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Categorisation Rules and Suggestions

Rules tell Fiskl how to categorise a merchant every time, without asking the AI. This page covers what a rule is, where rules are created and managed, how to approve the rules Fiskl suggests from what you have already done, and why a merchant is sometimes not suggested.

Before You Begin​

  • You need company write permission to add, edit or approve rules
  • Rules apply to imported bank and card transactions. They run before your history and before the AI, so a matching rule always wins

Where rules live​

Rules are created and managed in two places, and the split is deliberate.

PlaceUse it for
Accounting > TransactionsDay-to-day work. The review strip above the list shows the merchants waiting in this account and the rules Fiskl is ready to suggest. Finish and create rule on the selection bar finishes a merchant and opens the rule dialog in one step
Settings > AI & Automations > RulesThe full record across every account. Every rule with Edit and Delete, every suggestion with its evidence, the merchants still waiting, and the merchants Fiskl declined and why

Most rules are created from the transactions list, at the moment you are looking at the merchant. Settings is where you go to tidy up: edit a rule's value, delete one, dismiss a suggestion for good, or approve several suggestions at once. See Finishing Transactions for the transactions-list workflow, and AI & Automations Settings for the settings pages.

What a rule gives you that the AI cannot​

The AI is good at the obvious. It reads NETFLIX.COM and picks Subscriptions, and most of the time that is right. A rule is for everything the bank line does not say, and for the things you want settled rather than guessed.

  • Certainty. A rule is applied exactly as written, every time. There is no confidence score, no drift from one month to the next, and nothing to finish. The AI is never asked about that merchant again, so it uses no tokens.
  • The tax rate. The AI never chooses a tax rate, because a wrong rate reaches your VAT or GST return. A rule can name one, and it is applied with the account.
  • The vendor. A rule can attach one of your vendors, so every transaction it places is filed under the right supplier. The AI does not attach vendors.
  • Direction. The same merchant can mean two things. Money out to a supplier is a purchase; money in from them is a refund. A rule for each direction sends them to different accounts.
  • What only you know. OCTOPUS ENERGY is a utility bill to the AI. To you it is the EV charging point at the office, and belongs under Motor Expenses. AMAZON is Office Supplies unless the line says AWS. The rule's Note field is where that knowledge lives, in your own words. Fi reads it when you ask about the merchant, your team sees it on the rule, and the AI takes it into account for transactions the rule does not cover. It is not matched on and not written to the transaction.
  • Your backlog. Within about a minute of saving, a rule runs over every transaction still uncategorised. The AI never revisits a transaction it has already looked at.

The AI profile's Bookkeeping preferences can hold the same knowledge as prose, and the AI reads it as context. The difference is that a preference informs a guess and a rule replaces it. When you know the answer, write the rule.

What a rule is​

A rule has three parts: what to match, which direction of money, and what to apply.

PartOptions
MatchName contains, Description contains, or Vendor or client
DirectionAny, Money out, or Money in
ApplyA ledger account, a tax rate, or both, and optionally a vendor
NoteUp to 200 characters in your own words about the merchant, such as "the EV charging point at the office" or "unless the line says AWS". Shown on the rule and read by Fi; not matched on
ActiveSwitch a rule off without deleting it. An inactive rule keeps its settings and does nothing

A rule that names an account categorises the transaction outright. The transaction arrives already finished, because a rule is your own instruction and there is nothing to review: it shows an R badge in the AI column instead of a confidence score, and its row menu offers Open rule, which takes you to the rule in Settings. A rule that names only a tax rate lets history or the AI choose the account and attaches the rate to whatever they choose. A rule needs at least one of the two.

A rule can also name a vendor. When the rule matches, that vendor is attached to the transaction, so a rule for Amazon can file every Amazon purchase under your Amazon vendor. The vendor is applied, never matched on.

Matching is a plain, case-insensitive "contains" test. There are no wildcards or patterns. A rule for spotify matches SPOTIFY P4471829 STOCKHOLM SWE and Spotify Premium UK alike. Use the stable part of the merchant name, such as British Gas, not the full line with its reference number.

info

Vendor or client rules do not run on bank-feed transactions, because a bank feed supplies a merchant name rather than a vendor record. Use Name contains for anything that arrives from your bank.

Fiskl suggests the vendor​

When the rule dialog opens from a bank transaction, Fiskl looks for the vendor in your own vendor list. It strips the bank's noise from the merchant name (LTD, DD, DIRECT DEBIT, reference numbers) and compares what is left with your vendors' names. If one vendor clearly matches, it is selected for you: VODAFONE LTD DD 4920194821 lands on your Vodafone vendor. If two or three come close, they are listed under Suggested at the top of the vendor picker and nothing is selected. If nothing matches, Create New Vendor opens with a tidy version of the merchant name, such as Pact Coffee, ready to save or edit.

