Transfers, credit-card payments and owner draws
Money moving between your own accounts isn't income or an expense. Here is how ZeraBooks spots transfers and card payments, and how owner draws are handled.
Transfers between your own accounts
When money moves from one of your accounts to another, such as checking to savings, it isn't income or an expense. ZeraBooks records it as a transfer: the line's category is the other account itself.
ZeraBooks treats a statement line as a transfer when:
the description names the other account's number, e.g. "TRANSFER TO SAVINGS 11030";
the description is card-payment wording, such as "PAYMENT RECEIVED" or "THANK YOU", and there is only one account it can be; or
a matching line is already on another of your accounts: the same amount, dated within 3 days, where at least one of the two descriptions reads like a transfer.
Tip: Upload statements for both sides of a transfer. When the second statement is imported, ZeraBooks looks for the other side of each transfer and pairs the two lines.
Credit-card payments
A credit-card payment is a transfer from a bank account to the card. On the bank account, the payment's category is the card, e.g. "Business Visa". On the card, the payment's category is the bank account that paid it.
A transfer's category has no picker, even in Edit. This keeps both sides of the transfer in agreement.
Owner draws
Money you take out of the business for yourself is an owner's draw, not an expense.
Autopilot moves money out that the bank describes as an owner withdrawal or owner draw (for example "OWNER DRAW" or "TRANSFER TO OWNER") to your owner's draws category.
When a purchase looks personal, Autopilot asks you: "Was "{description}" ({amount}) a personal purchase?", with a choice of Yes, personal (your draws category) or No, business (the current category). See Answer Autopilot's questions.
You can always set a line's category to your owner's draws category yourself in Edit.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are credit-card payments from my checking account handled?
As transfers. The line on checking is categorized as the card account, and the matching line on the card is categorized as the checking account. Neither counts as an expense.
Why can't I change the category of a transfer?
A transfer's category is the other account, and it's locked so both sides stay in agreement. If a line was wrongly treated as a transfer, contact ZeraBooks support.
My card payment wasn't recognized as a transfer. Why?
ZeraBooks couldn't tell which account it belonged to, for example because you have several cards and the description doesn't name one. Upload the statement for the other side. When a matching line for the same amount is dated within 3 days, ZeraBooks can pair the two.
Do I need to record transfers by hand?
No. Transfers come in with your statements. If you record one by hand in the Ledger as well, match it to the statement line so it isn't counted twice. See Match manual entries to statement lines.
Does a transfer affect my profit?
No. Transfers and card payments move money between your own accounts, so they don't appear as income or expenses.
Learn more about AI bookkeeping: Autopilot and Ask Zera keep the books inside a real general ledger.
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