I’m new to Tiller. I’m trying to use the Transaction Splitter and I’m not sure if I am doing something incorrectly.
Twice a month, I have my bank transfer “recurring expenses” to another bank account. First I tried splitting the transaction that shows up as “income” on the spreadsheet. But I got a lot of little red circles with Xs in them, and my categories weren’t showing up. So I figured it was the other transaction, the “expense” one (for e.g., -$125.00) that needed to be split.
Following the instructions, I got to the end (and created a lot more little red circles) and there was nowhere to click “Done”.
Are you using the Transaction Splitter in the Tiller Labs add-on that is documented here? Are the red circles you’re referring to showing up in the Google Sheets sidebar?
It’s possible this is a browser compatibility issue. What browser are you using and what version? Does the rest of the Tiller Labs add-on look ok— i.e. menus, icons, etc?
Good news. Based on what you’re trying to do, I don’t think you should be using the transaction splitter. You say that twice a month you have your bank transfer recurring expenses to another bank account. I assume what you mean is you have $125 in your savings account and your bank is transferring it to your checking account so you can pay bills out of your checking account. If this is what it is in fact happening, you probably have an expense showing in your savings account and income in your checking account. You don’t really have an expense and an income item here, all you’re doing is transferring money from your right pocket to your left pocket. You need to create a category called transfer and in the type column you need to select transfer. Afterwards, go back and change the expense and income items and call them transfer.
You are using the Tiller labs transaction splitter since you mention you have little red circles with x’s in them. If you go to a transaction on your transaction tab and then go to the tiller labs transaction splitter and click on it you will come to a page that shows the transaction you are about to split. You will see a section called original transaction which will have your category and the dollar amount next to it. Underneath that you will see a bar called add split. Under that you will see a bar called split transaction and under that you will see a bar called cancel. You need to click on add split to pull up the first split you want to make. The tool calls that split number one. If you click on add split again it will pull up another split and call it split number 2. You will notice that there is a red circle with an X in it next to each of the two splits you just created. If you click on one of those red circles with an X in it it will make that split disappear. So, add as many splits as you need. Then select the category you want to use for each split as well as the dollar amount. When you are done and ready to finalize the split, select the split transaction tab and the tool will complete the actual splitting of the transaction. There is no Done button.
Here is an article that @randy from Tiller put out today to explain how to use the Tiller Labs transaction splitter. Randy includes a three minute demonstration which shows how the tool works which is very helpful.
Thanks for your help and thoroughness on this, @blake. I hope @blake’s response helps clarify a workflow for the transfer operation and also how the new splitter works, @sandral18706.
I added a short video on the Transaction Splitter in action today. The video mirrors the steps & UX that @blake described. If your screen looks different when you invoke the workflow, please send a screenshot.
Thanks,
Randy
P.S. There is a “Done” button but it appears only after you have completed a split. That screen gives you the option of pulling in another row for a new split or being “done” with the splitter workflow.
@randy, @sandral18706 This Randy guy at Tiller is awesome. It is now 10:15 p.m. Pacific time and this guy is out in the Tiller community still at work and posting away. Wow! Thanks Randy. Blake
@Blake@randy
Thank you so much for your help, and also for the warm welcome.
I watched the video and worked through the steps, and it works perfectly!
So far, I am really happy with Tiller Sheets. I like the spreadsheet format and have been using spreadsheets to keep track of my Recurring Expenses for a few years now.
I’m new to Tiller. I’m setting up my Foundations spreadsheet and am attempting to split a downloaded transaction from my bank. I’ve added the Tiller Labs add on. However, when I click on it, I don’t have “View” as a selection. The only option I have is “Help”, so I’m unable to advance to the screens that will allow me to add the splitter tool. Thanks for any assistance!
UPDATE: I believe I may have solved my own problem by closing and re-opening my spreadsheet. I’ll be back in touch if I get stuck.
Randy,
Lately when I try to use the Transaction Splitter, and I press done, I get a message saying " Master Transaction has changed. Splitter transaction has been changed."
I have followed the directions of using the transaction splitter via Tiller Labs, so I dont know what else to do.
It’s probably my fault, @golden.jeffrey. I made some exhaustive changes to the UX code a few weeks ago. The code is on a stronger footing but I am not totally surprised that some bugs have slipped through.
I see a message in the code that looks similar that says: Master transaction has changed— split operation cancelled. Is this the message that you are seeing?
Can you explain a little more about what you are seeing? And what you are expecting that is not happening?
I’m still not able to reproduce the problem, @golden.jeffrey and @hage.sara… The workflow works fine for me.
The Get Selected Transaction prompt is asking you to select the row of the transaction you want to split in the Transactions sheet. Once you select a valid row, click the blue “Get Selected Transaction” button. The Add Split button just adds new split UX elements to the sidebar. You will need to click the blue “Split Transaction” button at bottom to execute the split.
I’m pretty sure the “Master transaction has changed— split operation cancelled” message means that the row you originally selected for the split no longer contains the same data— e.g. maybe you manually changed some fields or a subsequent feeds operation added rows and moved the source row.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have questions.
This tool doesn’t work on my feed at all - on any transaction. I suspect that it is because there are custom columns in my transactions feed. I follow the directions perfectly and haven’t changed any of the pre-populated feeds data.
I have run into this same issue, I tried to further split an already split transaction and it wouldn’t allow me as well. I need to add another split to the transaction that I forgot to enter initially. I’m not sure how to undo the split to try to re-split it.
What do you mean by this? Does it give you an error or can you describe what happens when you try to split it? What steps are you taking prior to trying to split it?
After splitting an original transaction, I realized that I needed to add another category. I attempted an additional split, which was when I received the error message from a brief popup like described above.
So basically the whole situation goes like the following
-Found the original transaction that needed to be split.
-Selected and used the split function to make it into 2 categories (A & B)
-After the original split was successful, I realized the need to add another category from one of the two. (So B into B & C)
-It was during this attempt to turn split B into an additional split of B and C that it gave me the error.
I also tried to utilize split A but it also returned the same error.
I am unsure of how to undo the split in order to make the proper split from the start into (A, B, & C)
