2050 · Bookkeeping automation
Merchant rules
Autessa Accounting merchant rules code a transaction from its description: match it exactly, by how it starts or by text it contains, and set its category and, when the card gave none, its department. Rules start empty and are learned as you confirm categories, so each merchant is asked about once.
The problem
Re-coding the same merchants every month
Without rules, AWS, GitHub and the office lunch order are coded by hand every month, and two people code them differently. Rules make categorization reproducible: re-importing the same statement yields the same categories, which an AI alone cannot promise.
What you get
- Three match modes: exact, starts with and contains. An exact rule always beats a contains rule.
- A rule sets the category, and the department when the card did not give one.
- Confirming a category in the review inbox can write the rule for you; the learned rule defaults to “starts with” so variants like “ANTHROPIC: CLAUDE TEAM” still match.
- Apply a rule to every matching waiting transaction, with a preview of what would change.
- Rules run after the card’s own defaults and before any AI suggestion.
- Rules live under Settings → Categories & rules, next to the category tree.
How it works
How does merchant rules work in Autessa Accounting?
A new merchant appears
No rule matches, so the row gets an AI suggestion or waits for a category.
Confirm once
Approve the category with Remember this, and a rule is written.
Apply to what is waiting
Preview the other waiting rows the rule matches and code them in one step.
Coded from then on
Every future charge from that merchant is coded by the rule, for a person to approve.
Every option
Rule fields
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Merchant text | The text to match in the description. |
| Match when the description… | Is exactly, starts with, or contains the text. |
| Money out or money in? | Which direction the rule applies to. |
| Code it as | The category (and optional department). |
| Priority | More specific rules win: exact before starts with before contains. |
Permissions
Who can do what?
| Role | Can |
|---|---|
| Bookkeeper and up | Create, edit and apply merchant rules. |
AI assist
Where AI helps, and where it stops
Rules run before the AI. The classifier is only asked about merchants no rule matches, and confirming its suggestion is what writes a new rule.
AI only ever suggests a category. A person approves every row, and AI never touches the debit and credit balancing.
About AI categorization →FAQ
Questions about merchant rules
Do I have to write rules by hand?
No. Confirming a category in the review inbox can write the rule for you. You can also create and edit rules in Categories & rules.
What if two rules match?
The more specific one wins: an exact match beats starts with, which beats contains.
Do rules post transactions automatically?
No. Rules fill in the coding; a person still approves every row.
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