Bank rules

What this does

A bank rule looks at each line of an imported statement and, when its conditions match, assigns the expense account (and optionally a vendor, a customer, or a replacement memo), or excludes the line from the import. Rules are what make a monthly import mostly post itself. They apply only to statement imports; the inbox's own matching for alerts and receipts is payee rules.

Before you start

accounting.manage. Import one statement first and look at how the bank writes each merchant; rules match that text, not the name on the storefront.

Steps

Banking Overview → Bank Rules. The list shows each rule's Name, Conditions, Action, Priority, and Status, with an active switch per rule. Apply Rules Now re-runs every active rule against imported lines that haven't been categorized yet, useful after you add a rule mid-import.

New Rule has three parts.

Rule Details. Rule Name and Priority. Higher priority is checked first, and the first rule that matches a line wins; give a specific rule (AMAZON for a particular account) a higher number than a general one.

Conditions. Any combination of Name Contains, Name Exact Match, Memo Contains, Amount Min, Amount Max, Amount Exact, Transaction Type (Debit, Credit, or Any), and Bank Account. Every condition you fill in has to hold. Matching on text ignores case.

Actions. Categorize with an Account (required), plus optional Vendor, Customer, and Override Memo. Exclude drops the line from the import entirely.

Test Rule runs the conditions against pending imported lines and lists what would match, before you save.

What happens in the books

Nothing, directly. A rule tags an imported line; the commit step of the import posts it through the inbox with the account the rule assigned, under the same gates as everything else. An excluded line is never created in the inbox and never posts.

Common problems

The rule matched more than I meant. Name Contains is a substring test: ATT matches MATTRESS FIRM. Use Name Exact Match, add a memo condition, or lengthen the text.

Two rules could match the same line. The higher priority wins; equal priority, the older rule wins. Check the Priority column.

A rule sends a merchant to the holding account. A rule can point at an uncategorized or holding account, but the import treats "no real category" as a line to hold for review rather than post. Point the rule at the actual expense account.