Fiskl only ever suggests vendors from your own company, and it errs on the side of asking: a vendor on a rule is attached to every transaction that rule places, so an uncertain match is shown, not chosen. To correct a suggestion, open the vendor field and pick another vendor, or select None to save the rule without one.

The same lookup runs when you create a transaction by hand. As you type the name, the Vendor field fills in when one of your vendors clearly matches. A vendor you picked yourself is never changed.

Create a rule from the transactions list​

Three entry points, all under Accounting > Transactions:

  • From the review strip. Select a waiting merchant's chip, check the accounts, then select Finish and create rule on the selection bar. The transactions are finished and the rule dialog opens prefilled with the merchant, direction and account. This is the main workflow; see Finishing Transactions for the full walk-through.
  • From a suggestion on the strip. A chip marked Add rule is a rule Fiskl is ready to suggest. Select it to open the dialog straight away.
  • From a transaction. Open any saved, categorised transaction and select Create rule. The dialog opens with the merchant token and account filled in. After you save or finish a transaction, Fiskl may also ask Always book "X" as Y?; select Create rule to open the dialog, or Don't offer again to switch the prompt off for your user.

Check the prefilled value before saving. Fiskl cuts the token at the first number in the transaction name, so OCTOPUS ENERGY ELEC DD REF 12345 is offered as OCTOPUS ENERGY ELEC. Shortening it to OCTOPUS ENERGY is fine as long as it still identifies only that merchant.

Write a rule in Settings​

  1. In the left sidebar, select Settings > AI & Automations > Rules
  2. Select Add rule
  3. Select the match type and enter the value
  4. Select a direction, or leave Any
  5. Select an account, a tax rate, or both
  6. Optionally, select or create the vendor to attach
  7. Optionally, enter a Note explaining what this merchant is to your business
  8. Select Save

A company can hold up to 100 rules. When two rules match the same transaction, the older one wins.

Approve a suggested rule​

Fiskl proposes rules from the transactions you have finished. A merchant is suggested when you have finished it, the same way, at least twice. Suggestions appear in both places:

  • On the review strip, as chips marked Add rule, for rules that would place transactions in the account you are looking at. Select one to open the dialog prefilled.
  • Under Settings > AI & Automations > Rules, as rules ready to add, for the whole company. Each shows the Name contains token with sample transaction names, the account, tax rate and vendor it would apply, the evidence (how many times you categorised it that way, and any disagreement), and would settle, the number of transactions still uncategorised today that the rule would place. Select Add on one, or Add all to save them together. Fiskl runs them over your uncategorised transactions within about a minute.

To remove a suggestion for good, select Dismiss on its row in Settings. Fiskl does not suggest that merchant again.

Why a merchant is not suggested​

The Rules page in Settings explains itself in two places.

Merchants waiting to be finished. These are merchants the automation categorised that you have not finished. They are not suggested because only your own decisions become rules; an AI guess, however confident, does not count. Select Review them to open those transactions with the review strip ready. Finish them, and the suggestion appears on your next visit.

Merchants Fiskl looked at but will not suggest. These are merchants Fiskl examined and declined, with the reason:

  • Booked to more than one account — you have categorised this merchant name to different accounts. Two kinds of purchase may share a name. A rule would be wrong for one of them.
  • Other transactions with this name went elsewhere — the token would also match transactions you categorised differently. A rule for Amazon would also catch your Amazon Prime transactions if those went to a different account.
  • One of your rules already covers it — no second rule is needed.

You can still write the rule yourself if you know better than the evidence, with a narrower token or a direction.

What happens after a rule is saved​

Within about a minute, Fiskl runs your rules over every transaction that is still uncategorised and outside your locked period, and categorises the ones that match. Transactions you have already categorised are never changed by a new rule. The rule then applies to every future import.

Every transaction a rule places carries the R badge and, if the rule names one, the vendor. Changing the account on such a transaction by hand makes it yours and removes the badge. Deleting a rule leaves the transactions it placed exactly as they are.

Common Issues​

I added a rule but my existing transactions did not change

Rules only fill in transactions that are still on an Uncategorised account. If the transactions already have an account, even a wrong one, the rule leaves them alone. Correct them by hand and finish them, or clear the account, select them and use Categorise.

My rule never matches

Check the match type. Vendor or client rules do not run on bank transactions; use Name contains. Then check the value against the actual transaction name. A value that includes a reference number, such as SPOTIFY P4471829, matches that one transaction only. Shorten it to the merchant name under Settings > AI & Automations > Rules.

I have reached the 100-rule limit

Delete rules you no longer need under Settings > AI & Automations > Rules. Suggestions that would put you over the limit show a disabled Add button until you have room.

The rule dialog says a rule already covers this merchant

An existing rule matches the same name. Select Open rules to see it. If it should apply a different account, edit that rule rather than adding a second one; when two rules match, the older one wins.