Working with Transactions in Meridian

Transactions are the heart of your budget. Every time money moves in or out of your accounts, it is recorded as a transaction. This guide covers everything you need to know about managing transactions in Meridian.

The Ledger View

The Ledger is where you view and manage transactions. There are two ways to access it:

All Accounts View

Click All Accounts in the sidebar to see transactions from all on-budget accounts combined. This view is helpful for:

  • Getting a complete picture of your spending
  • Finding transactions when you are not sure which account they are in
  • Reviewing recent activity across all accounts

Individual Account View

Click on any account in the sidebar to see only that account's transactions. This view shows:

  • Account balance details (cleared, uncleared, working)
  • Running balance for each transaction
  • Import and export options

Adding Transactions

Manual Entry

  1. Click the + button in the Ledger (top right corner)
  2. Fill in the transaction details:
    • Date - When the transaction occurred
    • Payee - Who you paid or who paid you
    • Category - Which budget category this affects
    • Memo - Optional notes
    • Amount - Enter as positive for deposits, negative for expenses
  3. Click Save or press Enter

Quick Tips for Entry

  • Use Tab to move between fields
  • Press Enter to save
  • Press Escape to cancel

Transaction Statuses

Every transaction in Meridian has a status that reflects its lifecycle. Understanding these statuses helps you keep accurate records.

Scheduled

Transactions dated in the future appear in the Scheduled section at the top of the ledger. These represent:

  • Planned purchases
  • Recurring bills not yet due
  • Future income you are expecting

When the date arrives, scheduled transactions can be moved to "Entered" status with the Enter Now button.

Pending

Pending transactions come from bank imports and represent holds or authorizations that have not yet cleared. You can either:

  • Wait for the bank to clear them automatically
  • Click Enter Now to manually confirm them

Entered

The standard status for transactions you have recorded. Entered transactions:

  • Affect your budget category balances
  • Count toward your uncleared balance
  • Are waiting to be matched with bank records

Cleared

Cleared transactions have been verified against your bank statement. They:

  • Count toward your cleared balance
  • Match what your bank shows
  • Can be used for balance verification

Reconciled

Reconciled transactions have been formally verified against your bank statement through the reconciliation process. They:

  • Are indicated with a lock icon
  • Cannot be edited without an explicit warning
  • Provide a reliable checkpoint for your account history
  • Represent the highest confidence level for a transaction

To reconcile transactions, use the Reconcile button in the account header for any bank-linked account. See Reconciling Accounts for full details.

Changing Transaction Status

Quick Toggle

Click the status icon on any transaction row to toggle between Entered and Cleared:

  • A circle indicates Entered (uncleared)
  • A filled circle or checkmark indicates Cleared

Bulk Status Changes

  1. Select multiple transactions using the checkboxes
  2. The context bar appears with action buttons
  3. Click Clear to mark selected transactions as cleared
  4. Or click Enter Now for scheduled/pending transactions

Categorizing Transactions

Every transaction should have a category to track where your money goes.

Single Transaction

  1. Click on a transaction row to edit it
  2. Click the Category field
  3. Select a category from the dropdown
  4. Categories are grouped by their category group for easy navigation

Bulk Categorization

  1. Select multiple transactions using checkboxes
  2. Click Categorize in the context bar
  3. Choose a category from the dropdown
  4. All selected transactions will be updated

Payee Auto-Categorization

When you set a default category for a payee, Meridian will automatically suggest that category for future transactions with the same payee.

Transfers Between Accounts

When you move money between your own accounts (like checking to savings), this is recorded as a transfer.

Creating a Transfer

When adding a transaction:

  1. Select a transfer payee (these start with "Transfer to:" or "Transfer from:")
  2. Or choose the destination account directly
  3. Meridian automatically creates the matching transaction in the other account

How Transfers Appear

Transfers show differently depending on the view:

In Individual Account View:

  • Shows as "Transfer to: [Account Name]" or "Transfer from: [Account Name]"
  • Category shows as [Transfer]

In All Accounts View:

  • Both sides of the transfer are visible
  • You can see money leaving one account and entering another

Editing Transfers

When you edit one side of a transfer, the other side is automatically updated to stay in sync.

