Bank Rules

Bank Rules in Easy Cashflow allow you to automatically process common transactions, rather than having to do them manually. They are very useful for those regular transactions that you always categorise in the same way (e.g. a monthly subscription fee) and can save you hours of manual processing time each week.

Create a Bank Rule

1. In Easy Cashflow select the Bank Rules menu item.

2. Click Create New.

3. Complete the following:

• Name: Give your rule a sensible name so you can identify it later.
• Bank Account: Choose the bank account the rule should monitor for transactions. You can also choose All to have the rule monitor all your accounts.
• Direction: Select whether to apply the rule only to Money Out transactions (expenses), Money In transactions (income) or All (both).
• Match Type: Rules are built from multiple conditions. You can choose whether All the conditions need to apply to trigger the rule, or merely Any of the conditions.
• Transaction Field: Choose either Description to match by the statement item text, or Amount for the $ value.

If you choose to match by Description, then:

• Condition: Choose Contains or Matches Exactly to determine how specific the match needs to be.
• Matching Text: This is the text to match for in the statement item text.

If you choose to match by Amount, then:

• Condition: Choose Equals, Greater Than, Less Than or Between
• Amount: Enter the value(s)

You can then choose what to do with matching transactions:

• Category: Choose the Category to assign the transactions to.
• Tax: Choose the tax type (it will default from the Category)
• Supplier: Only for "Money Out" rules you can enter the Supplier name (optional)
• Description: Enter a description to add to the categorised transaction (optional)

Finally, you can choose whether the rule is Active. Active rules are run whenever new transactions sync from your bank accounts. If you want to stop a rule from running for a while, but you don't want to permanently delete it, you can deactivate it.

Identifying Transactions Categorised by a Bank Rule

On the Transactions screen you will see a lightning bolt icon next to transactions that were categorised by a rule.

When you click on a Transaction that was matched by a rule you will see the date it was created and the Bank Rule that created it. You can click on the rule name to view or edit the rule.

Bank Rules Best Practices

Bank rules are a very powerful feature, but as the saying goes, "with great power comes great responsibility", so some care should be taken when creating rules. Here are some tips:

1. Start with a small number of rules and build as you go. It may be tempting to try and make 500 rules for every known transaction you could ever see, but it'll be much more difficult to manage updates and changes. Start small with the most useful and targeted rules and build from there.
2. Don't make your rules too general. A rule that just matches "OSKO" or "VISA" is going to match all kinds of transactions. It's better to be very specific with rules to start with.
3. Keep an eye on your transactions. Keep an eye on the transactions created by bank rules, either by looking in the Done tab of the Transactions screen, or by running reports like the Category Summary/Detail reports in Easy Reports. Sometimes your rule may match a transaction you didn't intend, so it's good practice to keep an eye out for any rogue transactions.
4. Make sure you know the difference between the "All" and "Any" match types. "Any" rules are more general, and "All" are more specific. It's generally better to start with "All" rules and build up to "Any" rules as you go.
5. Don't make too many conditions for one rule. It might be better to make several separate rules than to make a rule that matches 20 different conditions, just because it's easier to maintain.
6. Don't make rules for everything. There will always be one-off transactions. Not everything needs to be covered by a bank rule! Focus on the big, simple wins (like the monthly recurring transactions) and just manually categorise the smaller number of remaining transactions.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do the rules run automatically? Do I have to confirm each transaction still like in other systems?

A: Transactions are automatically categorised when your bank account(s) refresh. You can identify whether a transaction was categorised by a rule by the lightning bolt icon next to the "Done" label on the Transactions screen.

Q: Is the text matching case sensitive?

No. If you enter the matching text "Google", this would match statement line items named "google", "GOOGLE" and "GoOgLE".

Q: I made a mistake, how can I un-categorise the transactions that were created by a rule?

A: Use the search and bulk edit functionality on the Done tab of Bank Transactions screen. Search for matching transactions, use the checkboxes to select (or select all) and then choose "Unmatch X Items". You should then edit the rule to fix it, or alternative Delete or Deactivate it to prevent it running.

Q: Can I run rules on existing transactions?

A: Not yet, but we are working on it. In the future there will be  option to "Apply Rule to Existing Transactions" when creating/editing bank rules.

Q: How do I change the order of the rules?

A: We are putting the finishing touches on this functionality. In the meantime, you cannot re-order rules, so it's harder to make "catch all" style rules with more specific "step out" rules. This functionality is coming soon, though.

Q: Can I export/import rules, or copy them between different organisations?

A: This is one for the bookkeepers and accountants. No, you can't do this yet, but we do have plans to allow you to copy rules between organisations, so you can create some useful rules and use them on all your client organisations. Watch this space!