Creating, Editing, and Deleting Category & Tag Rules
Overview
Category and Tag Rules in Quicken Business & Personal automatically assign downloaded transactions to the correct expense, income, or transfer categories, and can also apply tags for deeper tracking and analysis.
While Payee Rules identify who the transaction is with, Category and Tag Rules define what kind of transaction it is — such as office supplies, client payments, or subscriptions — and optionally what it relates to, such as a client, project, or campaign.
These rules are especially useful for business owners, freelancers, and anyone who wants their finances organized consistently and automatically.
Use Category and Tag Rules to:
Ensure tax-deductible expenses are categorized correctly every time
Tag transactions by client, project, or department for detailed reporting
Automate bookkeeping for recurring charges (software, utilities, or subscriptions)
Maintain clean financial reports for year-end accounting, tax prep, or profitability tracking
You’ll want to create Category and Tag Rules if you:
Regularly recategorize the same types of transactions
Track both business and personal spending in the same account
Need to prepare detailed reports for Schedule C or tax filing
Want faster, more accurate monthly reporting with less manual work
When to Use Category and Tag Rules
Category and Tag Rules help automate repetitive organization tasks, saving you time and improving accuracy.
Here are some common examples:
Recurring Expenses or Income: Automatically categorize PG&E as “Utilities” or Stripe deposits as “Business Income.”
Mixed-Use Merchants: Separate business and personal purchases at the same store (e.g., Amazon Business vs. Amazon Gifts).
Client or Project Tracking: Apply tags like “Client A” or “Spring Campaign” to specific transactions for easier reporting.
Subscriptions and SaaS Tools: Automatically classify Zoom, Adobe, or AWS charges as “Software” and tag them by team or department.
💬 Tip: Start with your most frequent or recurring transactions. Rules work best when applied to consistent patterns.
🛠 How to Create or Edit a Category and Tag Rule
You can create these rules directly from Settings or from an individual transaction.
Option 1: From Settings
Use this method when you want to build or review rules across multiple transactions.
Go to Settings in the left-hand navigation panel.
Select Rules.
Click + Rule.
Choose whether to use the original bank name or renamed Quicken name for matching.
Enter one or more keywords Quicken should look for in downloaded transactions.
(Tip: Use partial names like “zoom” or “stripe” to catch more variations.)Check Update Category, then select the correct category.
(Optional) Check Add Tags, and choose one or more tags to automatically apply.
Click Continue to Review.
Choose whether to apply the rule to existing transactions, then click Create Rule.
Option 2: From an Individual Transaction
Use this method when you’re fixing a specific transaction and want Quicken to remember your choice.
Locate the transaction and open the Category dropdown.
Select the correct category and check Create a rule to use this category for future transactions.
When the Create Rule window opens, confirm or add:
The matching source (original or renamed name)
Any keywords Quicken should look for
(Optional) Tags to apply automatically for similar future transactions
Click Continue to Review, then decide whether to apply the rule to existing transactions.
Click Create Rule to save.
🔍 Real-Life Examples
Scenario | Use This Rule |
|---|---|
You always buy office supplies at Staples, but your transactions download as “Uncategorized.” | Category: Office Expenses |
You get monthly charges from Zoom that should always be Software. | Category: Software · Tag: Operations |
You want client payments processed through Stripe for a specific client, say Client A, to always post as Business Income from Client A. | Category: Business Income · Tag: Client A |
You use Amazon for both personal and business purchases. | Two rules using keywords like “supplies” (Category: Office Expenses) vs. “gifts” (Category: Shopping). |
📌 Best Practices for Category and Tag Rules
Be specific with keywords (for example, “AWS” instead of just “Amazon”).
Use tags to track projects, clients, or campaigns without cluttering your category list.
Avoid using amount alone unless it’s for fixed monthly payments.
Review rules quarterly to ensure they still fit your current spending patterns.
Combine description-based keywords and tags for merchants used across multiple purposes.
Keep each rule simple and focused — one clear purpose per rule improves reliability.
Managing and Deleting Rules
Go to Settings › Rules.
Find the Category or Tag Rule you want to update.
Click Edit, Disable, or Delete as needed.
Reorder rules when conflicts arise — specific rules should appear above general ones.
💡 Why It Matters
Category and Tag Rules ensure your financial data stays clean, consistent, and audit-ready — automatically.
By combining categories for what a transaction is with tags for who or what it relates to, you’ll save hours of manual cleanup and gain richer insights into your business or personal finances.