Importing Transactions from CSV

If you have transaction data from your bank or another app, you can import it:

  1. Click on an account in the sidebar
  2. Click Import in the account header
  3. Select your CSV file
  4. Map the columns:
    • Date - Which column contains the date
    • Payee - Who the transaction was with
    • Memo - Optional description
    • Amount - The transaction amount (or separate Inflow/Outflow columns)
    • Category - Optional category column
  5. Set the date format if not auto-detected
  6. Review the preview to verify everything looks correct
  7. Click Import to bring in the transactions

Import Tips

  • Meridian auto-detects common date formats (MM/DD/YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD, etc.)
  • Category names in your CSV will match Meridian categories (case-insensitive)
  • Rows with errors are skipped and reported
  • You can re-import if needed - duplicate checking is not automatic

Exporting Transactions

To export your transactions:

  1. Click on an account in the sidebar
  2. Click Export in the account header
  3. A CSV file downloads with all transactions from that account

The export includes date, payee, category, memo, amount, and status.

Searching and Filtering

The context bar at the top of the ledger provides powerful filtering options:

Search

Type in the search box to filter transactions by:

  • Payee name
  • Memo content
  • Category name
  • Amount

Category Filter

Click the Category dropdown to filter by:

  • Specific categories
  • Entire category groups
  • Uncategorized transactions

Date Filter

Filter by time period:

  • This Month
  • Last 3 Months
  • This Year
  • Last Year
  • All Time
  • Custom date range

Status Filter (Individual Account Only)

Filter by transaction status:

  • Scheduled
  • Pending
  • Entered
  • Cleared
  • Reconciled

Editing Transactions

Inline Editing

Double-click any transaction row to enter edit mode:

  1. All fields become editable
  2. Make your changes
  3. Press Enter or click Save to confirm
  4. Press Escape to cancel

Deleting Transactions

To delete a transaction:

  1. Select the transaction (click the checkbox)
  2. Press Delete or click the delete button in the context bar
  3. Confirm the deletion

For bulk deletion:

  1. Select multiple transactions
  2. Click Delete in the context bar
  3. Confirm that you want to delete all selected

Keyboard Shortcuts

Speed up your workflow with these shortcuts:

ActionShortcut
New transactionN
Edit selectedEnter
Delete selectedDelete or Backspace
CategorizeC
Toggle clearedSpace
Save transactionEnter (while editing)
Cancel editEscape

Transaction Sections

The ledger organizes transactions into sections:

Scheduled Section (Top)

Future-dated transactions appear here with a darker background. The section is collapsible if you want to focus on current transactions.

Pending Section

Bank-imported transactions awaiting clearance appear here. Hidden when empty.

Main Transaction List

All current and past transactions, sorted by date (newest first by default).

Recurring Transactions

Recurring transactions automate your regular bills, subscriptions, and income so you do not have to enter them manually each time.

Creating a Recurring Transaction

  1. Click the + button to add a new transaction
  2. Fill in the details (payee, category, amount)
  3. Click the repeat icon to set up a recurrence
  4. Choose the frequency (daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, yearly)
  5. Set a start date
  6. Optionally set an end date or number of occurrences

Editing a Series

When you edit a transaction that belongs to a recurring series, Meridian asks how you want to apply the change:

  • Just this transaction - Changes only this instance, leaving the rest of the series untouched
  • This and all future - Updates the series template and regenerates future instances

Deleting from a Series

When you delete a transaction that belongs to a recurring series:

  • Just this transaction - Deletes only this instance
  • This and all future - Deletes this and all future scheduled instances, and deactivates the series

Matching Transactions

When bank sync imports a transaction that matches one you entered manually, Meridian automatically matches them using a scoring algorithm that considers amount, date, and payee name. The matched transaction keeps the best data from both sources.

If automatic matching did not catch a match, you can manually match transactions:

  1. Select 2 or more transactions in the same account
  2. Click Match in the context bar
  3. Meridian merges them, keeping the best data from each

Tips for Transaction Management

  1. Enter transactions promptly - The sooner you record spending, the more accurate your budget remains

  2. Use consistent payee names - "Walmart" and "WalMart" create separate payees, which fragments your tracking

  3. Clear regularly - Mark transactions as cleared when they appear on your bank statement

  4. Categorize everything - Uncategorized transactions mean incomplete spending data

  5. Use memos wisely - Add notes when a transaction might be unclear later ("Birthday gift for Mom")

  6. Check scheduled transactions - Review your scheduled section to ensure upcoming bills are accurate