Creating categorization rules

In this article, you'll learn how to create categorization rules in Bookkeeping. A rule tells the CRM what to do with a transaction that looks a certain way, like filing every Home Depot charge as Materials. Once your regular charges are covered by rules, month end mostly comes down to checking and approving.

To open your rules:

1. 1.In the menu, click Bookkeeping.
2. 2.Click the Rules & settings tab.
3. 3.Scroll down to Categorization rules.

Create a new rule

1. 1.Click + New rule. The New rule window opens.
2. 2.Fill in the When section to say which transactions the rule catches.
3. 3.Fill in the Then section to say what happens to them.
4. 4.Check the Matches this month box at the bottom. It shows how many of this month's transactions the rule would catch, with a few of them listed.
5. 5.Click Save rule.

Save rule stays greyed out until the rule has text to match and, depending on what you picked under Then, a category or a split that adds up to 100%. If nothing matches this month, that's fine. The rule still applies to new transactions as they come in.

The When section

1. 1.In the first drop-down, pick A charge, A deposit or Any transaction.
2. 2.In the second drop-down, pick how to match: contains, starts with, is exactly or matches the pattern.
3. 3.Type the text to look for, for example Home Depot. With matches the pattern you can list several merchants at once, separated by a bar, like chevron|shell|maverik.
4. 4.If you want, enter an amount range next to and the amount is between $. Leave both boxes blank for any amount.
5. 5.If you want, type part of an account name next to and the account name contains so the rule only applies to that account.

The text is checked against the transaction's description and memo together, and capital letters don't matter.

The Then section

Pick one of three options in the drop-down:

• •File it as: choose a category from the list next to it.
• •Split it across categories: choose two or more categories and give each a percentage. Click + Add a category for another line, or the ✕ to remove one (you always keep at least two). The figure under the lines shows your total, and it has to reach 100% before you can save. Because it's percentages, the same rule works on any amount.
• •Exclude it from the books: for money that moved but wasn't spent, like transfers between your accounts, credit card payments or owner draws. Excluded transactions stay visible under the Excluded tab but never count in your spending totals.

Auto or suggest

Under Then is the Auto-categorize matching transactions checkbox, and it starts ticked.

• •Ticked, the rule files matching transactions by itself.
• •Unticked, it only suggests. The transaction shows the proposed category with an Accept button, and nothing changes until you click it.

Active and note

• •Rule is active is ticked by default. Untick it to save the rule without it running yet.
• •Note to yourself (optional) is for a reminder of why the rule exists. It shows under the rule in the list.

Manage your rules in the list

The list has Order, When, Then, Auto and Used columns.

• •Order: Each transaction goes down the list from the top, and the first rule that matches wins. Use the ↑ and ↓ buttons to move a rule. Put specific rules above general ones.
• •Auto: Click the auto or suggest pill to switch a rule between filing by itself and only suggesting.
• •Used: How many transactions the rule has matched.
• •edit opens the rule in the same window you created it in.
• •disable turns a rule off without deleting it. It goes faded in the list, and enable turns it back on.
• •delete removes the rule after you confirm. Transactions it already filed keep their category.

Re-run your rules on this month

After you add or change rules, you can apply them to what's already come in.

1. 1.On the Rules & settings tab, find the Automation card.
2. 2.Click Re-run rules on this month.

A message tells you how many transactions were re-filed. Anything you categorized by hand is left alone. Neither a rule nor a re-run ever overwrites a category you set yourself.

On the phone app

In the phone app, open Bookkeeping and tap Rules & settings. The CRM in a phone's web browser shows the same simpler screen. Under Categorization rules there's a short form:

1. 1.Type the text to match, for example Home Depot.
2. 2.Pick how to match: contains, starts with, equals or regex.
3. 3.Pick which transactions: any, expenses or deposits.
4. 4.Pick Categorize and a category, or Ignore.
5. 5.Tap Add rule.

Each rule in the list has a switch to turn it on or off and a ✕ to delete it. There's no amount range, account filter, split, auto/suggest choice, reordering or match preview on the phone, so use a computer for those.

Related articles

• •Bookkeeping overview
• •Bookkeeping settings: accounts, automation and always approve
• •Categorizing and approving transactions
• •Splitting a transaction across categories
• •Managing expense categories