# Recording transactions

Expenses, income, and transfers — the three things every transaction in Flow can be.

## The three transaction types

- **Expense** — money leaving an account. Decreases the account balance.
- **Income** — money entering an account. Increases the balance.
- **Transfer** — money moving between two of _your_ accounts. Doesn't count as either spending or earning.

💡 Why transfers are special

If you record "ATM withdrawal" as an expense from your bank, then "lunch" as an expense from your wallet, you've counted the same money twice. Use a transfer to move it from bank → wallet, then expense the lunch from the wallet.

## Recording an expense

1. Tap the **+** button at the bottom of any tab.
2. Pick **Expense** from the type chip at the top (it's the default).
3. Type the amount with the numpad. Tap the calculator icon for arithmetic.
4. Tap the **✓** on the numpad to commit the amount. Dismissing the numpad without tapping ✓ discards whatever you typed.
5. Optionally type a title in the **Untitled transaction** field above.
6. Tap the **Account** row to switch accounts; the category and tag rows are right below.
7. Tap the **✓** at the top right to save.

💡 Customize the entry flow

The order and presence of steps Flow walks you through is configurable at **Profile → Preferences → Transaction Entry**. Add, remove, or reorder them to match how you actually enter data.

## Recording income

Identical flow to an expense — tap **+**, choose **Income**, fill in amount, category, and account. Income transactions show in green and roll up separately from expenses in reports.

## Recording a transfer

1. Tap **+**, then choose **Transfer**.
2. Pick the **From** account and the **To** account.
3. Enter the amount. If the two accounts use different currencies, Flow will ask for the converted amount as well.
4. Tap **Save**.

ℹ️ Cross-currency transfers

Flow records the exact amounts on each side, not the exchange rate. That way, if your bank gave you a slightly worse rate than the market, your books still match reality down to the cent.

## Editing & deleting

Tap any transaction in the list to open it, then tap any field to edit. To delete, scroll to the bottom of the edit page and tap **Delete**. Deleted transactions go to a trash bin where they can be restored or purged — no surprise data loss.

## Backdating & future transactions

Tap the date field to change when a transaction happened. Backdating just sets the date and re-sorts the entry — nothing else changes.

Future-dating is treated specially. As soon as you pick a date in the future, Flow silently flips the transaction to [pending](/content/guide/pending/index.html) — it stays out of your balance until its date arrives, so you can't accidentally inflate today's totals with a paycheck that hasn't landed. The Pending toggle on the edit page reflects the change; you can switch it off manually if you want a future-dated transaction to count as **Pre-approved** (it'll show that label in the home list and skip the approval prompt when its date arrives).

## Title vs. note

- **Title** is short and shows in the transaction list. Use it like a label: "Coffee at Tim Hortons".
- **Note** is hidden until you open the transaction. Use it for the long stuff: "Split with Alex, they owe me 12,000".

## Speed tips

- **Swipe to duplicate** — swipe a transaction from left to right in the list. A gray panel slides in with a copy icon; tap it to duplicate the entry. (Long-press doesn't do this.)
- **Recurring** — for anything you record more than twice a month, set it up as a [recurring transaction](/content/guide/recurring/index.html) instead.
- **iOS Shortcut** — automate Apple Pay purchases via the [Shortcuts integration](/content/guide/ios-shortcuts/index.html).