Help center · Transactions
Expense vs Income vs Transfer — what is the difference?
Three kinds, three different impacts on your budget and Reports.
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The New transaction modal in Extrack has three kind buttons at the top: Expense (money leaves your accounts entirely), Income (money lands from outside), Transfer (money moves between two of your own accounts). The kind controls which fields the form shows and whether the row counts toward budgets, category spend and Reports totals.
Expense — money leaves your control
Use Expense whenever money goes from one of your accounts to someone outside (or to a person, paired with people + split for an IOU). The form shows Amount + Paid from. Expenses subtract from the source account, count toward the monthly overall cap and per-category caps, and appear in the Expense totals.
Income — money lands from outside
Use Income for salary, freelance, interest, dividends, refunds, gifts, repayments from people. The form shows Amount + Received into. Income adds to the receiving account and never counts toward budgets.
Transfer — money moves between your accounts
Use Transfer when both ends are accounts you own. Bank to credit card payment, bank to savings, bank to investments, ATM withdrawal. The form shows two legs — Debit amount + Paid from on one side, Credit amount + Paid to on the other. Transfers are excluded from budgets and category Reports by design.
Lending money to a person is not a Transfer — it is an Expense with people + split (one share = the full amount to the person). See "How to track lending".
Frequently asked
Salary comes via bank transfer — is it Income or Transfer?
Income. Transfer means both accounts are yours. Your employer is outside your books, so salary is Income — even if the channel is a bank transfer.
Is a credit-card payment an Expense?
No, it is a Transfer. The original purchase was the Expense.
I got a refund — Income or negative Expense?
Income with a Refunds category. Keeps the original expense honest; Reports shows both.
How are budgets affected by each kind?
Only Expenses consume budget caps. Income and Transfer never affect Budgets.
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