Labeling Money

Use labels when you want to group activity across your normal budget structure, such as a trip, reimbursable spending, a project, or another cross-category theme.

Where labels show up #

You can work with labels in three main places:

• in transaction details
• in transfer flows that move labeled money
• in the Label Details card inside an account

Labels in transactions #

When labels are enabled, transaction detail rows can include a label. That lets one transaction carry both its normal category meaning and a label-based grouping meaning.

Example: a meal can still live in Dining Out, while the label tracks that it belonged to Work Trip.

Labels in transfers #

Transfers can also carry label details. That matters when you are moving labeled money between accounts or adjusting whether money should stay unlabeled or attached to a specific label.

When labels are off, the label-specific controls disappear for new transfer and transaction work.

Labels in account details #

When you open an account detail view, Common Cents can show a Label Details card.

That card shows:

• Unlabeled money in the account
• Labeled money in the account
• the labels currently carrying a balance in that account

From there you can:

• choose Apply Label to move some unlabeled money into a label
• edit an existing labeled amount
• choose Remove All Labels to reverse all labeled balances in that account

What Apply Label really does #

Applying a label is not a budgeting action. It does not change category availability or move money between accounts.

Instead, Common Cents records a same-account transfer that moves money from unlabeled balance into the selected label balance.

Editing a labeled amount does the same thing in either direction:

• increase the labeled amount to move more unlabeled money into that label
• decrease the labeled amount to move money back out of the label

Removing a label reverses that same relationship so the money becomes unlabeled again.

Closed accounts #

Closed accounts can still show label history, but label changes are disabled until the account is reopened.

Labels still do not change the budget #

Labels help you track and review money. They do not replace categories, and they do not directly change your budget math.

If you need to create, rename, review, or delete the label definitions themselves, go to Manage Labels.