Understanding Categories
Categories help you organize and track your financial data in meaningful ways. Your fiscal sponsor creates category templates (like "Program", "Event", "Location"), and you create specific instances within those categories to track your organization's unique needs. This system enables powerful filtering, transaction coding, and reporting capabilities that help you understand your finances and meet reporting requirements.
Category instances are specific values you create within the categories your fiscal sponsor has enabled for your organization. Think of it this way: if "Program" is a category, then "Youth Education Program" and "Food Assistance Program" are instances you create within that category.
Key characteristics of categories:
Created by organization admins
Maximum of 10 instances per category per organization
Each instance can be color-coded for easy visual identification
Instances belong to your organization and are private to you
Instances can be enabled or disabled without deleting them
Tip: An admin or fiscal sponsor needs to enable this feature for your account before you can create category instances
Creating a Category Instance
To create a new instance within a category:
Navigate to the Categories section in Impact Graph
Find the category where you want to create an instance (you'll only see categories that your fiscal sponsor has enabled for your organization)
Click the Add Option button (or the plus icon) next to the category name
In the modal that opens:
Enter a Name for your instance (e.g., "Youth Education Program")
Optionally select a Color to help visually identify this instance (useful when you have many instances)
Click Create
The instance will now be available when coding transactions, filtering, and in reports.
Using Categories in Transaction Coding
When coding transactions (assigning ledger accounts, funding sources, and other details), you will now see categories.
Tip: Check out our guide on how to code a transaction before setting up categories.
To assign a category when coding a transaction:
In the transaction coding modal, you'll see chip selectors for each category that has instances available
Click on a category chip (e.g., "Program") to see a dropdown of available instances
Select the instance that applies to this transaction (e.g., "Youth Education Program")
You can assign instances from multiple categories to the same transaction
Save
Using Categories in Filtering
You can filter your transactions by category instances to quickly find all transactions related to a specific program, grant, restriction, or other classification.
To filter transactions by instance:
Navigate to the Transactions page
Click the Filters button in the toolbar
In the filter menu, find the Categories section
Click on a category filter (e.g., "Program") and select one or more instances
Click Apply Filters
The transaction table will now show only transactions that have been coded with the selected instances.
Filtering tips:
Select multiple instances from the same category to see transactions for any of those instances
Combine instance filters with other filters like date range, amount, or ledger account
Active filters appear as chips in the toolbar—click the X on a chip to remove that filter
Instance filters work with both single transactions and split transactions
Using Categories in Reporting
Category instances can be used in reports to pivot your financial data by program, grant, or other category. This enables powerful analysis of how expenses and revenue are changing over time.
Navigate to the Reports tab
Select Profit and Loss Statement
Click the Advanced button
Under Pivot By, select the category you want to pivot by (e.g., "Program")
Optionally, use the filter dropdown to select specific instances to include
Click Run Report
The report will create columns for each instance, showing how expenses and revenue are distributed across them.
Managing Categories
Editing an Instance
To edit an existing instance:
Navigate to the Categories tab
Click on the instance name or the edit icon
Update the name or color as needed
Click Update
Note: Changing an instance name will update it everywhere it's used (in transactions, filters, and reports).
Moving an Instance Between Categories
If you need to move an instance from one category to another:
Find and open the instance you want to move
In the edit modal, use the Category dropdown to select a different category
Click Update
The instance will be moved to the new category, and all transactions coded with this instance will be updated automatically.
Example: If you created "End of Year Fundraiser" as an instance in the "Program" category but realize it should be in the "Event" category, you can move it without losing any transaction associations.
Enabling and Disabling Instances
You can disable instances without deleting them. Disabled instances:
Won't appear in dropdowns when coding transactions
Won't appear in filter options
Will still be associated with existing transactions (those associations remain)
Can be re-enabled later if needed
To disable an instance:
Find the instance you want to disable
Open the instance for editing
Uncheck the Enabled option
Save your changes
To re-enable: Follow the same steps and check the Enabled option.
Best Practices
Creating instances:
Use clear, descriptive names that will be meaningful in reports (e.g., "Youth Education Program 2024" not "YEP")
Consider your reporting needs: what do you need to report on to funders, board, or for internal analysis?
Note Instance limits:
You can create up to 10 instances per category
You can delete unused instances to make room for new ones if needed