Import rules

What a rule does#

A rule says: when a statement line's text contains these words, bring it in as this vendor and category, or mark it personal, or leave it out. Rules apply to every statement line as it arrives, whether you upload the statement, your bank feed brings it, or your assistant sends it, and they outrank any guess, your assistant's included.

• What it matches: words, nothing else. Not the amount, not the date. Case and punctuation don't matter, and any word with a number in it is dropped, so SQ *BLUE BOTTLE 8812 AUSTIN TX and SQ *BLUE BOTTLE 0417 AUSTIN TX both read as "sq blue bottle austin tx" and match the same rule.
• The rule's words have to appear whole and in the same order: BLUE BOTTLE matches "SQ *BLUE BOTTLE COFFEE", but not "BLUEBOTTLE" or "BOTTLE BLUE".
• Rules are for charges. Credits, refunds and deposits aren't matched.
• The order: when more than one rule matches, the most specific wins, the one with the longest words. AMAZON WEB SERVICES beats AMAZON. Two of the same length: the older one.

What it can do, under Then:

• Bring it in, as a Vendor, a Category, or both. With the category left on The vendor's usual, the rule sets only the vendor, and the category is chosen as it would be without a rule: the one that came with the line, the vendor's usual one, what you've filed that vendor under most, or a guess from the merchant's name. The category can be one of your custom categories (see Expenses): the rule then sets both, and a rule that names a standard category alone leaves the custom one off. A Bring it in rule brings a line in even when your assistant thought it was personal. It's still checked against what's in your books, so a charge you've already recorded stays out as Already recorded.
• Personal: it stays out, as Personal, by your rule. For your own spending on a business card.
• Leave it out: it stays out, as Left out by your rule. For lines that are never an expense.

Try it: switch the rules on and off, and watch the lines.

How rules are learned#

Accounts/Business Card/October 2026

October 2026 Business Card

Business Card · Oct 1 – 31, 2026 · 5 lines

Business Card

Every line 5To add 5Already recorded 0Set aside 0

DateVendor · StatementCategoryAmountNote

Oct 2Blue Bottle CoffeeSQ *BLUE BOTTLE COFFEE AUSTIN TXOther$6.75

Oct 5AdobeADOBE *CREATIVE CLD SAN JOSE CAAdvertising$59.99Your rule

Oct 8Amazon Web ServicesAMAZON WEB SERVICES AWS.AMAZON.CO WASoftware$41.20

Oct 12Whole Foods MktWHOLE FOODS MKT #10234 AUSTIN TXOther$84.16

Oct 19Amazon Web ServicesAMAZON WEB SERVICES AWS.AMAZON.CO WASoftware$38.75

5 expenses · $230.85 · 0 lines stay out

DiscardAdd 5 Expenses

Step 1 of 3PauseStart over

1. 1Change a line's vendor or category, and Remember for next time appears under it, ticked.
2. 2Untick a line to leave it out. Always leave out appears, unticked, since leaving one out is often a one-off. Tick it to make it a rule.
3. 3The bar at the bottom counts the rules for next time. They're saved when you add the statement's expenses.

You don't have to write rules. When you review a statement:

• Change a line's vendor or category, and Remember for next time appears under it, ticked.
• Untick a line, and Always leave out appears, unticked, since leaving one line out is often a one-off. Tick it to make it a rule.
• The bar at the bottom counts them: 2 rules for next time.

The rules are saved when you add the statement's expenses with the button at the bottom (Add 4 Expenses, say, or Approve). A learned rule matches on the vendor's name the line first came in with, when the statement text holds it ("SQ *BLUE BOTTLE COFFEE AUSTIN TX", which came in as Blue Bottle Coffee, makes BLUE BOTTLE COFFEE), and otherwise on the line's whole text, numbers left out. Change a line that a rule brought in, with Remember ticked, and that rule is updated instead of a new one made.

Some lines never teach a rule: ones left out because they're already recorded (that's about your books, not the merchant), credits, and lines you explained as something else, like a client's payment.

