[FR] Auto group/tag based on regex rules on description

[Weissnix4711]

It would be super useful to be able to set regex expressions which can be used to automatically group and/or tag transactions. From what I can tell, most banks here in the UK which allow for exporting via QIF (none I can find use OXF whatsoever), only attach very basic details to each transaction. For example:

!Type:Bank
D02/01/2000
T-56.78
PCARD PAYMENT TO REDACTED   ON 02-01-2000, 56.78
^
D01/01/2000
T-12.34
PBILL PAYMENT VIA FASTER PAYMENT TO REDACTED REFERENCE REDACTED, 12.34
^

There is no group or category information, or anything else which could be substituted as such, other than the payee field. However, I would find it very useful to be able to separate card payments from regular bank transfers, and maybe group all the payments made to a certain company (eg. paypal). The best way I can think of making this work, and be modular enough to work for most other banks too, is to allow the user to create custom regex rules which act on the payee field.

[riker09]

I have tried several other finance apps for Linux desktops as well, Homebank, Firefly III, Actual Budget to name the most recent ones. At least Homebank and Actual Budget have a mechanism for applying rules to transactions very similar as you have described. Might be worth taking a look to get some inspiration.

What I personally like about Denaro over the other mentioned apps is that it's not trying to do some budgeting. What I am looking for in a finance app is basically an overview over my transactions with the possibility to generate different kinds of reports. "How much have I spent on groceries in the past few month?" "How much on my car, insurances, electricity, etc."

If I could compare these numbers with a second account that would be the cherry on top. I'm okay with opening the app a second time. Reading through this I can probably pull this off with a very sophisticated excel sheet. 😆