# Daily Bookkeeping

The **Journal** page is where bank activity becomes bookkeeping. Its
**Inbox** tab lists every imported transaction awaiting a decision (the
equivalent of QuickBooks' "For Review"), with filters for Pending /
Categorized / Ignored, an account picker, and date ranges.

Every pending transaction leaves the inbox one of four ways:

| Action | When | What posts |
|---|---|---|
| **Categorize** | Ordinary income/expense | A balanced entry: bank line + your chosen account |
| **Split** | One bank line, several purposes | One entry with multiple category lines |
| **Match** | The entry already exists in your books | Nothing new — the bank line links to the existing entry |
| **Ignore** | Not a bookkeeping item | Nothing |

## Categorizing

Select a row, choose an account (and optionally a vendor/contact), confirm.
VisiBooks remembers each merchant after the first categorization and
pre-fills the suggestion next time; a banner offers to apply the same
category to other pending rows from the same merchant.

## Splitting

Choose **Split** and add lines — each with an account and amount — until
they sum exactly to the transaction total. A Rentvine-style batch deposit
becomes, say, $2,000 to your rental income account + $500 to your
security-deposit liability account. (Account names and numbers come from
your own chart — the examples here are generic.)

**Negative lines are allowed**: if a batch includes a returned payment or a
fee waiver, enter that line with a minus sign (`-350.00`). It posts on the
opposite side of its account, and the lines still must sum to the bank
amount.

## Matching

Press **M** on a transaction to see posted entries that could correspond to
it — same amount, right direction, within a week, not already claimed.
Matching links the bank line to the existing entry instead of creating a
duplicate. Use it when a payment or journal entry was recorded before the
bank line arrived.

## Transfers

Select two pending transactions with equal-and-opposite amounts in
different accounts (a credit-card payment from checking, for example) and
press **T**. One transfer entry posts and both rows resolve. Don't
transfer-link a charge against its reimbursement — that hides real activity;
categorize each side instead.

## Undo

Press **U** on any categorized or matched row. The entry it created is
reversed (or the link removed) and the row returns to Pending. Nothing is
deleted — the original and the reversal both remain in the journal, which is
by design. Experiment freely.

## Keyboard reference

| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| `↑/↓`, `j/k` | Move between rows |
| `Space` | Select row |
| `Enter` | Categorize |
| `S` | Split |
| `M` | Match |
| `T` | Link selected pair as transfer |
| `U` | Undo (back to Pending) |
| `I` | Ignore |
| `Shift+L` | Apply last-used category |
| `/` | Search |
| `1–9` | (Personal workspace) assign to entity |

## What you may never have to touch

Connected integrations post what they can prove: Stripe activity classifies
itself from payment metadata, and Rentvine settlements split themselves from
the property ledger. Anything those automations can't verify stays Pending
for you — an automated row is always reviewable in the journal, with its
source reference in the memo.