Split transactions
Sometimes a single purchase (or deposit) spans more than one envelope. That's what a split transaction is for: one transaction, divided across several envelopes.
TL;DR
When one purchase covers several envelopes, record a single transaction and split its amount across them. Each envelope sees only its own portion of the amount, so Groceries gets the groceries part and Household gets the household part, while your account balance reflects the full amount exactly once.
When would you split?
- You do one big supermarket trip that's groceries and household items. The receipt has both, so you split the total.
- A single payment covers two subscriptions.
- One paycheck pays for multiple goals, part goes to "Living Expenses," part straight to "Savings."
Instead of making two separate transactions, you record one transaction and tell CentBase which envelope each portion belongs to.
How it works
When you add or edit a transaction, tap Split in the Envelope section of the form. The single envelope picker is replaced by split allocations, add an envelope for each portion of the amount. CentBase keeps track of the total for you: every split line has its own envelope and amount, and the amounts add up to the transaction's total. Changed your mind? Tap Cancel Split to go back to one envelope.
How it affects your budget
Each envelope sees only its own portion of the transaction:
- The Groceries envelope sees the groceries amount.
- The Household envelope sees the household amount.
That means:
- Spending is correctly deducted from each envelope.
- Income correctly adds to each envelope it was split into.
- Your account balance reflects the full amount exactly once, splits never double-count.
So your budget always adds up, and each envelope tells the truth about what was spent (or received) for its category.
Viewing a split
On the Transactions screen you'll see the full amount on the transaction row. Opening the transaction shows the split, each envelope and its portion listed out, so you can see exactly where the money went.
Tip: When viewing an envelope's own page, you'll see just the portion of the transaction that belongs to that envelope, not the full amount. That's correct: it's that envelope's share.
Covering overspending on a split. When the covered sub-envelopes have a parent with Fund subenvelopes on, you can turn on Parent covers overspending and each sub-envelope in the split is topped up from its own parent. See When a parent envelope covers overspending.
Fees are different from splits, a fee is a separate linked expense, not a division of the same amount. See Transaction fees if you need to track a charge alongside the main purchase.
Summary
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is a split? | One transaction, divided across several envelopes |
| How many accounts are touched? | One, the full amount moves once |
| What does each envelope see? | Only its own portion |
| Can income be split? | Yes, the same way as expenses |
| Where do I see the split? | Open the transaction from the Transactions screen |
Sample use cases
- One supermarket run. Split $60 between Groceries ($45) and House Cleaning ($15) off a single receipt.
- Two subscriptions at once. A $24 payment split evenly between Netflix and Spotify.
- A paycheck with goals. Part of your salary goes to Living Expenses, part straight into Savings, all in one income transaction.