Group view and Category view
The two ways to see the same budget: every category, or one line per group. How each works and where they differ.
Updated October 30, 2026
Category view lists every category in each group. Group view shows one line per group, and you open a group to see its categories. Both views show the same budget and use the same amounts. Switching never changes your data.
Switch views
Select Group or Category at the top of the Budget page, beside Month actions. The active button is highlighted.
The choice is saved with the budget file, so it applies on every device. A budget starts in Category view. It starts in Group view if you chose Keep it simple in setup, or saved the setup plan without amounts for individual categories.
What each view shows
| Category view | Group view | |
|---|---|---|
| Lines | A card per group, open, with every category | One line per group, closed |
| Columns | Category, Budgeted, Spent or Received, Balance, Rollover | Group, Budgeted, Spent or Received, Balance |
| Group totals | Shown, read-only | Shown, and Budgeted can be edited |
| Month actions | Copy, zero, average, fill and rebuild | Copy last month's budget and Apply my template only |
| overspent chip | Counts categories with a negative Balance | Counts groups with a negative Balance |
| Adding a category | Add, or New category name inside a group | Add only |
| Reordering | Drag groups (within their money bucket) and categories | Drag categories inside an open group |
On a group line, Budgeted, Spent and Balance are the sums for the group's rows, hidden rows included. A hidden category with an amount is listed in its group with a small hidden label (see Manage categories and groups). A hidden group is drawn only when one of its categories has an amount, with a hidden label after its name, and its Budgeted total cannot be edited. A bar under the group name shows spending against the money available. When part of an expense group's Balance came from earlier months, a line reads "includes $200.00 carried from earlier months". See How Rollover works.
A group's Balance adds up its categories, so a group can be within budget while one category inside it is overspent. The group's Balance turns red, and the end of its bar turns red, only when the group's own Balance is below zero. The red part is the overspend as a share of what the group spent, and the rest of the bar is green. A group in the Generosity bucket has a gold bar instead, but its Balance still turns red.
Open and close groups
In Category view, groups start open. Select a group's header to close it.
In Group view, groups start closed. Select the line or the arrow to open it. An open group shows the same rows and controls as Category view. The first open group shows a note explaining that the amounts inside a group add up to the group total. Select the X button on the note to hide it.
Each view remembers its open and closed groups separately, and the note stays hidden. These choices are saved in this browser only.
Rename a group
In either view, select the three-dot button on a group's header, then Rename group. Selecting a group's header still opens or closes it, but the three-dot button does not. See Manage categories and groups.
Edit a group total
In Group view, you can enter a new Budgeted total on a group line. The difference goes into one category that you choose:
- The difference goes into a visible category. A hidden row counts in the group total, but it is not in the list. If every row in the group is hidden, change the amount on the row itself.
- The category's new amount is its old amount plus the difference.
- For a decrease, the list holds only categories with at least that much.
- The app chooses a category for you: the one with the largest amount among categories that are not held. If every category is held, it chooses the largest overall. Held categories stay in the list but are not the first choice.
A category is held when any of these is true:
- Rollover is on.
- It has a funding formula or a goal.
- Its amount is $0 or less.
- Its name looks like a fixed bill: housing, mortgage, rent, car payment, auto loan, insurance, childcare, tuition or daycare.
- You entered an exact amount for it in setup.
For the steps, see Set your monthly amounts.
Uncategorized line
In Group view, a dashed Uncategorized line appears after the last group when the month has uncategorized money out. Select it to open those transactions. The amount is not in any group total, in Expenses or in Net this month. The headline Expenses figure shows it as "+ $120.00 uncategorized", except on a phone. In Category view, use the uncategorized chip instead.
Other differences in Group view
- The category list in transaction entry reminds you that a category in the right group keeps your group totals correct.
- On a computer, an income group's last column shows received minus budgeted, for example "+$200.00". On a phone, the line reads "$300.00 left" or "$200.00 over".
- On a phone, an expense group line has three rows: the name with "$X left", a bar, and then Budgeted, Spent (Saved in a Savings & Investments group) and the three-dot button.