Create and manage bank rules
This article explains how to create and manage your own Guess bank rules for categorising bank transactions.
Setting your own Guess rules will result in less manual work and more accurate bookkeeping.
Please note:
- The bank rule(s) will apply to transactions in all bank accounts within a FreeAgent account. It’s not possible to apply rule(s) to specific bank accounts only.
- If you use FreeAgent with your accountant, you’ll be able to access the bank rules area to view the bank rule(s) that have been created but won’t be able to create, edit or delete any bank rules. You'll also be able to see which transactions have been marked for approval as a result of the rule(s) and can approve or edit the explanations.
- If you're an accountant or bookkeeper who is a FreeAgent Partner, you'll need to switch to your client's account and follow the steps below.
Creating a bank rule
Navigate to the ‘Banking’ tab and select ‘Bank Accounts’ from the drop-down menu.
Select ‘Bank rules’ in the top-right.
Within the ‘Custom rules’ tab, select ‘Create new rule’ in the top-right.
First, enter a name for the rule and choose whether it applies to money in only, money out only or any transactions.
Next, choose the conditions for the rule. You can set conditions for the transaction description and/or amount.
Please note that you can set a maximum of 10 conditions, and all conditions must match a transaction before the rule will apply to that transaction.
Finally, choose the accounting category, VAT rate and description for the transactions that the rule will apply to. You can add custom categories within your account if you need to and if you leave the ‘Description’ field blank, FreeAgent will automatically use the description provided by the bank.
Please note:
- it’s not possible to create rules for categories that need to be assigned to a capital asset or stock item
- if you select a profit and loss category in an unincorporated landlord account, you'll need to select the property that it relates to
- if you want to apply the same bank rule to multiple different properties in an unincorporated landlord client's account, you'll need to create one rule per property
Select ‘Save Bank rule’ to complete the process.
Repeat these steps for each rule you want to create in each account (if you have multiple accounts). See below for details on how to edit or delete a bank rule.
How the bank rules work
Once you’ve created a bank rule(s), FreeAgent automatically checks all transactions as they are imported into your bank accounts against the rules.
When a match is found, the transaction(s) will be marked for approval and a ‘Created by rule’ badge will be displayed so they can be easily identified.
You or your client can then approve the bank transaction(s).
Edit a bank rule
To edit a bank rule, navigate to the ‘Custom rules’ tab within the Bank rules area and select ‘Edit rule’ to the right of the rule you want to update.
Make any relevant changes and select ‘Update Bank rule’.
Please note that editing a bank rule will not update any bank transactions that have already been explained or marked for approval by the bank rule. The changes will only apply to bank transactions that are imported after the rule has been updated.
Delete a bank rule
To delete a bank rule, navigate to the ‘Custom rules’ tab within the Bank rules area and select ‘Delete rule’ to the right of the rule you want to remove.
Select ‘Yes, delete this rule’ in the pop-up window to complete the process.
Please note that deleting a bank rule will not remove explanations from any bank transactions that have already been explained or marked for approval by the bank rule.