Smart accounts are special accounts that are used to dynamically group transactions based on criteria you specify. They do not necessarily reflect real-life bank accounts, rather they use customizable rules to compile and display transactions from multiple iBank accounts. Smart accounts work in very similar fashion to smart playlists in iTunes, or smart albums in iPhoto.
Choose Account>New Smart Account, or click the button below the source list and choose "New Smart Account." Using the sheet that appears, give the smart account a name, then click the
and
buttons, respectively, to add and remove the rules that will determine which transactions are displayed in the account:
Rules are executed in the order in which they appear. To illustrate, the example above will first look at transactions in the account "Checking," then it will narrow those down to ones that are dated after June 9, 2007, then it will eliminate any dated after December 9, 2007, and finally it will only display those remaining that have the word "automatic" in their memo field.
When you are done configuring the smart account rules, click "OK" to add the new smart account to the source list. The account will dynamically update to show you all transactions that match the rules you defined when the account was created.
Smart accounts allow you to view transactions only; they do not permit you to add, remove, or edit transactions. To make changes to transactions shown in a smart account, you must first locate the transactions in their original accounts and then modify them. Smart accounts cannot be used in charts and reports, budgets, or forecasts, nor do they affect the totals displayed at the bottom of the source list.
To edit the rules for an existing smart account, select it in the source list and choose Account>Edit Smart Account. Any changes made to the smart account criteria will immediately take effect when you click "OK."
Select the account in the source list and press the 'Delete' key on your keyboard, or choose Edit>Delete. A sheet will appear asking you to confirm that you want to permanently delete the account. The transactions displayed in the smart account will not be affected.