# Custom Categories

### Custom Categories

Kick comes with a standard set of categories designed to cover most business types. When transactions sync, Kick's categorization model automatically assigns a category to ~97% of them out of the box. Custom categories let you extend that standard set for clients with specific reporting needs — industries with specialized expense types, detailed revenue breakdowns, or any case where the standard categories don't map cleanly to how your client thinks about their finances.

Each category in Kick maps automatically to a GL account to keep your Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet accurate. See [Categories vs General Ledger](/accountants/bookkeeping-workflows/categorization/categories-vs-general-ledger.md) to learn more.

### Accessing categories

Go to **Transactions →** [**Categories**](https://use.kick.co/categories) in the left nav to view all categories across your client's workspace.

### Creating a custom category

There are two ways to create a custom category.

**From the Transactions tab:** Click the **Category** field on any transaction to open the category dropdown, then click **Create new category** at the bottom of the list. The new category is created and automatically assigned to that transaction.

**From the Categories tab:** Go to **Transactions → Categories** and click the **+** icon next to any existing category to add a custom subcategory beneath it.

{% hint style="info" %}
Kick's AI categorization model does not automatically assign custom categories. Create a rule to ensure custom categories are applied consistently going forward.
{% endhint %}

### Editing a custom category

Go to **Transactions → Categories**, find the category, click the options menu (⋯), and select **Update**.

### Deleting a custom category

Go to **Transactions → Categories**, find the category, click the options menu (⋯), and select **Delete**.

When a custom subcategory is deleted, all transactions assigned to it revert to the parent category.

{% hint style="warning" %}
Any rules that reference a deleted custom category will no longer fire correctly. Review your rules before deleting a category.
{% endhint %}

### Assigning a custom category to a transaction

Navigate to Transactions, click the **Category** field, and search for or select your custom category.

Categories can also be assigned in bulk by selecting multiple transactions at once.

To apply a custom category automatically going forward, create a rule.