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[GH-ISSUE #1320] [Feature] Add subcategory #42153
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Originally created by @andreapx on GitHub (Jul 9, 2023).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/issues/1320
Verified feature request does not already exist?
💻
Pitch: what problem are you trying to solve?
I feel the need to divide some expenses into subcategory.
For example for leasure I would like to have a group called leasure, then add a category rent and a subcategory expenses
Or another example:
--> house
---->bills
------>electricity
------>Internet
------>Insurance
------> ...
---->furniture
---->...
...
Describe your ideal solution to this problem
Add the possibility to add a subcategory (maybe with multiple levels)
Teaching and learning
No response
@github-actions[bot] commented on GitHub (Jul 9, 2023):
✨ Thanks for sharing your idea! ✨
This repository is now using lodash style issue management for enhancements. This means enhancement issues will now be closed instead of leaving them open. This doesn’t mean we don’t accept feature requests, though! We will consider implementing ones that receive many upvotes, and we welcome contributions for any feature requests marked as needing votes (just post a comment first so we can help you make a successful contribution).
The enhancement backlog can be found here: https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/issues?q=label%3A%22needs+votes%22+sort%3Areactions-%2B1-desc+
Don’t forget to upvote the top comment with 👍!
@normanu commented on GitHub (Nov 2, 2023):
Would love this aswell!
@carkom commented on GitHub (Mar 1, 2024):
Could this be remedied with tags? I can see a use case where you could tag the smallest tier and be able to use it all successfully. Thoughts?
@binarygituser commented on GitHub (Mar 2, 2024):
tags could work in scenarios where we need to search/filter. Another advantages with tags is to ability to tag expenses that are related/similar but fall under different categories. For ex. Child1 and Child2 going to different clubs, all of those budgeted as Fun Activites but tagged per child. Will be good if reports can pick up expenses that are tagged.
@danielo515 commented on GitHub (Jul 18, 2024):
I think I will like more the ability to use tags, or be able to assign several cathegories
@bchooxg commented on GitHub (Jul 21, 2024):
+1 for this feature
I would like to track my food spendings ( $300 per mth )
But also like to be able to categorize how much i spend for each meal ( Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner )
-Food
— Breakfast
— Lunch
— Dinner
@mailuminatti commented on GitHub (Aug 17, 2024):
+1 for this feature!
@CrazyKidJack commented on GitHub (Sep 13, 2024):
I gave this a👍. I think it could equally be called "super groups" if someone is hung up on the idea that "categories" should be the lowest level thing.
Additionally, I'd love to not only see
but generally speaking I'd like to see infinitely nestable grouping. Why should AB decide what level of grouping is appropriate for someone's personal situation :)
Also I think infinitely nested grouping along with this feature request about group budgeting could be really powerful for me and others!
@Hydro8 commented on GitHub (Oct 16, 2024):
I vote for tags, it could be awesome to add a feature like this.
You have your classical categories like food... and for special event you could use categories with tag.
This way on report, you can filter transactions and categories to see what you need.
Very helpful feature !
@jfdoming commented on GitHub (Oct 16, 2024):
We do already support tags inside the 'notes' field of a transaction! Just start with a #. Does that help?
@Hydro8 commented on GitHub (Oct 16, 2024):
Awesome :)
I didn't find a way, but is it possible, in custom reports, to filter by transaction's tag ?
@matt-fidd commented on GitHub (Oct 16, 2024):
@Hydro8, you should be able to find it under the notes filter
@Hydro8 commented on GitHub (Oct 16, 2024):
Very nice ! Thanks to both of you.
Actual Budget is really a step above YNAB with feature like this.
Just a question, is it possible to add tag to a category ?
For example, I have multiple leisure categories and I tried to add #leisure to them.
Then in custom report, I tried to filter by category "has tag" but I have errors.
@thiswillbeyourgithub commented on GitHub (Oct 27, 2024):
Hi. I don't get it. This seems to have been implemented but I can't find in the documentation nor in the UI. Am I missing something? I'm using 24.10.1
@youngcw commented on GitHub (Oct 27, 2024):
@thiswillbeyourgithub This request is still open as a feature request and has not been added yet
@ElDubsNZ commented on GitHub (Dec 30, 2024):
Absolutely support this. Being able to set arbitrary levels of nested categories is a feature that double-entry bookkeeping allows, and I want to see Actual align with how that works as much as possible so the systems could be compatible.
