How to Create Automation Rules

Automation rules are Cake Budget’s way of teaching the app to handle your transactions intelligently. Set up a rule once, and it automatically categorizes, organizes, and manages matching transactions forever.

What You’ll Accomplish

By the end of this guide, you’ll have created automation rules that automatically:

• Assign transactions to the correct slice
• Set transaction categories
• Round up transactions to the nearest dollar
• Split transactions between multiple slices
• Update transaction descriptions and add notes

Prerequisites

• ✅ A Cake Budget account with Budget Pro or Family subscription
• ✅ At least one bank account connected
• ✅ At least one slice created (rules can assign transactions to slices)
• ✅ Some transaction history (helpful but not required)

What Are Automation Rules?

Automation rules are “if-this-then-that” instructions for your transactions.

Format:

IF [conditions are met]
THEN [take these actions]

Example:

IF merchant name contains "Starbucks"
THEN assign to "Dining Out" slice
AND assign "Coffee Shops" category

Every transaction that matches your conditions gets the actions applied automatically—no manual work needed.

Step-by-Step: Create Your First Rule

1. Navigate to Rules

Click on “Rules” in the main navigation menu.

2. Click “New Rule”

Look for the “New Rule” or “Create Rule” button to open the rule creation form.

3. Choose a Rule Category

Select the type of rule you’re creating:

• Transaction Rule: Rules that match against transaction properties (merchant, amount, description, etc.)
• Balance Rule: Rules that trigger based on slice or safe-to-spend balances
• Date-based Rule: Rules that apply to transactions within a specific date range (e.g., vacation spending, holiday shopping)

For beginners, start with “Transaction Rule”—the most common and useful type.

4. Name Your Rule

Give your rule a clear, descriptive name that explains what it does.

Good Examples:

• “Starbucks → Dining Out”
• “Groceries → Groceries Slice”
• “Amazon → Shopping Slice”
• “Paycheck → Round Up to Emergency Fund”

Avoid:

• “Rule 1”
• “My Rule”
• “Test”

5. Set Up Conditions (The “IF” Part)

Conditions define which transactions this rule matches.

Condition Logic: AND vs. OR

AND Logic (All conditions must match):

Merchant contains "Whole Foods"
AND Amount is greater than $50
→ Only matches Whole Foods purchases over $50

OR Logic (Any condition can match):

Merchant contains "Safeway"
OR Merchant contains "Trader Joe's"
OR Merchant contains "Whole Foods"
→ Matches purchases from any of these stores

Pro Tip: Use OR logic for merchant rules when you shop at multiple places for the same category (groceries, gas stations, etc.).

Available Condition Fields

For Transaction Rules:

Merchant Name:

• Match transactions from specific merchants
• Operator: contains, equals
• Example: Merchant contains “Target”

Amount:

• Match transactions by dollar amount
• Operator: equals, greater than, greater than or equal, less than, less than or equal
• Example: Amount greater than $100

Description:

• Match based on transaction description text
• Operator: contains, equals
• Example: Description contains “SUBSCRIPTION”

Category:

• Match transactions already assigned a category
• Operator: equals
• Example: Category equals “Groceries”

For Balance Rules:

Slice Balance:

• Match when a specific slice reaches a balance threshold
• Operator: equals, greater than, greater than or equal, less than, less than or equal
• Example: Emergency Fund balance less than $1,000

Safe-to-Spend Balance:

• Match based on your safe-to-spend amount
• Operator: equals, greater than, greater than or equal, less than, less than or equal
• Example: Safe-to-spend less than $200

For Date-based Rules:

Date Range:

• Match transactions within a specific date range
• Operator: between (start date and end date required)
• Example: Date between July 1 - July 15 (vacation spending)
• Example: Date between Dec 1 - Dec 25 (holiday shopping)

6. Add Actions (The “THEN” Part)

Actions are what happens when a transaction matches your conditions.

