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

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

When you download transactions from your bank, you need to categorise 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 categorising. After a while, the app learns how to read transactions, then automatically adds details.

Here's how to set up bank rules.

Step 1: Create a bank rule

1. Go to All apps , select Accounting, then select Rules (Take me there).
2. Select the Bank rules tab, then select New rule.
   Note: Select Go to rules if you are adding for the first time.
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 account, or select All bank accounts.
6. From the and include the following ▼ dropdown, select All or Any.
7. Select + Add a condition.
   Note: You can set a single rule with up to 5 conditions.
8. In the Conditions fields, specify whether the rule applies to Description, Bank text, or Amount. Then select Contains, Doesn't contain, or Is exactly and enter the value or text to decide how QuickBooks applies the rules.
9. Select the settings for the rule. Select Transaction type, Category, Product/service, Payee, Tax, and Customer to apply.
   Note: You may see different options depending on the company settings you’ve turned on.
10. Select Save.
11. (Optional) To reorder your bank rules priority, select the reorder icon 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 Pending tab. These are the ones you need to review every day.

Tips: 

• Quickly add a rule for transactions in the Pending tab. Just select a transaction, then select the Create rule to open the Create rule pane and start setting conditions for the rule.
• Copy, Disable/Enable, or Delete bank rules from the Actions column ▼ dropdown on the Rules page.
• Also keep existing bank memo - When the memo text field is empty, the checkbox will not remain checked by design.

Step 2: Review recognised transactions

After a rule is applied, a RULE badge appears in the Match/Categorise column of the transaction.

For auto-post rules, an AUTO badge appears in the Transaction Posted column of the transaction under the Posted tab.

To filter rules, follow these steps. 

1. Go to All apps , select Accounting, then select Bank transactions (Take me there).
2. Select the All transactions ▼ dropdown.
3. Select Rules.
   Note: In the Posted tab, the options Rules, No rules, and Auto‑post (rule) are shown.

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 fuel expenses. Then, use it to cover more transactions.

1. Follow the steps to create a new bank rule.
2. Turn on Auto-post under For transactions that meet these criteria... in the Create rule pane.
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 supplier name.

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

1. Go to All apps , select Accounting, then select Bank transactions (Take me there).
2. Select the settings icon ⚙ within the Bank transactions section.
3. Select the Show full bank description checkbox.