Auto-Detect Transfers & Allow Selecting Accounts in Category
B
Ben
In Lunch Money, when I transfer money between my own accounts (like from RBC Credit to RBC Saving), I have to:
- Manually choose a category like "Transfer to RBC Saving" (but there’s no way to actually select the account itself as the category).
- Manually exclude both sides from Reports and Spending Plan.
In contrast, Simplifi by Quicken:
- Detects internal transfers automatically,
- Sets the destination account as the category (not just a label from a fixed list),
- And excludes both sides from Reports and Budgets automatically.
It would be a huge improvement if Lunch Money could:
1- Auto-match internal transfers (same amount, close time, different accounts),
2- Allow accounts to be selected directly in the Category field,
3- Automatically apply exclusions for transfers from reports and budgets.
This would make managing cash flow between accounts much easier and more accurate.
Screenshot attached for visual context — thanks!
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Din from Lunch Money
Hey Ben!
In Lunch Money, exclusions from reports and budgets are set at the category level, and for internal transfers and credit card payments we recommend using a single category called "Payment, Transfer". This is the default category, but you don't see that category, you can create it yourself on the Categories page. Make sure to enable the "Exclude from budget" and "Exclude from totals" properties for the category.
When you have transfers, you will then set the category to "Payment, Transfer", not to the account name.
Now in terms of automation, there's an existing ticket to allow auto-grouping transactions like transfers. Please see and upvote the ticket here: https://feedback.lunchmoney.app/rules/p/use-rules-to-auto-group-transactions
Let me know if this helps clear things up! :)
B
Ben
Thanks a lot, Din from Lunch Money ! 🙏
That totally clears up the current method — I appreciate the tip about setting up a "Payment, Transfer" category and enabling the exclusion flags.
I also saw the linked ticket about auto-grouping transfers — that's exactly what I had in mind for point #1. I’ve upvoted it 👍
If possible, could you also share your thoughts on the other two suggestions in this post?
- Allowing us to select actual accounts (not just categories) in the Category field,
- Automatically applying exclusions when such transfers are detected.
Thanks again — I really appreciate your time and responsiveness! 😊