.
Editing Transactions
When editing transactions there are several core and optional transaction fields.
Core Transaction Fields
There are five to six core fields which are always needed to enter a transaction.
- Description: Free text entry field to describe the transaction
- Source Account: Account or merchant where money is taken from
- Destination Account: Account or merchant where money is going to
- Currency: The currency to use for the transaction
- Amount: The amount of the currency being spent/received/transferred
- Date: The date of the transaction in the timezone for the application
At a minimum a description, amount, date, and one of a source or destination account linked to a user account is required. For the source and destination account at least one must be linked to a user account. What is specified in the other account determines what type of transaction is generated. The table below demonstrates what type of transaction will be generated based on the source and destination account.
| Transaction Type | Source Account Type | Destination Account Type |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer | User Account | User Account |
| Withdraw | User Account | Merchant or None |
| Income | Merchant or None | User Account |
The other conditional field is the currency. This field is only available when a user account is a multi-currency account. Additionally there can be more than one amount field if creating a transfer and the source account currency is different from the destination account currency. This is used to represent a currency exchange.
Transaction Splits
Transaction splits are a way to categorize withdraw or income transactions with different categorizations or tags. This is useful in cases where you shop at a large store but want to apply different amounts of the transaction to different categories. When splitting a transaction, you must specify a description and amount for the split.
Transaction Categories
Transaction categories are specified per category group. Additionally transaction categories can be required if the category group is set to be required. Transaction categories can be used to budget transactions using budgets attached to the category or to filter/group transactions in reports.
Transaction Tags
Transaction tags are free text tagging of transactions or transaction splits. They are comma delimited values. Example: "YOLO,fun,#yourbestlife" would tag the transaction with the tags of "YOLO", "fun", and "#yourbestlife". You can then use these tags to filter/group transactions in reports.