Turn your banking and payment notifications into automatic transactions. No manual entry, no external tools needed.
Many banking and payment apps send you a notification every time a transaction occurs — a purchase, a transfer, a subscription charge. Notification templates let BudgetViz read those notifications and automatically create transactions from them.
You define a pattern that describes what your bank's notifications look like, and BudgetViz does the rest. When a matching notification arrives, the relevant details (amount, description, date) are extracted and a transaction is created in your chosen account — either silently in the background, or with a quick confirmation tap.
No external tools required. Unlike the deep link approach (which requires a separate automation app like Tasker or Automate), notification templates work entirely within BudgetViz. If you already use an external automation tool and prefer that workflow, deep links remain fully supported.
The process is fully automatic once you've set up a template. Here's what happens behind the scenes:
When a notification arrives from an app you've configured a template for, BudgetViz checks the notification's content against your template patterns. If the text matches, the placeholders in your pattern (like amount and description) are filled in with the actual values from the notification, and a transaction is created.
If you have multiple templates for the same app, they are checked in order — the first one that matches is used. This means you can create specific templates for different notification types from the same app (e.g., one for purchases, another for refunds).
Notification templates require two permissions to work. BudgetViz will show you a banner at the top of the template editor if either permission is missing, with a button to open the relevant settings page.
Allows BudgetViz to read notifications from other apps. Without this, BudgetViz cannot see incoming notifications at all. You'll find this under your device's notification access settings (sometimes called "notification listener" or "device & app notifications").
Allows BudgetViz to show you confirmation notifications when a transaction is created. Without this, silent-mode templates will still work (transactions are saved), but you won't see the confirmation.
Privacy note. BudgetViz only processes notifications from apps you've explicitly configured a template for. All other notifications are ignored entirely. No notification data ever leaves your device.
A notification template has four main parts: general info, the pattern, defaults, and a test section. You'll find the template editor under More tab → Notification Templates.
Give your template a descriptive name (e.g., "Bank purchases" or "PayPal payments"). Then pick the source app — this is the app whose notifications you want to match. BudgetViz shows you a list of installed apps to choose from.
Notifications have two text fields: a title (the bold heading) and the body text (the longer description below it). You choose which part your pattern should match against:
The pattern is a text string that describes what the notification looks like, with placeholders where the variable parts are. The literal text in your pattern is matched exactly (though whitespace is flexible — extra spaces or line breaks won't cause a mismatch).
For example, if your bank sends notifications like:
You spent 42.50 at Coffee Shop
Your pattern would be:
You spent {amount} at {description}
When a notification matches, {amount} captures "42.50" and {description} captures "Coffee Shop".
Instead of typing the pattern from scratch, you can use the Load from notification button. This shows you the currently active notifications from your selected source app. Pick one, and its content is loaded into both the pattern field and the test field — giving you a real example to work with. You can then replace the variable parts with placeholders.
Placeholders are the parts of your pattern that capture variable data from the notification. Wrap them in curly braces. Most placeholders are optional — you only need to include the ones relevant to your notification format.
| Placeholder | Captures | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| {amount} | The transaction amount | Accepts numbers with decimals, thousand separators, spaces, and currency symbols. Required unless you use the original-currency pair instead. |
| {description} | What the transaction is for | Captures any text. Typically a merchant name or payment description. |
| {date} | Transaction date/time | Captures date strings in various formats (e.g., "2025-01-15", "15/01/2025", "Jan 15"). See the date formats reference for supported formats. |
| {category} | Category name | Must match an existing category in your BudgetViz setup. If not found, the default category is used. |
| {account} | Account name | Must match an existing account name. If not found, the template's default account is used. |
| {original_currency_code} | Foreign currency code | A 3-8 character currency code (e.g., "USD", "EUR"). Must be used together with {original_currency_amount}. |
| {original_currency_amount} | Amount in foreign currency | The amount in the original currency before conversion. Must be used together with {original_currency_code} (or set a default currency code on the template). |
| {skip} | Nothing (ignored) | Matches any text but doesn't capture it. Use this to skip over parts of the notification you don't need — like a variable greeting or reference number. |
Your pattern must identify an amount. This means it needs at least one of:
{amount} — for transactions in your account's currency{original_currency_code} + {original_currency_amount} — for foreign currency transactions (BudgetViz will convert automatically)You can also use both if the notification contains amounts in both currencies. All other placeholders are optional.
