I have a slew of bill pays configured. In transactions they just show as CHECK #1234.
This isn’t really useful/helpful for creating AutoCat rules.
Some of the transactions are always the same amount so I can create AutoCat rules.
I don’t know what to do about the others? Is there a way to see the raw data Tiller gets from Yodlee? Maybe there is some other metadata we can use? For example, maybe Yodlee adds some kind of internal ID column that maps to who the money is going to – and we could create a lookup sheet in our Spreadsheet to map the associations.
Would love this feature too. I worked on Yodlee data feeds in a previous job, so I know there is a lot of rich metadata in there.
The only quasi-secret feature I know about is Category Hint. If you put a “Category Hint” column in your Transactions sheet, Tiller will populate it with the contents of the “category” field from Yodlee. It’s often inaccurate, but I use it combined with some other rules in AutoCat.
This is an interesting question, @imthenachoman. A change to what fields are fed via the add-on would take many months (with all the improvements we already have prioritized), but perhaps @tim or @tom can chime in on whether Yodlee has data that could make matching check numbers to helpful transaction information easier.
BTW… @tiger01 makes a good point about Category Hint. That is some Yodlee data that we capture but don’t push into most users’ sheets… unless they manually add a column for it.
Fair. I do think it supports Tiller’s primary objective. The heart of what Tiller does is in the transactions. If there is relevant/helpful information in those transaction details, it would be prudent to share that with customers.
What other Yodlee data is available that we can create columns for?
I agree with your point that sharing any more data that is available “supports Tiller’s primary objective”. We’ve got some important stuff in the pipeline in that vein. We are always open to new ideas though so keep advocating.
The number of checks I write has dwindled, but there are still checks, and I echo this. I too have some AutoCat rules based on “check” in the description plus a certain amount and account for recurring items, but that leaves other checks that require my oversight.
Part of the challenge is the most banks have very little structured data they share about checks, so the data for Yodlee to work from is limited to “Check #201” at best. The most valuable clue for me is the digital scanned image of the check I can manually access by logging into my bank from the web. I don’t know of any way to access that currently from any aggregator.
I use checks still for a few bills and for me the important part of data is the check memo line, which tells me specifically how to categorize the check. Unfortunately, that data is not pulled in by Yodlee, so I usually have my check register handy and can quickly categorize from reviewing the check register.
I, too, have been frustrated with “Check 6038168”, but thought it was a last-century hold-over from COBOL-based systems at my Credit Union - BECU (F.K.A. Boeing Employees Credit Union). When I download CSV files directly from their “(Barely) Online Banking” site, I don’t get any better information.
It has been a frustration of mine, because I have had bill-paying automation with them for many, many years. I tell THEM the payee name (and even a memo), and a mailing address. I want them to tell ME the same information.
My perspective is that BECU is brain-dead on e-banking, and this lack of information pass-through will eventually be the reason I leave them (even though I want to stay).
If it’s Yodlee (instead of BECU), perhaps there’s another way for me to preserve the information I want. Heck, they don’t need to generate the information; they only need to preserve it.
Either way (BECU or Yodlee), I’m pretty sure that this is NOT a deficiency in Tiller.
