The Categories view in the Tiller Console lets you add, rename, regroup, hide, and delete categories in your Direct Fills Google Sheets and Excel workbooks without editing the Categories sheet by hand. When you rename or delete a category, Tiller updates every place that category is used, including your Transactions and AutoCat sheets, so nothing is left pointing at a category that no longer exists.
Use the Categories view when you want to:
Swap Tiller's default categories for ones that match how you think about your money
Clean up categories you no longer use
Reorganize categories into different groups
Rename a category without hunting it down across multiple sheets
How to access the Categories view
The Categories view works with Tiller-powered Direct Fills Google Sheets and Excel workbooks with the Tiller Money Feeds add-in open.
Sign in to the Tiller Console at my.tiller.com.
Select the spreadsheet you want to work with from the left side navigation.
Click the Categories view at the top of the page.
Changes you make here are written directly to your spreadsheet. A few things to know first:
Each spreadsheet is separate. Categories you edit apply only to the spreadsheet you've selected.
Avoid editing during a fill. If Tiller is filling your sheet when you save a change, your changes will not be saved and you’ll see an error.
Viewing your categories
The Categories view shows every category from your Categories sheet, organized by group. Each category shows:
Field | What it means |
Category | The category name, exactly as it appears on your Categories sheet. This is pulled into the Category column in the Transactions sheets and AutoCat sheets. |
Group | A free-form label that groups related categories together, like Auto or Food |
Type | Income, Expense, or Transfer. |
Hide from reports | When a category is marked as Hide from reports it doesn’t show up on any of the budget sheets or other dashboards. |
Transaction count | How many transactions use this category, across the entire Transactions sheet. Transaction counts may take a few extra seconds on large datasets. |
Adding a category
Click + Category at the top.
Enter a name. Category names must be unique, but are not case sensitive.
Choose a Group. Pick an existing group from the list, or type a new name to create a group on the spot.
Choose a Type: Income, Expense, or Transfer.
Optionally, turn on Hide from reports if you don’t want to see this category on your budget or other reports.
Click Create category to save the category to your spreadsheet.
Your new category is added as a new row on the Categories sheet and is immediately available to pick on your Transactions sheet. Any budget columns on your Categories sheet are left blank for the new category so you can fill them in later.
Renaming a category
Click the pencil icon next to a category to edit it.
Type the new name for your category and press Enter.
You’ll see a modal indicating the changes that will be made. Click “Confirm” to save the changes.
You'll see a confirmation when the rename is complete, or an error if something went wrong.
A rename updates the category everywhere it appears in your spreadsheet:
Sheet | What changes |
Categories | The category's row is renamed. Group, Type, Hide from reports, and budget amounts stay the same |
Transactions | Every transaction using the old name is updated to the new name |
AutoCat | Every rule that assigns the old name is updated to assign the new name |
Changing a category's type, group, or visibility
These changes only update the category's row on the Categories sheet. Your transactions and AutoCat rules aren't affected.
Change the type: pick Income, Expense, or Transfer from the Type dropdown.
Move to a different group: pick a group from the Group list or create a new group using the + Group option at the top and move that category into it when creating a group.
Hide or show in reports: click the eye icon next to the category to mark it as “hide” in the Hide from Reports column.
Deleting a category
Click the trash icon next to the category.
Review the confirmation screen, which shows how many transactions will lose their categorization.
Click Delete to confirm.
Deleting a category can't be undone from the Console, but you can restore your sheet to a prior version if you need to reverse the changes. Here's what happens:
Sheet | What changes |
Categories | The category's row is removed, including any budget amounts on that row |
Transactions | The category column for those transactions is cleared. The transactions themselves are not deleted. |
AutoCat | Rules where the category is the only override are deleted. Rules that also do something else, like set a tag or note, are kept with the Category cell left blank. |
If you want to keep the transactions' category, move them to a different category on your Transactions sheet before you delete.
Working with groups
Groups exist only to organize categories, so every group needs at least one category in it. Changes to groups only affect the Group column on your Categories sheet.
Add a group: click + Group at the top, enter a group name, and add a category to it. You can also create a new group while creating a category.
Rename a group: click the pencil icon next to the group name, type the new name, and save. Every category in the group moves to the new name.
Delete a group: move all categories into a different group.
FAQ
Can I still edit the Categories sheet directly? Yes. The Categories view and your spreadsheet stay in sync, so you can use whichever you prefer. Keep in mind that renaming directly on the Categories sheet does not update your Transactions or AutoCat sheets the way the Categories view does.
Can I undo changes?
You can use the Version History features built into Google Sheets to restore your sheet to a prior version.
I see an error that a category name already exists. Category names must be unique, regardless of capitalization.
Will this change my budget amounts? These category editing features do not affect budgets other than if you delete a category. Renaming, regrouping, or changing a category's type does not affect budget amounts. Deleting a category removes its row, including its budget amounts.