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Budgie

Convert Income to Refund

Refund income should reduce the expense it reverses, not inflate your income. Link it back to the original purchase in one tap.

Why refunds pollute income analytics

When a merchant refunds a purchase, the money reappears on your card as a positive transaction. Most expense trackers record it as income — which is technically accurate in a cash-flow sense but misleading for actual income analysis.

Budgie treats that positive transaction as a refund. It links the refund income to the original expense, supports partial refunds, and keeps the audit trail visible from the transaction detail screen.

Automatic when obvious, manual when it needs review

High-confidence refund matches consolidate automatically during the same matching pass that handles transfers. When the match is ambiguous, open the income transaction and choose Convert to Refund.

The picker searches same-currency expenses across accounts and sorts likely matches by date and amount. Choose the expense, confirm, and Budgie shows whether the refund is full or partial.

What you get

Clean income totals — refund income links back to the expense instead of counting as earnings

Partial and full refunds — Budgie compares the refund amount with the original expense

Cross-account manual search — find same-currency expenses even when the refund lands elsewhere

Reversible audit trail — Revert restores the original income and expense rows

Frequently Asked Questions

Why would I convert income to a refund?
Merchant refunds arrive as positive income, but they usually reverse an earlier expense. Linking the income to that expense keeps income and spending analytics honest.
Can I refund only part of an expense?
Yes. Pick the original expense and Budgie marks the refund as partial when the refunded amount is lower than the expense amount.
Can I undo a refund link?
Yes. Open the refunded transaction and tap Revert. The income and expense return to their original standalone state.
What if the expense is on another account?
Manual refund search can find same-currency expenses across accounts. Budgie sorts likely matches by amount and date so the closest refund target appears first.

Ready to take Budgie for a spin?

Join the waitlist — be first to try the offline-first expense tracker.