Create Rules from the Apply Rules Dialog

One of the methods for creating Rules is from the Apply Rules dialog. The main advantages are as follows:

• You can see all imported transactions.
• The imported transactions are divided into incoming and outgoing transactions, with Rules and without Rules.
• For each group of identical transactions, the Rule being applied is shown in bold.
• Rules that are duplicated or in conflict are highlighted.
• You can add new rules and modify or delete existing ones.
• By changing the conditions of a Rule (description, amount, account), you can immediately see the list of transactions that comply with it.
• You can decide which rules to activate and which to deactivate.

Below is the complete procedure for creating Rules from the Apply Rules dialog.

1. Give the command Import into accounting

Before accessing the Apply Rules dialog, you must first import bank, postal, or other transactions as follows:

• Use the command from the Actions menu  > Import into accounting > Transactions
• Select the appropriate format and indicate the path where the file with your bank statement data is located
• In the dialog that opens:
  • Enter the account related to the statement from which you are importing the transactions (bank, postal service, etc.).
  • Specify the start and end dates for the period of the transactions to import.
  • Indicate the temporary contra account if you want it to be different from the default "[CA]".
    You can use any account, and if you write it in square brackets, it will not be accounted for.
  • Activate the Apply Rules option (available only with the Advanced plan of Banana Accounting Plus).
  • Confirm with OK.
     

 2. Dialogue Apply Rules

The program opens the Apply Rules dialog. 

In this dialog, you will find:

• The temporary contra account you entered previously or the default one "[CA]".
• The bank account entered, where all transactions imported from your bank or postal account are recorded.
• The imported transactions from the bank account, divided into:
  • Incoming transactions without rules (Money In without rules).
  • Outgoing transactions without rules (Money Out without rules).
  • Incoming transactions with rules (Money In with rules).
  • Outgoing transactions with rules (Money Out with rules).

3. Create new rules

To create new Rules: 

• Position yourself on one of the transactions for which you want to create a rule.
• Go to the right-hand side until you see  "...".
• Click on Add New Rule.

The 'Add Rule' dialogue appears.

In this dialog, you need to enter:

• In the Description, the text (keyword) that the program uses to find the matching Rule in the imported transactions.
  Example:
  • Best Insurance Contract 892-948
    applies to lines that contain exactly the specified text.
  • +Best Insurance Contract 892-948
    applies to lines that contain the words "Best Insurance" and "892-948" in any position.
• The contra account, used to replace the temporary contra account.
• Any other information (Cost centers, VAT codes, etc.).

The program shows the transactions found based on the entered conditions to which the new rule will be applied. In the example, we have a single transaction.

• Confirm with OK.

4. Confirm Apply Rules

In the Apply Rules dialog, you will see:

• The row of the created Rule ("NEW") where the data of the temporary counteraccount [CA] and the other information entered in the rule are indicated.
• Below are the lines of the transactions to which the rule has been applied.

You can decide when to execute the Apply Rules command:

• You can apply the rules selectively and continue working on the others.
• You can exit the dialog and return later.
• You can cancel the operation of applying the rules and repeat it later.
• The Apply Rules command also saves any changes you made to the rules.

By clicking on the buttons:

• Apply Rules:
  • The program adds the new Rules to the Recurring transactions table.
  • The program completes the transactions in the Transactions table.
  • The dialog remains open so you can add the rules to the other transactions.
• OK
  • Confirms the applied rules and closes the dialog.
     

Undo changes made

Once the dialogue is closed, you will see the completed transactions in the Transactions table.
If you wish, you can undo the changes you have made:

• Menu Edit > Undo edit 
• With the Cancel button (green arrow).

To also cancel the import of the data, you need to repeat the Cancel command a second time.

Complete other transactions with Temporary contra account

After importing bank transactions, the aim is to complete all transactions so that there are no more transactions with Temporary contra accounts [CA].

You can manually complete the remaining transactions. This is useful for special cases that do not tend to repeat.

You can create new rules by chosing one of the following methods:

• Rules from the Apply Rules dialog
• Rules from Recurring transactions

Adding information to completed transactions with rules

It is possible to add supplementary information to the Rules through the Recurring Transactions table.