Rule conditions

The rule conditions are criteria that define when a completion rule should be automatically applied to a transaction.

They are set during the creation or editing of a rule in the Apply Rules dialog, or directly in the Recurring Transactions table.

A rule is applied only if all the set conditions are met. If even a single condition is not fulfilled, the rule will not be executed. Empty conditions are ignored.


 

Condition on Description

Enter a word or short phrase as a keyword to identify transactions to be automated, based on the text shown in the Description column of the bank statement.

Banana Accounting automatically compares the description text of each transaction with the one specified in the rule and, if it finds a match, applies the associated rule.

To achieve more effective results, it is advisable to use only a few representative keywords (for example, the supplier or service name), so that the rule matches multiple similar transactions.

The search texts can be entered in several ways:

• Exact word or phrase
  • For example, if you enter "Best Insurance 982-948", the program searches imported transactions that contain exactly "Best Insurance 982-948".
  • If you only enter "Insurance", the program searches imported transactions that contain the word "Insurance".
• All words in any order (+ at the beginning)
  • If you enter "+Best Insurance 892-948", the program searches imported transactions that contain the words "Best", "Insurance", and the number "892-948" in any order.
  • All words must be present in the transaction description, but the order is not relevant.
  • The "+" symbol is not considered in the search.
• List of words (using |)
  • If you enter "coffee|restaurant", the program searches imported transactions that contain the word "coffee" or "restaurant".
    This method is useful to identify multiple categories without creating separate searches.
• Uppercase and lowercase
  • The search does not distinguish between uppercase and lowercase letters. The entered text will be applied regardless of case.
    All text entered in the Description is displayed in the Description column of the Recurring Transactions table. 

Warning: Do NOT use the entire text from the bank statement as the description, because it is unique for that transaction.

Condition on Account

• Enter the account from which the transactions are imported (bank, post, etc.).
• The program records in Debit or Credit depending on the imported transaction.
• The program automatically posts to Debit or Credit based on the transaction type.
• If the Account field is left empty, the rule applies to all accounts that meet the description condition.

Condition on Amount (or Currency Amount)

• Allows applying a rule only when the transaction has a specific amount.
• Alternatively, if the exact amount is not known, you can define a range of amounts by specifying a minimum, maximum, or a specific interval in which to apply the rule.
  • Available from version 10.2.3 of Banana Accounting Plus (Dev Channel)
  • The condition must:
    • start with the symbol !
    • be enclosed in square brackets [ ]
    • use the unformatted amount, that is, without thousand separators and with a period as decimal separator
      (other formats are not recognized)
    • The operators that can be used are greater >, less <, greater or equal >=, less or equal <=, not equal <>
  • Example: to select transactions with amount greater or equal to CHF 1'000.00:
    [!>=1000.00]

The image shows the Apply Rules dialog where you can select the Amount field and define a number range (in this example, account 1510 Furniture and Fixtures is applied to transactions with the description equal to 'Office supply purchase' and amount greater or equal to CHF 1'000).
Using this filter is useful when assigning different counterpart accounts based on the transaction amount.

Examples of conditions applicable to the Amount column

Condition on Date

Starting from version 10.2.3 of Banana Accounting Plus (Dev Channel) you can apply a rule to transactions that fall within a specific period (for example, only transactions from January).

How to proceed:

• Add a new rule as explained on the page Apply Rules Dialog - Add Rule
• Select the Date field
• Enter the filter condition in the Comment field.
  The condition must:
  • start with the symbol !
  • be enclosed in square brackets [ ]
  • use the date in ISO format YYYY-MM-DD
    (other formats are not recognized)
• Example: to select transactions with dates equal or before April 1st, 2025:
  [!<2025-04-01]
   

The image shows the Apply Rules dialog where you can select the Date field and define a date range (in this example, it is applied to transactions before April 1st, 2025).
Using this filter is helpful when differentiating processes by month, quarter or year — for example, if a specific VAT code applies until a certain date and a different one after that, such as when switching to a new VAT method.

Examples of conditions applicable to the Date column

How to define conditions in the Recurring Transactions table

Conditions can be entered directly in the Recurring Transactions table using the same syntax explained in the previous sections.