Reconciliation Automation Rules

#Rule Types

Light includes two types of rules:

System Rules - Built-in rules that match common scenarios. You can enable/disable but not modify them.

User Rules - Custom rules you create for your specific business scenarios.

System rules typically handle:

• Open invoice matching (AR invoices)
• Open payable matching (AP invoices)
• End-to-end payment matching (payment creation through posting)
• Reference number matching (invoice/check numbers)
• Amount and date matching (fuzzy matching with tolerance)

#Creating Custom Rules

Create custom matching rules for specific needs:

1. Go to Accounting > Bank reconciliation to manage automation rules
2. Click Create Rule
3. Enter rule name and description
4. Define the rule's matching criteria and action
5. Set the order (when to apply relative to other rules)
6. Click Save

Rules are evaluated in order (lowest order number first), and the first matching rule applies.

#Rule Conditions

Rules use conditions to determine which transactions they apply to:

Amount Conditions:

• Exact amount
• Amount range
• Amount above/below threshold

Date Conditions:

• Specific date
• Date range
• Days since transaction

Reference Conditions:

• Contains specific text
• Starts with or ends with
• Invoice/check number match

Transaction Type:

• Debit (withdrawal)
• Credit (deposit)
• Both

Conditions are combined with AND/OR logic for complex scenarios.

#Rule Actions

Each rule specifies an action—what to match to:

Match with Journal Entry - Match to general ledger journal entries with:

• Specific ledger accounts
• Custom property values
• Amount and date criteria

Match with Customer Credit - For customer payments that offset AR invoices:

• Specify customer or all customers
• Link to customer credit GL accounts

Match with Credit Note - For vendor credit memos that offset AP invoices:

• Specify vendor or all vendors
• Link to credit note GL accounts

Match with Open Invoice - For payments that match specific invoices:

• Match to unpaid AR or AP invoices
• Use reference number if available

#Example Rules

Rule: International Wire Transfers

• Condition: Amount > $50,000 AND Description contains "Wire"
• Action: Match with Journal Entry to International Receivables account
• Order: 1

Rule: Daily Stripe Deposits

• Condition: Description contains "Stripe" AND Date = Today
• Action: Match with Journal Entry to Stripe Clearing account
• Order: 2

Rule: Vendor Checks

• Condition: Description contains "Check" OR Reference matches invoice number
• Action: Match with Credit Note
• Order: 3

Rule: Customer ACH Deposits

• Condition: Amount between $1-$100,000 AND Debit/Credit = Credit
• Action: Match with Open Invoice (AR)
• Order: 4

#Rule Order and Priority

Rules are applied in ascending order by their order number:

• Order 1 - Most specific rules (exact amounts, specific vendors)
• Order 2-5 - Medium specificity rules
• Order 10+ - Catch-all rules (any amount, all vendors)

A transaction stops evaluation once a matching rule is found. To prevent overlapping:

• Put most specific rules first (lower order number)
• Put broad catch-all rules last (higher order number)

For example, if you have "Wire transfers" and "All transactions," put the wire rule first.

#Testing Rules

Before activating a rule, test it:

1. Go to Accounting > Bank reconciliation to manage automation rules
2. Find the rule and click Test
3. Select or create test transactions
4. View which transactions match the rule
5. Verify the matching is correct

Testing prevents the rule from incorrectly matching unintended transactions.

#Disabling and Archiving Rules

You can disable rules without deleting them:

1. Find the rule in the list
2. Click Disable (system rules) or Deactivate (custom rules)
3. The rule stops applying but remains for reference

To permanently remove:

1. Click Archive
2. The rule is hidden but can be restored if needed

#Rule Statistics

View rule usage and effectiveness:

1. Go to Accounting → Bank reconciliation → Rule Statistics
2. View for each rule:
   • Runs - How many times the rule has been evaluated
   • Matches - How many transactions were matched
   • Success rate - % of transactions correctly matched
   • Last run - When the rule last applied

Use statistics to optimize your rules—if a rule never matches, consider disabling it.

#Conflict Resolution

If multiple rules could match the same transaction:

• First rule wins - The first matching rule (by order) applies
• No double-matching - Each transaction is matched at most once
• Manual override - You can clear an auto-match and manually match differently

If you find rules conflicting, adjust the order so the more specific rule comes first.

#Amount Tolerance

For rules with amount fuzzy-matching:

Exact match - Amounts must be identical

Rounding tolerance - Allow differences up to $0.01 (for rounding)

Fee tolerance - Allow differences up to stated fee amount (for bank fees)

Percentage tolerance - Allow difference up to X% of amount

For example, a rule might allow FX transactions to differ by 2% due to conversion rates.

#Reference Number Matching

Many rules use reference number matching:

Invoice number - Matches bank transaction reference to invoice number in GL

Check number - For check payments, matches check number in bank feed to GL

External reference - Custom reference field you define

When the bank description contains the invoice/check number, the system can automatically identify the matching GL entry.

#Vendor/Customer Specific Rules

Some rules apply only to specific business partners:

1. Create the rule with condition: "Vendor ID = [specific vendor]"
2. Match to that vendor's GL accounts
3. Repeat for other vendors needing specific treatment

This is useful for vendors with unique payment patterns or GL accounts.

#Recurring vs. One-Time Rules

Recurring rules - Apply continuously (e.g., monthly rent payment)

One-time rules - Apply once for a specific period (e.g., special project)

Set an expiration date on one-time rules so they stop applying automatically.

#Audit Trail of Matches

Track which rule matched each transaction:

1. Go to Accounting → Bank reconciliation → Cleared Transactions
2. View matched transactions and see which rule matched them
3. If a match was made by rule X but was incorrect, disable rule X and manually match

This helps identify problematic rules.

#Best Practices

• Start simple - Begin with 3-5 core rules before adding complexity
• Test before deployment - Always test rules on sample data
• Monitor effectiveness - Review rule statistics monthly
• Keep specific rules first - Prevent overly-broad rules from matching unintended transactions
• Document rules - Use descriptive names and notes explaining the rule's purpose
• Review quarterly - As business patterns change, update rules
• Archive old rules - Clean up rules that are no longer needed

#Related Articles

• Automated bank reconciliation
• Resolving discrepancies
• Multi-currency reconciliation