Understanding Bank Rules in Sage Intacct

Bank reconciliation often raises questions about matching transactions, creating rules, and managing exceptions. To address these common challenges, we are launching a blog series focused on frequently asked questions and practical guidance for making the reconciliation process more efficient and accurate.

In the first blog of the series, we explore bank rules in Sage Intacct. Future posts will cover additional bank reconciliation topics, including matching transactions and creating reconciliations.

Bank Rules in Sage Intacct

Bank rules in Sage Intacct can help finance teams manage bank transactions and complete reconciliations more efficiently. Creation rules can create transactions that have not already been recorded in Intacct, while matching rules can connect bank activity to existing transactions.

Selecting the right type of rule is an important first step. From there, users need to choose specific filters, test the rule and confirm that it works as intended. If a rule does not trigger or a bank feed becomes disconnected, a few common troubleshooting steps can help identify the issue.

Understanding Bank and Credit Card Transaction Types

Before creating a rule, it is important to understand how bank and credit card activity appears in the feed.

For bank accounts, transactions generally appear as:

• Bank debit: A withdrawal that decreases the bank balance. Examples include vendor payments, employee payments, service charges and manual payments.
• Bank credit: A deposit that increases the bank balance. Examples include customer payments, other receipts and interest earned.

For credit card accounts, transactions generally appear as:

• Credit card debit: A charge that increases the credit card balance. Examples include purchases and service fees.
• Credit card credit: A payment or credit that decreases the balance. Examples include statement payments, refunds, account credits and cash back.

Identifying the correct transaction type will help determine the filters used in a creation or matching rule.

Creation Rules vs. Matching Rules in Sage Intacct

When deciding which rule to use, ask the following questions:

• Does the transaction affect an accounts payable or accounts receivable subledger?
• Has the transaction already been recorded in Intacct?
• Does the bank activity need to create a transaction or match an existing transaction?

When to Use a Creation Rule

Creation rules are used for transactions that do not need to post to a subledger and have not already been entered in Intacct.

Examples include:

• Charges that do not require approval
• Bank fees
• Interest earned
• Recurring online payments
• Refunds, credits and cash back
• Unexpected donor contributions

Transactions created as journal entries do not update 1099 information in the same way as a subledger transaction. Because of this, creation rules should not be used for transactions that need to update the 1099 field.

Creation rules should also not recreate transactions entered through another process. For example, payroll checks already imported through ADP should not be created again through a bank rule.

When to Use a Matching Rule

Matching rules are used when the transaction has already been recorded in Intacct and needs to be matched to an activity from the bank.

Examples include:

• Employee ACH payroll
• Payroll taxes
• Charge payoffs
• Charges that require approval
• Vendor payments

Matching rules can be especially useful when several transactions recorded in Intacct appear as one lump-sum transaction at the bank.

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