Available Actions

For Transaction Rules:

Assign to Slice:

• Automatically assign matching transactions to a specific slice
• Required: Select which slice
• Example: Assign to “Groceries” slice

Assign Category:

• Set the transaction category
• Required: Select which category
• Example: Assign category “Gas & Fuel”

Round Up:

• Round the transaction to the nearest dollar and allocate the difference
• Required: Select target slice for the round-up amount
• Currently only “To nearest dollar” is available (e.g., $45.23 → $46.00, send $0.77 to slice)
• Example: Round up to Emergency Fund

Update Description:

• Modify the transaction’s description text
• Required: Enter new description
• Example: Change “AMZN MKTP US” to “Amazon Purchase”

Add Notes:

• Append notes to the transaction
• Required: Enter note text
• Example: Add note “Monthly subscription”

Split Transaction:

• Automatically split matching transactions into two parts
• Required:
  • Split type (equal 50/50 or custom percentage)
  • Descriptions for each split
  • Categories for each split (optional)
• Example: Split 60% Business / 40% Personal for Amazon purchases
• Note: Split actions don’t work for backfilling (only new transactions)

For Balance Rules:

Transfer Funds:

• Move money between slices or from safe-to-spend
• Required: Amount (in dollars), from source, to source
• Example: When safe-to-spend > $1000, transfer $100 from safe-to-spend to Emergency Fund

For Date-based Rules:

Assign Transactions to Slice:

• Assign all matching transactions to a specific slice
• Required: Select which slice
• Example: Assign all transactions from July 1-15 to “Europe Vacation” slice

Assign Transactions to Category:

• Assign all matching transactions to a specific category
• Required: Select which category
• Example: Assign all Dec 1-25 Amazon purchases to “Christmas Shopping” category

Transfer Funds:

• Move money between slices (works with date-based conditions)
• Required: Amount (in dollars), from source, to source

Round Up:

• Round transactions within date range to nearest dollar
• Required: Select target slice for the round-up amount

Add Notes:

• Add notes to all matching transactions within the date range
• Required: Enter note text
• Example: Add “Vacation expense” to all July 1-15 transactions

7. Save and Activate

• Toggle “Active” to ON (rule starts working immediately)
• Click “Create Rule” to save

🎉 Your rule is now live! It will automatically process all new matching transactions.

Real-World Rule Examples

Example 1: Grocery Store Rule (OR Logic)

Goal: Automatically categorize all grocery shopping.

Conditions (OR Logic):

Merchant contains "Safeway"
OR Merchant contains "Whole Foods"
OR Merchant contains "Trader Joe's"
OR Merchant contains "Kroger"
OR Merchant contains "Walmart"

Actions:

Assign to slice: "Groceries"
Assign category: "Groceries"

Result: Any purchase from these stores automatically goes to your Groceries slice with the Groceries category.

Example 2: Large Purchase Alert Rule

Goal: Get notified when you make a large purchase.

Conditions (AND Logic):

Amount greater than $200
AND Slice equals "Unassigned"

Actions:

Assign category: "Large Purchase"
Add notes: "Review this transaction - over $200"

Result: Any unassigned purchase over $200 gets flagged for your review.

Example 3: Subscription Management Rule

Goal: Automatically track monthly subscriptions.

Conditions:

Description contains "SUBSCRIPTION"
OR Description contains "RECURRING"
OR Merchant contains "Netflix"
OR Merchant contains "Spotify"

Actions:

Assign to slice: "Subscriptions"
Assign category: "Subscriptions"

Result: All subscription charges automatically go to your Subscriptions slice.

Example 4: Emergency Fund Round-Up Rule

Goal: Save spare change by rounding up all transactions.

Conditions:

Amount greater than $0
AND Slice does not equal "Internal Transfer"

Actions:

Round up to nearest dollar
Target slice: "Emergency Fund"

Result: Every purchase gets rounded up, and the difference goes to your Emergency Fund. A $45.23 purchase sends $0.77 to savings automatically.

Example 5: Business Expense Split Rule

Goal: Automatically split Amazon purchases 60% business, 40% personal.

