Categories, subcategories and projects
Free · projects are Premium
Categories say what the money was for; subcategories refine it; projects (Premium) answer a question categories cannot — what a job, a client or a building site cost and earned in total, across categories and across months.
Categories and subcategories
The app ships with categories for personal and professional spending, and any can be renamed or added with a name, colour and icon of your own. Each category can hold subcategories, and reports break down by both levels.
The + asks first which category is being created — personal or professional, expense or income. In the exclusive modes (Personal only, Business only) only the active side is offered.
Projects (Premium)
Mark movements, documents and budgets with a project and the app adds it all up: expenses, income, invoices still open. A project has a side like everything else — the Professional button on its form decides whether it is a job of the business or one of your own, and the categories offered follow that choice. Projects created before version 1.5.0 are professional, which was the only kind that existed.
- Settings › Formats › switch Projects on (Premium).
- Menu › Categories › the Projects tab › +.
- Pick the project in the movement, document or budget form. Reports gain a by project view.
Budgets per category — or per project
A budget can be set per category, per subcategory or per project, weekly or monthly, and the app warns at 80 %. See Cash flow and budgets.
Importing with the right names
When bringing data in from a spreadsheet, category and subcategory names must match the ones in the app exactly — the import never creates a category. The reference list the app exports shows every name with its exact spelling; see Bringing data in.
Questions
- Are categories limited on the free plan?
- No. Categories and subcategories are unlimited on every plan. Projects are Premium.
- What is the difference between a subcategory and a project?
- A subcategory refines one category (Food › Groceries). A project cuts across categories and months: everything a job, a client or a site cost and earned in total.
- Can a category be created from inside a movement?
- Yes — the movement form can create a category or a subcategory on the spot, without leaving it.
Related guides
Checked against ZeniCash 1.5.0 on 2026-09-10. Where a feature is Premium, it says so.