In this article, you'll learn how to use the settings on the Bookkeeping Rules & settings tab: which bank accounts count, what the CRM files for you on its own, and which expenses approve themselves. Getting these right means less clicking at month end and nothing in your books that shouldn't be there.
Bookkeeping is a feature you switch on in Features and connect to your bank first. If you haven't done that yet, start with Turning on Bookkeeping and connecting your bank.
To open the settings:
- In the menu, click Bookkeeping.
- Click the Rules & settings tab.
How an expense gets filed
Click How an expense gets filed at the top of the tab for a short reminder of the order things happen in:
- Each transaction runs down your rule list from the top, and the first rule that matches wins.
- If no rule matches, a scanned receipt for the same amount and date can supply the category.
- If there's still nothing, AI suggests a category for you to accept.
A category you set by hand always wins. No rule and no re-run will ever overwrite it.
Choose which accounts count
Right after you connect your bank, the Transactions tab asks Which accounts belong in the books? Every account starts unticked, and nothing is imported until you answer. Tick the business accounts and click Import from … accounts. Anything you leave unticked is never pulled in, so personal spending stays out entirely.
From then on, the Accounts card on Rules & settings is where you change your mind. It lists every account your bank connection sees, with its last four digits. An account the bank adds later shows up after the next sync, unticked.
- Tick an account to bring it into the books. It shows in the books.
- Untick an account to take it out. The CRM asks Stop using "…"? Click Stop using it to confirm.
Set what files itself
The Automation card has three switches:
- Auto-categorize with rules: turn it off and every rule only suggests, so nothing files itself.
- Suggest categories with AI: for transactions no rule matched. These are suggestions only and never get filed until you click.
- Match scanned receipts to bank charges: pairs a receipt with its charge by amount and date, and uses the receipt's category when no rule has decided.
Next to the switches, the Match within boxes set how close a receipt has to be to count as a match: a number of days and a dollar amount either side of the charge. Out of the box it's 5 days and 2 cents. Type a number and click away to save it.
Below them, Pull the last sets how many days of transactions each sync brings in. It starts at 120. Transactions you already have are never rewritten, so a longer window only adds older ones.
Re-run your rules
Changed a rule and want it applied to what's already there? Click Re-run rules on this month. A banner tells you how many were re-filed, matched to receipts, suggested and auto-approved. Anything you set by hand, and anything already approved, is left alone.
Manage the always-approve list
The Always approve card lists expenses that approve themselves. On the web, entries only get here one way: while approving a transaction, you tick Always approve expenses like this in the approve dialog. The dialog then lets you trim the text under When the description contains, limit it with Only when it files to the current category, and cap it with Only under $. The button becomes Approve & always approve.
Each entry on the card shows:
- Description contains: the text it looks for in the bank description.
- Only when: the category it has to be filed to, a dollar ceiling, or "any category, any amount".
- Auto-approved: how many expenses it has approved so far.
To change an entry:
- Click pause to stop it for now, or resume to start it again.
- Click remove, then Remove to confirm. Anything it already approved stays approved.
The same tab also holds your Categorization rules and Categories cards. Those have their own articles, linked below.
On the phone app
The app's Rules & settings tab has the same three automation switches, worded a little differently: Auto-categorize new transactions, AI category suggestions and Match receipts to charges. Its Accounts that count card has a switch per account. Turning an account off there removes its transactions straight away, with no confirm step.
The app doesn't have the day and dollar boxes, the Pull the last box or the re-run button. Those are web only. The first-time account pick is web only too: until you've answered it, the app's Transactions tab shows Choose which accounts count with a link to open Bookkeeping on the web.
You can add always-approve entries directly in the app. Type the merchant in Merchant to auto-approve, pick how it matches and an optional category, then tap Add to always-approve. Tap ✕ on an entry to remove it. There's no pause in the app.