Rule Type: Transaction Rule

Conditions:

Merchant contains "AMZN"
OR Merchant contains "Amazon"

Actions:

Split transaction:
- Split type: Custom percentage
- Split One: 60% → Description: "Business expense" (Category: Business)
- Split Two: 40% → Description: "Personal shopping" (Category: Shopping)

Result: Every Amazon purchase automatically splits into business and personal portions with proper categorization.

Example 6: Vacation Spending Tracker

Goal: Track all spending during a 2-week Europe vacation.

Rule Type: Date-based Rule

Conditions:

Date between July 1, 2025 - July 15, 2025

Actions:

Assign Transactions to Slice: "Europe Vacation"
Assign Transactions to Category: "Travel"
Add Notes: "Europe trip expense"

Result: All transactions between July 1-15 automatically go to your Europe Vacation slice with proper categorization and notes.

Example 7: Holiday Shopping Budget

Goal: Track Christmas shopping at Amazon during December.

Rule Type: Date-based Rule

Conditions:

Date between December 1, 2025 - December 25, 2025
AND Merchant contains "Amazon"

Actions:

Assign Transactions to Slice: "Christmas Shopping"
Assign Transactions to Category: "Gifts"

Result: All Amazon purchases from Dec 1-25 automatically assigned to Christmas Shopping slice.

Backfilling: Applying Rules to Past Transactions

After creating a rule, you can optionally backfill—apply the rule to existing transactions.

How Backfilling Works:

1. Create your rule
2. Click “Backfill” button in the rule details
3. Select date range (custom from/to dates)
4. Cake Budget scans existing unassigned transactions in that period
5. Applies safe (non-fund-moving) actions to matching transactions
6. You receive a summary of how many transactions were updated

⚠️ Important Limitations:

Backfilling only supports these 3 actions:

• ✅ Assign Category - Sets transaction category
• ✅ Update Description - Changes transaction name/description
• ✅ Add Notes - Adds notes to transaction

Not supported for backfilling:

• ❌ Assign to Slice - Would move funds retroactively (unsafe)
• ❌ Round Up - Would move funds retroactively (unsafe)
• ❌ Split Transaction - Too complex for bulk application
• ❌ Transfer Funds - Would move funds retroactively (unsafe)

Why these restrictions? Backfilling only applies actions that don’t move money between slices. This prevents accidentally messing up your budget history.

When to Backfill:

• ✅ You created a categorization rule and want to clean up past transactions
• ✅ You want to update descriptions for past transactions from a specific merchant
• ✅ You’re migrating from another app and want to auto-categorize imported transactions

When NOT to Backfill:

• ❌ Your rule includes slice assignments, round-ups, splits, or transfers
• ❌ You’re not sure if the rule is correct (test on new transactions first)
• ❌ You’ve already manually categorized old transactions the way you want them

Pro Tip: Test your rule on new transactions for a week before backfilling. Make sure it’s working correctly first!

Managing Your Rules

Viewing Rule History

See which rules have been applied to transactions:

1. Open any transaction
2. Look for the “Rules Applied” section
3. See which rules matched and what actions were taken

Editing Rules

1. Navigate to Rules page
2. Click on the rule you want to edit
3. Modify conditions or actions
4. Save changes
5. Optionally backfill to apply changes to past transactions

Deactivating Rules

Don’t want to delete a rule but want to pause it temporarily?

