diff --git a/app/components/DS/select.html.erb b/app/components/DS/select.html.erb
index 170d3ee26..3ae5ce0a6 100644
--- a/app/components/DS/select.html.erb
+++ b/app/components/DS/select.html.erb
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <%# locals: form:, method:, collection:, options: {} %>
 
-<div class="relative" data-controller="select <%= "list-filter" if searchable %> form-dropdown" data-action="dropdown:select->form-dropdown#onSelect">
+<div class="relative" data-controller="select <%= "list-filter" if searchable %> form-dropdown" data-select-menu-placement-value="<%= menu_placement %>" data-action="dropdown:select->form-dropdown#onSelect">
   <div class="form-field <%= options[:container_class] %>">
     <div class="form-field__body">
         <%= form.label method, options[:label], class: "form-field__label" if options[:label].present? %>
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
         <input type="search"
                placeholder="<%= t("helpers.select.search_placeholder") %>"
                autocomplete="off"
-               class="bg-container text-sm placeholder:text-secondary font-normal h-10 pl-10 w-full border-none rounded-lg focus:outline-hidden focus:ring-0"
+               class="bg-container text-primary text-sm placeholder:text-secondary font-normal h-10 pl-10 w-full border-none rounded-lg focus:outline-hidden focus:ring-0"
                data-list-filter-target="input"
                data-action="list-filter#filter">
         <%= helpers.icon("search", class: "absolute inset-0 ml-2 transform top-1/2 -translate-y-1/2") %>
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
         <% is_selected = item[:value] == selected_value %>
         <% obj = item[:object] %>
 
-        <div class="filterable-item text-sm cursor-pointer flex items-center gap-2 px-3 py-2 rounded-lg hover:bg-container-inset-hover <%= "bg-container-inset" if is_selected %>"
+        <div class="filterable-item text-primary text-sm cursor-pointer flex items-center gap-2 px-3 py-2 rounded-lg hover:bg-container-inset-hover <%= "bg-container-inset" if is_selected %>"
               role="option"
               tabindex="0"
               aria-selected="<%= is_selected %>"
diff --git a/app/components/DS/select.rb b/app/components/DS/select.rb
index abbd48ada..b19166bfb 100644
--- a/app/components/DS/select.rb
+++ b/app/components/DS/select.rb
@@ -1,18 +1,20 @@
 module DS
   class Select < ViewComponent::Base
-    attr_reader :form, :method, :items, :selected_value, :placeholder, :variant, :searchable, :options
+    attr_reader :form, :method, :items, :selected_value, :placeholder, :variant, :searchable, :menu_placement, :options
 
     VARIANTS = %i[simple logo badge].freeze
+    MENU_PLACEMENTS = %w[auto down up].freeze
     HEX_COLOR_REGEX = /\A#[0-9a-fA-F]{3}(?:[0-9a-fA-F]{3})?\z/
     RGB_COLOR_REGEX = /\Argb\(\s*\d{1,3}\s*,\s*\d{1,3}\s*,\s*\d{1,3}\s*\)\z/
     DEFAULT_COLOR = "#737373"
 
-    def initialize(form:, method:, items:, selected: nil, placeholder: I18n.t("helpers.select.default_label"), variant: :simple, include_blank: nil, searchable: false, **options)
+    def initialize(form:, method:, items:, selected: nil, placeholder: I18n.t("helpers.select.default_label"), variant: :simple, include_blank: nil, searchable: false, menu_placement: :auto, **options)
       @form = form
       @method = method
       @placeholder = placeholder
       @variant = variant
       @searchable = searchable
+      @menu_placement = normalize_menu_placement(menu_placement)
       @options = options
 