Adding a rule from a statement line#

Accounts/Business Card/October 2026

October 2026 Business Card

Business Card · Oct 1 – 31, 2026 · 5 lines

Business Card

Every line 5To add 5Already recorded 0Set aside 0

DateVendor · StatementCategoryAmountNote

Oct 2Blue Bottle CoffeeSQ *BLUE BOTTLE COFFEE AUSTIN TXOther$6.75

Oct 5AdobeADOBE *CREATIVE CLD SAN JOSE CAAdvertising$59.99Your rule

Oct 8Amazon Web ServicesAMAZON WEB SERVICES AWS.AMAZON.CO WASoftware$41.20

Oct 12Whole Foods MktWHOLE FOODS MKT #10234 AUSTIN TXOther$84.16

Oct 19Amazon Web ServicesAMAZON WEB SERVICES AWS.AMAZON.CO WASoftware$38.75

5 expenses · $230.85 · 0 lines stay out

DiscardAdd 5 Expenses

Step 1 of 4PauseStart over

1. 1On a charge no rule caught, the wand is Add a Rule.
2. 2It starts from the line: its words, its vendor and its category. Numbers in the statement text are ignored.
3. 3Choose what it does: Bring it in, as this vendor and category; Personal; or Leave it out.
4. 4Click Add Rule. The lines here with those words follow it at once, and so will the next statement's.

1. On a statement waiting for review, find a charge no rule caught and click the wand, Add a Rule.
2. It starts from the line: Statement text contains holds the vendor's name when the statement says it, or the line's words; Then follows its tick; the vendor and category are the line's. Shorten the words to catch more (BLUE BOTTLE rather than BLUE BOTTLE COFFEE), and change what it does.
3. Click Add Rule. Every charge on this statement with those words follows it at once, and so will every statement after.

The words need at least two letters, and each set of words can have only one rule: "There's already a rule for those words" means it's time to edit that one instead.

Changing a rule from its line#

Accounts/Business Card/October 2026

October 2026 Business Card

Business Card · Oct 1 – 31, 2026 · 5 lines

Business Card

Every line 5To add 5Already recorded 0Set aside 0

DateVendor · StatementCategoryAmountNote

Oct 2Blue Bottle CoffeeSQ *BLUE BOTTLE COFFEE AUSTIN TXOther$6.75

Oct 5AdobeADOBE *CREATIVE CLD SAN JOSE CAAdvertising$59.99Your rule

Oct 8Amazon Web ServicesAMAZON WEB SERVICES AWS.AMAZON.CO WASoftware$41.20

Oct 12Whole Foods MktWHOLE FOODS MKT #10234 AUSTIN TXOther$84.16

Oct 19Amazon Web ServicesAMAZON WEB SERVICES AWS.AMAZON.CO WASoftware$38.75

5 expenses · $230.85 · 0 lines stay out

DiscardAdd 5 Expenses

Step 1 of 3PauseStart over

1. 1A line a rule brought in shows Your rule. Click it to change the rule.
2. 2Change it, then Save Rule. The lines here it caught follow the change.
3. 3Every rule is in Settings → Import Rules, with how often it's been used. Edit or delete any of them there.

A line a rule caught shows Your rule, whether the rule added it or left it out, and so do the lines a rule you just added here caught. Hover it to see the words it matched. Click it to open Edit Rule, change it, and Save Rule. While the statement waits for review, the lines on it that the rule caught follow the change. Expenses already in your books stay as they are.

A line a rule caught has no Remember for next time: the rule already remembers it.

All your rules#

Settings → Import Rules lists every rule, A to Z: its words, what it does, and how many times it's been used, and when last.

• Add Rule writes one from scratch. Type the words as they read on the statement.
• The pencil edits a rule; the trash deletes it.
• Deleting a rule changes nothing already in your books: lines with those words just go back to EscBooks' own guess.

Your assistant reads your rules before it prepares a statement, and is asked to follow them in its own choices too. See Your AI assistant.