7. Categories: the columns

Customers and products each carry up to five category columns — region, industry, brand, buying group, whatever your business sorts by. The Categories page lists all ten, and for each one sets:

Name — what the column is called everywhere: report axes, filters, widgets, budgets.
Maintained by — who owns its contents (below).
Used in SWOT — whether the SWOT analysis uses it.

Maintained by	Meaning
The data import	Refilled from your accounting system on every import. Anything changed here is overwritten on the next run. Every column starts this way.
Me, here	Maintained on this page; the import leaves it alone. For groupings your accounting system does not hold.
Automatic grouping	Filled by a tool such as Growth Strategy; the import leaves it alone.

The Categories page with a list of five customer and five product category columns, each showing its name, a Maintained by setting and a Used in SWOT tick. — **The category columns.** Set a column to *Me, here* before editing its groups.

Switching away from Me, here

Handing a column back to the import (or to automatic grouping) means your groupings will be overwritten, so you are asked to confirm.