       normalized_items = normalize_items(items)
@@ -61,6 +63,11 @@ module DS
 
     private
 
+      def normalize_menu_placement(value)
+        normalized = value.to_s.downcase
+        MENU_PLACEMENTS.include?(normalized) ? normalized : "auto"
+      end
+
       def normalize_items(collection)
         collection.map do |item|
           case item
diff --git a/app/helpers/styled_form_builder.rb b/app/helpers/styled_form_builder.rb
index bb51ab2ff..ba3b5f81e 100644
--- a/app/helpers/styled_form_builder.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/styled_form_builder.rb
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ class StyledFormBuilder < ActionView::Helpers::FormBuilder
         selected: selected_value,
         placeholder: placeholder,
         searchable: options.fetch(:searchable, false),
+        menu_placement: options[:menu_placement],
         variant: options.fetch(:variant, :simple),
         include_blank: options[:include_blank],
         label: options[:label],
diff --git a/app/javascript/controllers/select_controller.js b/app/javascript/controllers/select_controller.js
index 23b56051d..e4b07bb3b 100644
--- a/app/javascript/controllers/select_controller.js
+++ b/app/javascript/controllers/select_controller.js
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@ import { Controller } from "@hotwired/stimulus"
 import { autoUpdate } from "@floating-ui/dom"
 
 export default class extends Controller {
-  static targets = ["button", "menu", "input"]
+  static targets = ["button", "menu", "input", "content"]
   static values = {
-    placement: { type: String, default: "bottom-start" },
+    menuPlacement: { type: String, default: "auto" },
     offset: { type: Number, default: 6 }
   }
 
@@ -103,7 +103,25 @@ export default class extends Controller {
 
   scrollToSelected() {
     const selected = this.menuTarget.querySelector(".bg-container-inset")
-    if (selected) selected.scrollIntoView({ block: "center" })
+    if (!selected) return
+
+    const container = this.hasContentTarget ? this.contentTarget : this.menuTarget
+    const containerRect = container.getBoundingClientRect()
+    const selectedRect = selected.getBoundingClientRect()
+    const delta = selectedRect.top - containerRect.top - (container.clientHeight - selectedRect.height) / 2
+
+    const nextScrollTop = container.scrollTop + delta
+    const maxScrollTop = Math.max(0, container.scrollHeight - container.clientHeight)
+    container.scrollTop = this.clamp(nextScrollTop, 0, maxScrollTop)
+  }
+
+  clamp(value, min, max) {
+    return Math.min(max, Math.max(min, value))
+  }
+
+  placementMode() {
+    const mode = (this.menuPlacementValue || "auto").toLowerCase()
+    return ["auto", "down", "up"].includes(mode) ? mode : "auto"
   }
 
   handleOutsideClick(event) {
@@ -163,7 +181,8 @@ export default class extends Controller {
 
     const spaceBelow = containerRect.bottom - buttonRect.bottom
     const spaceAbove = buttonRect.top - containerRect.top
-    const shouldOpenUp = spaceBelow < menuHeight && spaceAbove > spaceBelow
+    const placement = this.placementMode()
+    const shouldOpenUp = placement === "up" || (placement === "auto" && spaceBelow < menuHeight && spaceAbove > spaceBelow)
 
     this.menuTarget.style.left = "0"
     this.menuTarget.style.width = "100%"
diff --git a/app/views/transactions/_form.html.erb b/app/views/transactions/_form.html.erb
index 062d87c8b..2ff28e05e 100644
--- a/app/views/transactions/_form.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/transactions/_form.html.erb
@@ -34,7 +34,10 @@
                 Current.family.available_merchants_for(Current.user).alphabetically,
                 :id, :name,
                 { include_blank: t(".none"),
-                  label: t(".merchant_label") } %>
+                  label: t(".merchant_label"),
+                  variant: :logo,
+                  searchable: true,
+                  menu_placement: :auto } %>
       <%= ef.select :tag_ids,
                     Current.family.tags.alphabetically.pluck(:name, :id),
                     {
diff --git a/app/views/transactions/show.html.erb b/app/views/transactions/show.html.erb
index 1893b3364..eb7dbb4cf 100644
--- a/app/views/transactions/show.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/transactions/show.html.erb
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@
                   :id, :name,
                   { include_blank: t(".none"),
                     label: t(".merchant_label"),
-                    class: "text-subdued", variant: :logo, searchable: true, disabled: @entry.split_child? || !can_annotate_entry? },
+                    variant: :logo, searchable: true, menu_placement: :auto, disabled: @entry.split_child? || !can_annotate_entry? },
                   "data-auto-submit-form-target": "auto" %>
             <%= ef.select :tag_ids,
                   Current.family.tags.alphabetically.pluck(:name, :id),