@atticcat commented on GitHub (Jan 4, 2025):
This is something I am really hoping to see implemented. An example of how it would be useful for me - subscriptions/memberships. Particularly when annual subscriptions which are all paid out at different times of year get involved, it can be pretty challenging to make sure you're budgeting the right amount, and have the right amount already saved, for everything when it's all in one subscriptions category. The better solution is to have a category for each annual subscription which is able to accrue budgeted money the entire year and accurately show the amount allocated for that subscription in the lead up to the date it is actually paid for.
The current solution, of course, is to just have Subscriptions as its own group, and each annual subscription as a category within it. But if I have multiple categories needing sub categories, which have to be their own groups under this scheme, this quickly leads to a real mess of a budget. It also makes it so I can't have my Subscriptions in general as part of a larger group, like "Discretionary Spending," which I can be tracking overall spending on.
All that to say, this would be a great boon to organized budgeting in my mind and I would have immediate use cases for it if implemented.
@gitchap commented on GitHub (Feb 13, 2025):
@atticcat I use the templates to keep track of what's needed and make sure I'm budgeting the right amount. But I also have a category for each sub, within a subscription group. I have considered using one category and just having several templates for it.
If there were nesting groups, I would probably use them, but honestly an implementation with tags might be more useful.
YNAB has category filters, which is similar to how tags might work.
@XtremeOwnageDotCom commented on GitHub (Feb 21, 2025):
This- would drastically improve management for me.
@ApertureEngineer commented on GitHub (Mar 18, 2025):
I also want a thumbs up for this feature. I'm dealing with my finances now since 2006 just with Excel. Tried so many tools but Excel was the most flexible way until now.
If actual can have Categories and subcategories or would be a game changer.
Regarding the Tags. I use Cost Centers to book the expenses.
Here the example:
Transaction: Hotel (7 nights)
| Category: Holiday
| Subcategory: accommodation
| Cost Center: Indonesia_2025
So I can easily sum up all costs per holiday.
But also can calculate the accommodations per year. If you travel a lot, you will see that once you are not at home you need less budget for the house and eating.
@andersoal commented on GitHub (Apr 26, 2025):
@atticcat as mentioned by @gitchap you could use the template feature
There is an example in the docs exactly with your case. Budget Templates | Actual Budget Documentation and with the
by YYYY-MM-DDyou can set a budget for a yearly subscription.After trying this, in most cases, I would prefer the template over a third or more levels of category. It forces you to simplify your budget.
Also, contributing to the discussion:
There is a complexity that might appear with the implementation of a third or as many levels you want (like double entry bookkeeping/GNUCash).
So, independently of how many levels, I suggest defining the Budgeted Value only in the nested categories of the tree. This seems like the most reasonable option.
There is another feature request to allow Budgeted Value for the Group not the Category #3438
@BobWs commented on GitHub (Jun 2, 2025):
I recently discovered that tags are already supported, which is great! However, I have a suggestion for improving their appearance and functionality.
Currently, when I assign a tag to a transaction, it appears as
#billswith a colored background. It would be much cleaner if it could simply display as "bills" with the colored background.Additionally, it would be helpful if we could customize the colors of the tags. Perhaps this feature could be integrated into the settings, allowing users to pre-create tags with their chosen colors.
@DiegoTheWolf commented on GitHub (Jun 10, 2025):
This would greatly go together with the templates.
Giving a parent category a budget and use templates to populate sub categories accordingly (with factors or splits)
@astro-msk commented on GitHub (Aug 30, 2025):
Started using Actual recently, and I though this would be an existing feature.
Hence, I would love to have this feature. Me being a dev, I could also contribute in implementing this feature.
@jcasanchez commented on GitHub (Nov 9, 2025):
I just started using actual and would like to see the feature
@matttk commented on GitHub (Jan 9, 2026):
I'm not even sure how to budget properly without this feature. There's no way I can keep track of what makes up the final number for a budget category, so I guess the only solution is categories and groups (which limits to only 2 levels).
Living Actual so far - but this feels like a pretty critical feature that YNAB had from the start.
@kennyrkun commented on GitHub (Apr 6, 2026):
Similar to this, I would like to be able to keep track of what parts of a single transaction go to a particular category. For example, a trip to Costco may have purchases including entertainment, groceries, medicine, clothing, all in a single transaction.
@atticcat commented on GitHub (Apr 6, 2026):
@kennyrkun This is already a feature - just choose "split transaction" when you choose the category for a transaction.
@kennyrkun commented on GitHub (Apr 6, 2026):
That is absolutely brilliant, thank you! I was looking for "multiple transactions grouped" and couldn't find anything using those search terms. I'm so glad Actual can do this!