filter by tag still doesn't work because of 1-sided txns?
Hi there - I just wanted to check in and see if there was any
plan to have tags work automatically on both sides of a txn? I have
tons of tagged transactions, yet whenever I filter different
reports hardly any of them show up. This has been teasing me ever
since tags showed up in MD.
Maybe there's a workaround or something? I mean, besides manually
re-tagging every single transaction individually?
(MD 2011r2 803; OSx 10.6.8)
Support Staff 2 Posted by Angie Rauscher on 15 Dec, 2011 06:28 AM
Superslacker,
The reason that we haven't had the transactions tagged on both sides is something of a complicated one, but is related to Moneydance's double-entry bookkeeping format. Basically, if you tag both sides of the transaction the two "sides" cancel each other out, making the spending appear to be $0. We're looking at other ways to deal with tags in the future, but for the forseeable future this is how things are likely to keep working. I'm curious which report(s) you're using where you're not seeing all the transactions with a tag listed though- let me know and I'll see if there are some strategies and work-arounds I can suggest to make this go more smoothly for you.
Angie Rauscher
Moneydance Support
3 Posted by superslacker on 15 Dec, 2011 07:47 PM
Thanks for the response-
I can come up with multiple examples, but here's the most recent one that's vexing me:
I categorize car-related transactions into an 'auto' category and subcategories for gas, insurance, maintenance, etc. We have multiple vehicles, so I use tags to classify each time by which vehicle it pertains to. Now some tags have been entered on the 'Account' side of the transaction (credit card), and others on the 'category' side ('automobile:maintenance', for example). So if I use the 'Income & Expenses' report, select 'automobile:maintenance' for the account, and filter by tag, it turns out it only shows me transactions where I used that tag, but on the account side of the transaction. On the other hand, if I use the 'Transactions' report and do the same thing, it only shows me transactions where I entered the tag on the category side.
It seems a simple workaround would be to simply add a checkbox to the report configuration page that allows the user to decide if they want to include transactions that are tagged on either side or not. Obviously, it would be important to include the transaction from the same 'perspective', no matter what side it was tagged on. If I have a $500 expense that was tagged on the category side & a $300 expense that was tagged on the account side, then I want to see a $800 total expense, not $200.
-Stephane Roy
Support Staff 4 Posted by Ben Spencer on 17 Dec, 2011 04:23 PM
With the way tags are implemented in Moneydance currently as a general rule you should only ever tag a transaction form the perspective of the bank or credit card account. Which is to say never tag a transaction when you are in the income or expense category register. If you follow this rule the tags will be consistently applied.
Sincerely
Ben Spencer
Moneydance Support