A categorization rule tells Mercury Books to categorize a transaction to a specific ledger account whenever it matches conditions you set. Rules take precedence over automatic categorization, so they're how you make a decision stick for every future transaction that looks the same.
Creating a rule
- Go to Rules page in Books
- Click Create rule
- Set your conditions
- Choose the ledger account transactions matching the rule should be categorized to
- Save the rule
Editing and removing rules
Open your rules from the settings icon above the transactions grid. From there you can change a rule's conditions or the account it assigns, or delete it.
Note: Changing a rule affects transactions going forward. It doesn't recategorize transactions that were already categorize.
How rules interact with everything else
Rules are the first layer of categorization. When a transaction matches one, the rule decides its category, and neither similarity matching nor the AI model overrides it.
If a transaction could match more than one rule, write your conditions tightly enough that only one applies. The more specific your conditions, the more predictable the outcome.
See our How auto-categorization works article for the full picture.
Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC.