Creating expense category rules

Overview

An expense category rule is an accounting automation tool with which permitted users can set conditions that will then automatically code transactions in the org. 

With expense category rules, Owners, Admins, and full-visibility Bookkeepers can set conditions that automatically assign expense categories to transactions, such as:

• Funding source: Specific registered accounts or budgets
• Merchant category code (MCC): Categories like “Travel” or “Restaurants”
• Team: Any transactions from specific users based on their assigned Team
• Merchant name: Specific merchants such as "Amazon" or "Google"

Creating Expense Category Rules

Owners, Admins, and full-visibility Bookkeepers can create expense category rules by following these steps:

1. Hover over your profile icon at the bottom left of the main navigation and select Organization Settings.
   
2. Open the Accounting Automation tab and select the New Rule button.

3. On the Create Expense Category Rule flyout, follow these steps
   
   
4. 1. Name the rule. Enter a name that clearly describes the rule’s purpose, for example, "Travel Expenses for Sales Team".
   2. Define the rule criteria. Options for criteria include:
      1. Funding source: Select a specific account or budget. Leave this blank to apply the rule to all funding sources.
      2. Merchant category code: Choose a specific merchant category code, such as “Travel” or “Restaurants”. Leave this blank to apply the rule to all MCCs.
      3. Merchant name: Enter the merchant name, like "Amazon". Leave this blank to apply the rule to all merchants.
   3. Set the expense categories. Select one or more expense categories to apply when the defined criteria are met. Leave this blank if a category does not apply.
   4. Review your settings and click Create Rule at the bottom to activate the rule.

Viewing expense category rules

Owners, Admins, and full-visibility Bookkeepers can view their org’s expense category rules at any time from the Accounting Automation tab of the Organization Settings. 

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Permitted users can update or deactivate expense category rules at any time. See Managing expense category rules to learn how. 

And check out Coding transactions with expense category rules to see how automatically coded transactions appear in the app.

FAQ

1. Are expense category rules for accounting automation available for all issuers?
Yes, this is a feature available to all issuers.

2. Who can create rules?
Rules can be created and managed by the org Owner, Admins, and full-visibility Bookkeepers.

3. What if my organization doesn’t have any expense categories?
Before you an org can create expense category rules, they must first create expense categories. There are two ways the Owner, Admins, and Bookkeepers can create expense categories for their org: 1) manually from the Expense Category tab on the Organization Settings page, and 2) by connecting to Quickbooks Online or Netsuite to import their existing category codes.

4. What if I need to update my expense category rule?
The Owner, Admins, and full-vis Bookkeepers can update a rule at any time. Once the rule is updated, it will apply to future transactions that meet the criteria.

5. I updated my expense category rule, but I need to fix the coding on my historical transactions, what can I do?
You can update the expense categories on historical transactions at any time.