2060 · Bookkeeping automation
AI transaction categorization
Autessa Accounting uses AI for transaction categorization only where it helps and only as a suggestion. When neither the card’s defaults nor a merchant rule codes a transaction, an Autessa AI model suggests a category from your own category list with a reason; a person approves it, and approving can write a rule.
The problem
AI that writes straight into the books is a liability
Fully automatic AI categorization is fast until it confidently puts a founder’s wire into revenue. Accounting keeps AI in its lane: it suggests, a person confirms, and it never touches the path that makes debits equal credits.
What you get
- Asked only when no card default and no merchant rule applies.
- Suggests from your own category list, sent with each request.
- Every suggestion shows the category and a short reason, labeled as an AI suggestion.
- Never applied on its own: a person approves, changes or ignores it.
- One request covers every waiting row from the same merchant.
- Approving a suggestion can write a merchant rule, so the AI is asked about each merchant once.
- Answers are checked defensively; an invalid or unknown category is discarded, not guessed.
How it works
How does ai transaction categorization work in Autessa Accounting?
Cheap steps first
Card defaults and merchant rules run first and code most rows with no AI at all.
Ask about the rest
Rows from unknown merchants are grouped by merchant and sent with your category list.
Read the suggestion
The inbox shows the suggested category and reason beside the row.
Approve and remember
Approve it, change it, or remember it as a rule for next time.
Every option
How suggestions are handled
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Suggestion source | Rule, AI or none, shown on each row. |
| Category choices | Only your active categories. |
| Validation | Unknown or malformed answers are dropped; the row waits for a person. |
| Approval | Always a person. AI never posts. |
Permissions
Who can do what?
| Role | Can |
|---|---|
| Bookkeeper and up | See, approve and change AI suggestions. |
AI assist
Where AI helps, and where it stops
The suggestion comes from an Autessa AI model running as an agent on the Autessa platform. It sees the transaction description, amount and merchant details plus your category list, and returns a category with a reason.
AI only ever suggests a category. A person approves every row, and AI never touches the debit and credit balancing.
About AI categorization →Connected
How it connects to the rest of Accounting
FAQ
Questions about ai transaction categorization
Does Autessa Accounting use AI to categorize transactions?
Yes, as a suggestion. When no card default or rule applies, an Autessa AI model suggests a category with a reason, and a person approves it.
Can the AI post entries to my books?
No. It only suggests a category. A person approves every row, and the AI never touches the debit and credit balancing.
Will the AI ask about the same merchant every month?
No. Approving a suggestion can write a merchant rule, so the next charge from that merchant is coded by the rule.
100% customizable, code and all
Make Autessa Accounting fully your own.
Use it out of the box, then change anything. Ask Autobot, Autessa’s AI builder, for a new field, screen, report, workflow or agent and it builds it into your copy of the app. Or open the code and edit it yourself. Nothing is locked: the app, its data and its code are yours.
Start free and make it yours