1. Open the rule
2. Toggle “Active” to OFF
3. The rule stops processing new transactions
4. Reactivate anytime by toggling back to ON

Deleting Rules

1. Open the rule
2. Click “Delete Rule”
3. Confirm deletion
4. Note: This doesn’t undo past actions—transactions already processed keep their assignments

Rule Execution Order

When multiple rules match the same transaction:

1. All matching rules run, not just the first match
2. Actions are applied in order of rule creation (oldest first)
3. Later actions can override earlier ones

Example:

Rule 1: Merchant contains "Starbucks" → Assign to "Dining Out"
Rule 2: Amount less than $10 → Assign to "Small Purchases"

Transaction: Starbucks $7.50
- Rule 1 matches: Assigned to "Dining Out"
- Rule 2 matches: Assigned to "Small Purchases" (overrides Rule 1)

Final result: Transaction assigned to "Small Purchases"

Pro Tip: If rules conflict, reorder them or make conditions more specific to avoid overlaps.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Overly Broad Conditions

Bad:

Description contains "PAY"

Matches: “PAYPAL,” “PAYMENT,” “PAYCHECK,” “REPAYMENT”—too many things!

Good:

Description contains "PAYPAL"
AND Amount less than $0

Matches: Only PayPal charges, not payments you receive.

2. Forgetting OR Logic for Merchants

Bad: Creating 5 separate rules for 5 different gas stations.

Good: One rule with OR logic:

Merchant contains "Shell"
OR Merchant contains "Chevron"
OR Merchant contains "76"
OR Merchant contains "Exxon"
OR Merchant contains "Mobil"

3. Not Testing Before Backfilling

Bad: Create rule → immediately backfill 1 year → realize it’s wrong → manually fix 200 transactions.

Good: Create rule → wait 1 week → see if it’s working → adjust if needed → backfill with confidence.

4. Conflicting Actions

Bad:

Rule 1: Merchant contains "Amazon" → Assign to "Shopping"
Rule 2: Merchant contains "Amazon" → Assign to "Business"

Result: Whichever rule runs last wins (confusing!).

Good:

Rule 1: Merchant contains "Amazon" AND Description contains "Business" → "Business Expenses"
Rule 2: Merchant contains "Amazon" AND Description does not contain "Business" → "Personal Shopping"

Result: Clear, specific logic with no conflicts.

Pro Tips

💡 Start Simple: Create 3-5 rules for your most frequent merchants. Don’t try to automate everything on day 1.

💡 Use Descriptive Names: “Starbucks → Dining Out” is way better than “Coffee Rule” six months from now.

💡 Leverage OR Logic: One grocery rule with 5 merchants beats 5 separate rules.

💡 Test on New Transactions First: Let rules run for a week before backfilling to ensure they work as expected.

💡 Review Rule History: Periodically check which rules are running most often. Delete unused rules.

💡 Combine Actions: Don’t just assign to slice—also set the category and add notes for complete automation.

💡 Use Round-Up Strategically: Round-up rules on everyday purchases can build serious savings (50+ transactions/month × $0.50 avg = $25/month saved passively).

Troubleshooting

Q: My rule isn’t triggering. What’s wrong? A: Check:

1. Is the rule active (toggle ON)?
2. Do your conditions actually match the transaction?
3. Are you using AND logic when you need OR?
4. Is there a more specific rule overriding this one?

Q: Can I have rules that run automatically on a schedule? A: Not yet! Date-based rules currently work for specific date ranges (like vacations or holiday shopping), not recurring schedules. Recurring date rules are a planned feature.

Q: Can rules run on transactions I manually enter? A: Yes, rules process all transactions regardless of source (Plaid sync or manual entry).

Q: What happens if I delete a rule? A: The rule stops running, but past actions remain. Transactions that were categorized by the rule keep their assignments.

Q: Can I export my rules? A: Not currently, but this is a planned feature. For now, screenshot or document your rule logic if you need a backup.

Q: Do rules run in real-time? A: Yes! When transactions sync from your bank, rules process them within seconds.

Related Guides

• Concept: How Rules Automation Works - Deep dive into rule evaluation and execution
• How to Create Your First Slice - Create slices for your rules to assign to
• How to Split a Transaction - Manually split transactions (or use split rules)
• Understanding Safe-to-Spend - See how automated categorization affects available money

Need More Help?

• Email us at support@trycakebudget.com
• Visit our FAQ

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Remember: Rules are about teaching Cake Budget to think like you. The more specific and thoughtful your rules, the more accurate your automated budget becomes.