Set up bank rules to categorize online banking transactions in QuickBooks Online

Learn how to use bank rules to automatically categorize transactions from your bank.

When you download transactions from your bank, you need to categorize them so that they enter the right accounts. Bank rules can do this automatically.

The more ‌QuickBooks Online uses the bank rules you create, the better it gets at categorizing. After a while, the app learns how to read transactions, then automatically adds details.

Here's how to set up bank rules.

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Automatically categorize transactions with QuickBooks Payments.

Step 1: Create a bank rule

Note: You can create up to 2,000 bank rules.

1. Follow this link to complete the steps in product
2. Select New rule.
3. Enter a name in the What do you want to call this rule? field.
4. From the Apply this to transactions that are ▼ dropdown, select Money in or Money out.
5. From the in ▼ dropdown, select a bank or credit card account, or select All bank accounts.
6. Set the rule's conditions. You can set a single rule with up to 5 conditions. Set and include the following, then select + Add a condition.
7. In the Conditions fields, specify whether the rule applies to Description, Bank text, or Amount. Then select Contains, Doesn't contain, or Is exactly to decide how QuickBooks applies the rules.
8. Select the settings for the rule. Select the Transaction type, Category, Tags, and the Payee to apply.
9. Select Save.
10. (Optional) To reorder your bank rules priority, select reorder and drag the rule to your desired order. The rule with the highest priority will always be applied first.

QuickBooks automatically applies your rules to transactions in the For review tab. These are the ones you need to review every day.

Tips: 

• Quickly add a rule for transactions in the For review tab. Just select a transaction, then select the Create a rule link to open the Rule Window and start setting conditions for the rule.
• Copy, Disable/Enable, or Delete bank rules from the Actions ▼ dropdown on the Rules page.

Step 2: Review recognized transactions

After a rule is applied, a RULE badge appears in the Category field of the transaction. For auto-post rules, an AUTO badge appears.

To filter rules, follow these steps. 

1. Select Accounting, then select Bank transactions. 
2. Select the All transactions dropdown menu. 
3. Select Rules, No rules, or Auto-post rules.  

Next steps: Set up auto-post

Create targeted rules so that specific transactions are automatically accepted into your books from the Bank transactions (Take me there) page.

Tip: We recommend starting with simple, consistent transactions like rent or gas expenses. Then, use it to cover more transactions.

1. Follow the steps to create a new bank rule.
2. Turn on Auto-post under Automatically confirm transactions this rule applies to in the Rules window.
3. Select Save.

After you create an auto-post rule, any transactions on the Pending tab that meet the conditions are automatically added. Auto-post rules run when you sign in, upload a file, or create or modify a new auto-post rule.

If your bank rules aren't getting applied to transactions

If your bank rules aren't getting applied, it might be because you’re using a rule based on bank text when you meant to make a rule based on description, or vice versa. To explain the difference:

• The bank text is exactly the same information the app receives from the bank. The bank text is the transaction you'd see listed in your bank account or on your bank statement.
• The description is a simplified version of the bank text to make it easier to understand. For example, the app might simplify bank text by just giving the vendor name.

By default, the app shows the description in your list of transactions. To show the bank text instead:

1. Go to Transactions, then select Bank transactions (Take me there).
2. Select the Settings ⚙ within the Bank transactions section.
3. Select Show full bank description.