AI & Automations Settings
This page explains the AI & Automations section of Settings: what each of its three pages controls, and which of them you will actually open day to day. Most rule work happens on the transactions list, not here. This section is where you set the switches, describe your business to the AI, and see every rule in one place.
Accessing AI & Automations​
In the left sidebar, select Settings > AI & Automations. The section has three pages.
| Page | What it holds | When you open it |
|---|---|---|
| AI profile | Your business description and bookkeeping preferences, in your own words | Once when you set up, then when something about the business changes |
| Automations | The switches for what runs on a transaction before you see it, the retry option, and this month's AI usage | When you turn a step on or off |
| Rules | Every categorisation rule, the merchants waiting to be finished, the rules Fiskl is ready to suggest, and the ones it declined | To edit or delete a rule, dismiss a suggestion, or see the whole company at once |
You need company write permission to open these pages. See Roles and Permissions.
AI profile​
The AI profile is two text fields: what you would tell a new bookkeeper on their first morning. Fi reads it every time it answers a finance question, and the categoriser reads it every time it asks the AI about a transaction.
- Business description — who you are and what you do, up to 1,500 characters. For example, "Small design studio in Bristol, two partners, VAT registered, most clients on monthly retainers."
- Bookkeeping preferences — standing instructions, up to 2,500 characters. For example, "Book all Amazon purchases to Office Supplies unless the line says AWS. Treat EE statements as Telephone & Internet."
Enter the text and select Save changes on the bar at the bottom of the page.
Fiskl treats the profile as information about your company, never as instructions. It does not override accounting rules, tax law or your permissions. A preference here improves the AI's choices between plausible accounts; it does not guarantee one. When you want a merchant booked the same way every time, write a rule instead. See Categorisation Rules and Suggestions.
Automations​
The Automations page lists what Fiskl does to a transaction before you look at it. The steps run in order on every transaction a bank feed brings in. Anything they cannot place is left for you.
| Switch | What it does | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Auto Matching | Pairs imported bank transactions with your invoices, expenses and internal transfers | Free |
| Auto Categorisation | Assigns a ledger account using your rules first, then your own finished history | Free |
| AI Categorisation | Sends what rules and history could not place to an AI model. Only answers at 80% confidence or higher are written to your books | Measured, nothing to pay. Needs Auto Categorisation on |
| Auto-itemise bills | Breaks uploaded invoices into individual expense lines | Free |
| Review scanned bills before posting | Saves scanned invoices as draft bills so line items can be checked before they post. Only turn this on if you track inventory | Free |
Toggle a switch and select Save changes. Turning Auto Categorisation off also stops AI Categorisation, because the AI is only ever asked about what rules and history left behind.
For how the three categorisation steps work together and why the 80% line sits where it does, see How Auto-Categorisation Works.
Retry categorisation​
Retry categorisation appears on this page when transactions were looked at and left uncategorised. Automation never revisits a transaction on its own, so a rule you added since, or a merchant you have finished since, does not reach them until you ask.
- Under Retry categorisation, read the count of transactions waiting
- Leave Also ask the AI again unticked unless something has changed since the AI last looked, such as a new rule or a fuller AI profile. The AI returns the same answer it gave before unless it has
- Select Retry, then confirm
The transactions are reconsidered on the next run, within about a minute. Nothing you have already categorised is touched, and transactions in your locked period are not included.
To categorise a chosen set of transactions instead of everything waiting, select them on the transactions list and use Categorise on the selection bar. See Categorising a Selection.
This month's AI usage​
When the AI has categorised anything this month, a line at the top of the page reads, for example, AI categorisation this month: 4,800 tokens for 36 transactions. These tokens are not deducted from your Fi AI tokens and there is nothing to pay. Select See which merchants drove it to open the usage page.
The way to bring that number down is rules. Every merchant covered by a rule is placed without asking the AI. See Selecting Plans for the usage page itself.
Rules​
The Rules page is the complete record of categorisation rules for the company, across every account. It has four parts:
- Your rules — every rule, with Edit and Delete on each row and Add rule at the top. A company can hold up to 100 rules
- Merchants waiting to be finished — merchants the automation categorised that nobody has confirmed. Select Review them to open the transactions list with those rows ready to finish
- Rules ready to add — rules Fiskl proposes from the transactions you have finished, each with its evidence and how many uncategorised transactions it would settle today. Select Add on one, or Add all
- Merchants Fiskl looked at but will not suggest — with the reason for each, so you know why a rule is not offered
You rarely need this page for the day-to-day work. The transactions list shows the same waiting merchants and ready rules for the account you are looking at, and lets you finish a merchant and create its rule in one step. Come here when you want to see every account at once, edit or delete a rule, or dismiss a suggestion for good. See Finishing Transactions.
For what a rule matches, how a suggestion is earned, and why some merchants are declined, see Categorisation Rules and Suggestions.
Common Issues​
I cannot see AI & Automations in Settings
The section needs company write permission. Ask the account owner to change your role, or to make the change for you. See Roles and Permissions.
AI Categorisation is greyed out
Auto Categorisation is off. The AI only ever looks at what your rules and history could not place, so it cannot run on its own. Toggle Auto Categorisation on, then AI Categorisation, and select Save changes.
I updated the AI profile but the AI still categorises a merchant the same way
The profile is context, not an instruction, and the AI does not look again at transactions it has already answered. Two fixes: add a rule for the merchant under Rules, which is enforced exactly as written; or select Retry under Retry categorisation with Also ask the AI again ticked, so the AI sees the fuller profile.
Related Topics​
- How Auto-Categorisation Works — Rules, history and the AI, in order, and the cycle that makes them learn
- Finishing Transactions — The day-to-day workflow on the transactions list
- Categorisation Rules and Suggestions — What a rule is and how suggestions are earned
- Categorising a Selection — Run categorisation over chosen transactions now
- Accounting Settings — Fiscal year, accounting method and standard income accounts
- Fi - Your AI CFO — The advisor that reads your AI profile