Has someone created a tool that makes it easy to change the fields in the “description” column from the imported values (which are always messy) to a consistent naming convention? I would love to have all of my payees have consistent names
Sean
I use AutoCat to do that, works beautifully.
I use AutoCat to change the category of the transaction, can it also be used to change the description of the transaction as well?
Yup, even in the same rule! Just create a ‘Description’ column which is where you put what you want it to say, and a ‘Description Contains’ column which is where you put what to look for. I have rules that set the category, fix the description, and add tags all at once. Here’s some pointers: AutoCat for Google Sheets | Tiller Help Center (tillerhq.com)
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This is EXACTLY what I’m looking for but I can’t make your example work.
I’ve added a column ‘Name’ to my Autocat:
| Category | Description Contains | Name |
|---|---|---|
| Gear & Clothing | Levi | Levi’s Outlet |
and I’ve renamed my ‘full description’ column to ‘Name’ in the ‘Transactions’ sheet but no update 
I’m using Excel if that makes a difference
You shouldn’t change the names in the Transactions sheet or data won’t import properly. You can add columns that are unrelated to the original ones, but don’t rename existing ones since the importer is looking for those by name. I would add a “Merchant Name” column to your Transactions sheet, and to your AutoCat sheet. Some merchants will automatically be filled in through the normal transaction import, for those that don’t, you could then create an AutoCat rule to fill it in based on the Description or Full Description. I haven’t tried this in Excel, but it works in Google Sheets, and I think they have parity now for AutoCat.
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got it! It turned out the main problem is that I added merchant name AFTER successfully categorizing. Once you’ve categorized, Tiller thinks it’s done and doesn’t pick up the name change. Woo hoo!
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Glad you got to the bottom of that and that AutoCat is making it easier to manage your data!
Can you explain a bit more what you did here? You added a column? My problem is that the short description is Wong vs the long description
Hi @Whydontyouwork can you elaborate on what you’re trying to do with AutoCat?