Bank rules
Automate the allocation of recurring bank transactions without an invoice using the bank rules of the company file.
Account maintenance fees, rent paid by standing order, social security contributions, loan repayments: many bank transactions come back every month and match no invoice. A bank rule assigns them an account, so that the reconciliation proposes them automatically.
What a rule is
A rule consists of a criterion, a direction and an allocation.
| Item | Possible values |
|---|---|
| Name | Free text, for example "Bank fees". |
| Field examined | Counterpart name, counterpart IBAN, communication, description, or any of these fields. |
| Operator | Contains, equals, starts with. |
| Text searched | The pattern, not case-sensitive. |
| Direction | Money in, money out or both. |
| Account | A postable account of the company file. Required. |
| Third party | Optional: useful when the account is a customer or supplier account. |
| Label | Optional: label of the entry generated. |
| Priority | From 1 to 999. The rule with the lowest priority is tried first. |
| Active | A disabled rule is ignored without being deleted. |
Examples of useful rules
| Name | Field | Operator | Text | Direction | Account |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bank fees | Description | Contains | frais de gestion | Money out | 619000 Bank fees |
| Office rent | Counterpart IBAN | Equals | BE68539007547034 | Money out | 610000 Rent and rental charges |
| Social security contributions | Counterpart name | Contains | caisse d'assurances sociales | Money out | 618100 Social insurance for the self-employed |
| VAT payment | Communication | Starts with | tva | Money out | 451000 VAT payable |
| Payroll office | Counterpart name | Contains | secretariat social | Money out | 455000 Remuneration |
Prefer the counterpart IBAN when it is stable: it is the least ambiguous criterion. Keep "any field" for very distinctive patterns.
How a rule is applied
Rules come into play during the reconciliation, run with Match in the Bank tab.
- For each "To process" transaction, NovaFisko first looks for an open invoice that matches.
- If it finds none, it goes through the active rules in ascending order of priority.
- The first rule whose direction and criterion match is selected. The transaction then shows a proposal with the confidence "Sure".
- When you book the transaction, the entry uses the account, the third party and the label of the rule.
- The usage counter of the rule increases by one.
An open invoice therefore always takes precedence over a rule: a supplier payment will not be booked as an expense by mistake if its invoice is booked.
Entry generated for the "Bank fees" rule
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| 619000 Bank fees | 4,50 | |
| 550000 Bank | 4,50 |
The Book matched transactions button only processes transactions matched with an invoice. A transaction proposed by a rule is booked individually, with Book on its line: this way you keep an eye on each automatic allocation.
Managing rules
Rules belong to the company file. They are synchronised with offline workstations and their changes are recorded in the history of the company file.
- Create: enter at least the name, the field, the text searched and the account.
- Edit: change the criterion, the account or the priority. The change applies to future reconciliations; entries already posted do not change.
- Disable: the rule is kept with its counter but is no longer applied.
- Delete: the rule goes to the recycle bin of the company file and can be restored.
Bank rules are fully operational in the reconciliation engine and accessible through the API. The rule management screen in the Bank tab is coming soon; in the meantime, ask your administrator to create them or use an integration.
Ordering your rules well
The order matters, because the first rule that matches is the only one applied.
- Give the lowest priorities to the most precise rules (exact IBAN, exact communication).
- Then place the rules by counterpart name.
- Finish with the general rules ("contains" on the description).
Run Match again after creating or editing a rule: the proposals for pending transactions are recomputed.
What a rule does not do
- It does not compute VAT: the entry has two lines, the bank and the account chosen.
- It does not split a transaction over several accounts. For a transaction to be split (net salary and withholding tax, for example), allocate it to a suspense account, then clear it with a miscellaneous operation.
- It does not letter: the automatic lettering of a payment only happens when it is matched with an invoice.