Tags let you group activity in Mercury Books along a dimension other than your chart of accounts — most commonly by department — so you can see what a particular part of your business is spending and earning without creating separate GL accounts for each one.
What you can tag
- Transactions
- Journal entries
- Individual line items within a transaction or journal entry
Tagging at the line item level is what makes a split transaction useful across departments. A single card charge can be split into two lines and each line tagged to a different department.
Creating and managing tags
Go to the Tags page in the left-hand menu of Books under Settings. Tags are organized under a Department group, and from this page you can:
- Create a new tag
- Rename an existing tag
- Delete a tag you're no longer using
Applying a tag
From the transactions grid:
- Go to Transactions
- Set the tag in the Tags column on the row you want
- To apply the same tag to many rows, drag the cell's corner down, or copy and paste it into other cells
- Click Save in the action bar at the bottom of the screen
From the side panel:
- Click a transaction, journal entry, or line item to open its side panel
- Apply the tag there
Reporting by tag
Every report page in Books can be filtered by tag. Go to Reports, open the report you want, and apply a tag filter to see your Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, or Cash Flow for that department alone.
Combine the tag filter with the period selector to compare a department across months or quarters.
FAQs
Can I create my own tag groups?
Tags are organized under the Department group today. You can create as many tags within it as you need.
Can I see two departments side by side on one report?
Not in a single view. Filter to one tag at a time, or export each and compare them in a spreadsheet.
Are tags the same as classes in QuickBooks?
They serve a similar purpose — a second dimension for grouping activity alongside your chart of accounts.
Does a tag affect how a transaction is categorized?
No. Tags are independent of your GL accounts. A transaction has one category and can carry a tag as well.
Can I require a tag on every transaction?
Not currently. Tags are optional on every transaction and line item.
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