ExpenseBot's AI tagging is good but not perfect. Here's how to fix mistakes — and how to prevent them going forward.
Quick fix: re-tag the row directly
Open your Google Sheet and find the row. Click the Tag cell (column K) and pick the right tag from the dropdown. That's it — saved.
When the same merchant keeps getting tagged wrong
If the same kind of receipt is repeatedly mis-tagged (e.g., your kid's pediatrician keeps showing up as Business), the AI doesn't have enough signal. Two ways to fix:
Option 1: Add a hint to the right tag's description
Open the Tags tab in your spreadsheet. Find the tag you want the receipts to land in (Personal, Business, or a custom tag). In column B (Description), add a line like:
[your existing description text — leave alone]
Pediatrician Smith, Dr. Smith Pediatrics → Personal
Future receipts mentioning that merchant will tag correctly.
Option 2: Re-run the Personal Identifier wizard
If ExpenseBot missed a recurring personal pattern (kids stuff, pet supplies, streaming), open Settings → Expense Organization → Personal expense rules. Updating your answers writes tailored hints to both Personal descriptions. The tag gets the personal-use signals; the expense category keeps a narrower fallback so specific categories such as Medical or Donations remain useful.
When you forward a receipt and it tags wrong
For receipts you forward in (vacation hotels, personal Amazon orders, etc.), use the subject command for guaranteed control:
Subject: Fwd: hotel confirmation tag: Personal
ExpenseBot tags it Personal at 100% confidence regardless of content. Works for any tag — tag: Business, tag: Wedding – Smith, etc.
Bulk Personal re-tagging
If a lot of receipts need re-tagging because you just changed a description (or just ran the wizard), check "Apply the Personal tag to matching existing receipts" when saving. ExpenseBot checks past receipts against the Personal tag hints; it does not rewrite their expense categories. Receipts you've already manually tagged with custom tags (Wedding, Realtor, Property, etc.) are protected — only generic Business/Personal rows get reconsidered.
What ExpenseBot won't auto-fix
- A receipt you forwarded with
tag: <something>in the subject — that's a manual override; we trust it 100%. - A row you've manually changed in the spreadsheet — protected from auto re-classification.
- Custom-tagged rows (Wedding – X, Realtor – Y, Property – Z, Client – Q) — protected.
If a row in any of those categories is wrong, fix it directly in the sheet. The auto-classifier won't overwrite your manual choices.
Can't figure it out?
Reply to any ExpenseBot email or use the in-app chat — we'll trace the specific receipt and tell you exactly what hint would have caught it.
Catching them before they reach a report
You don't have to find every mis-tagged personal receipt in advance. When you ask an AI assistant for a report — "Create a report for my Mexico trip, but leave out personal expenses" — ExpenseBot lists the personal-tagged and personal-category expenses it plans to exclude before it creates anything. Seeing the exclusions as a named list is usually when a mis-tag becomes obvious, and you can correct it while the report is still a preview. See Can I just ask for a report by trip, client, or project.