Defaults fill in values that aren't captured from the notification itself. They ensure every transaction has the information it needs, even when the notification doesn't include everything.
Whether matched transactions should be recorded as an expense, income, or transfer. Most banking notifications are expenses, but you might create a separate template for incoming payments set to income.
The account to record the transaction in. Used when the notification doesn't contain an account name (or when you don't include {account} in your pattern).
The category to assign when the notification doesn't specify one. If your pattern includes {category} and it matches an existing category, that takes priority over the default.
If your notifications always show amounts in a specific foreign currency but don't include the currency code in the text, you can set it here. This lets you use {original_currency_amount} in your pattern without needing {original_currency_code}.
Each template can operate in one of two modes, controlled by the silent mode toggle.
The transaction is saved automatically as soon as the notification matches. You'll receive an information notification showing what was imported (it stays until you dismiss it). No interaction needed — fully hands-free.
When a notification matches, BudgetViz posts its own notification with the transaction details. Tap it to review and import the transaction. Useful if you want to verify or edit before saving.
Every template editor includes a built-in test section at the bottom. This lets you verify that your pattern works correctly before saving.
Paste a sample notification text into the test input field (or use "Load from notification" to pre-fill it with a real notification). Then tap Test. BudgetViz will show you:
If the test shows "No match", your pattern doesn't match the sample text. Check that the literal parts of your pattern match exactly what appears in the notification (remember, only whitespace is flexible — other characters must match precisely).
After a successful test, you can tap Send deep link to actually trigger the transaction creation — just as if a real notification had arrived. This is useful for end-to-end testing to confirm the transaction appears correctly in your account.
Here are some common notification formats and the patterns that match them.
Notification text:
You spent 42.50 at Coffee Shop on 15/01/2025
Pattern:
You spent {amount} at {description} on {date}
Some notifications start with a greeting or reference number that changes each time. Use {skip} to ignore it:
Ref #8834: Purchase of 29.99 at Streaming Service
{skip}Purchase of {amount} at {description}
When the notification shows an amount in a foreign currency:
Charged 50.00 USD at Amazon.com
Charged {original_currency_amount} {original_currency_code} at {description}
BudgetViz will convert the amount to your account's currency using the current exchange rate.
If the notification is minimal, you can rely on template defaults for the rest:
Payment: -85.00
Payment: {amount}
Set the default account, category, and transaction type on the template to fill in the missing details.
If you have multiple templates for the same app, the first one that matches wins. Put more specific patterns before general ones. For example, put a "refund" template before a general "purchase" template for the same banking app.
Place {skip} anywhere in your pattern — at the beginning, in the middle, or in multiple places — to skip over parts that change between notifications (timestamps, reference numbers, greetings, etc.).
BudgetViz only processes transient notifications (the kind that appear briefly in your notification shade). Ongoing notifications — like music players, navigation, or download progress — are always ignored.
If the same notification fires multiple times (which can happen on some devices), BudgetViz detects the duplicate and only processes it once.
You can toggle individual templates on or off from the template list without deleting them. Disabled templates are skipped during matching.
Check that notification access is still granted — some devices revoke it after updates or battery optimization changes. Also verify the source app hasn't changed its notification format (if it has, update your pattern to match the new format).
Related guide. Notification templates use the same transaction creation system as deep links. If you want to understand the full range of supported date formats, amount formats, or how auto-categorization works, see the deep links guide for details.