Sometimes you need to explain a payment with two different categories.
To do so, set up your first payment as normal, then click the Split the transaction between categories button. This lets you fill in a second explanation for the payment.
It also lets you specify the amount of the transaction that each explanation gets. It works like this:
DoubleAgent processes the explanation with the non-blank Amount first.
DoubleAgent looks at the Amount field's text and:
if it is a fixed amount (e.g. 5.00), uses that;
if it is a percentage amount (e.g. 1.6%), calculates how much that is;
if it contains {{}}, looks in the transaction's description and extracts the corresponding number.
DoubleAgent explains that amount of the transaction with this explanation.
DoubleAgent then explains the rest of the transaction with the other explanation.
Example
I pay a monthly subscription to GitHub. GitHub is a U.S. company so it charges me in dollars.
The transactions look like this in my Barclays account:
GITHUB.COM 5LT USA AMOUNT IN USD 7.00 ON 13 NOV VISA FX RATE 1.306129 FINAL GBP AMOUNT INCLUDES NON-STERLING TRANS FEE $0.15///£5.51
I need to split the explanation between two categories:
the actual GBP equivalent of the $7 payment to GitHub;
the transaction fee added by Barclays for processing a non-GBP payment.
You could set up a rule like this:
The second explanation has a non-blank Amount so DoubleAgent processes it first.
DoubleAgent looks for TRANS FEE ${{}} in the transaction's description.
In this case, it matches TRANS FEE $0.15, with {{}} extracting 0.15.
(Although the description says $0.15, the fee is actually £0.15! You can verify this using the FX rate given: $7.00 / 1.306129 = £5.36, which means a fee of £5.51 - £5.36 = £0.15. It's a quirk of Barclays: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )
DoubleAgent explains £0.15 of the transaction with this explanation.
Next, DoubleAgent processes the other explanation.
The Amount field is blank, so DoubleAgent sets it to the left-over balance.
In this case, the amount is set to £5.51 - £0.15 = £5.36.
We always recommend doing a dry run (by clicking the Dry Run button) to see whether your rule does what you want.
