Rules: file future transactions automatically
If you keep fixing the same charge by hand every month, a rule can do it for you. This guide shows how to write one, how to see what it will catch before you save it, and how to run it over the transactions you already have.
On this page
What a rule is
A rule watches for transactions that look a certain way and does something to each one it finds. It has two parts: the filters, such as “the name contains UBER”, and the steps, such as “file it under Transport”.
Open Automations from the navigation to see your rules. Each row reads the rule back in words: the filters, an arrow, then what it does. Underneath, a line says how many transactions it has changed, or Hasn't changed anything yet.
If you only want every charge from one merchant in the same category, you may not need a rule. Setting the category on the merchant's counterparty page does that, as Categorize a transaction explains. A rule is for anything more: a word in the name, an amount, an account, or more than one change at once.
Write a rule
- 1Start a new rule
On the Automations page, choose New automation. With no rules yet, the button reads Write your first automation. You can also start from a transaction: on its page, the wand icon labelled New automation opens a rule whose first filter already looks for that transaction's merchant in the name.
- 2Name it
Click Name this rule at the top and type a name you will recognize in the list.
- 3Set the filters
Under If the transaction…, describe the transactions the rule is for. The next section covers each choice.
- 4Add at least one step
Under Then…, choose Add a step and say what should happen.
- 5Check what it catches, then save
What this catches lists the matching transactions. When the list looks right, choose Save rule. The button stays greyed out until the rule has a name and at least one step.
From then on, the rule handles every new transaction as it arrives from your bank or an import.
Choose the filters
Each filter is one line with three parts: what to look at, how to compare it, and the value. Pick a field, such as Name, then a comparison, such as contains, then type or choose the value.
| Field | What it looks at |
|---|---|
| Name | What the transaction is called now, renames included |
| Original name | What the bank sent, whatever you have renamed it to |
| Merchant | The merchant the transaction was with |
| Amount | The amount, without a sign, so a charge and a refund of 20 are both 20 |
| Kind | Spending, income, a fee, interest, a refund, a transfer or a card payment |
| Account, Category, Tag | Where the transaction sits and how it is already filed |
| Date, Channel, Currency, Bank's category, Note | The rest of what the bank and you have recorded |
Choose Add a filter for another line. The switch above the filters decides how they combine: Matches all needs every filter to be true, Matches any needs just one.
For a rule that should catch two different kinds of transaction, choose …or match another set. The new set appears below an or line, and a transaction that matches either set is caught.
Choose the steps
Choose Add a step. A window asks where the step should happen: LumaLedger comes first, followed by the other apps a step can go through. Pick one, then choose what it should do.
| Step | What it does |
|---|---|
| Change category | Files the transaction under the category you pick |
| Mark as a transfer | Treats it as money moved to another of your accounts, not spending |
| Rename transaction | Changes what the charge is called, not what the bank sent |
| Apply tags, Remove tags | Adds or takes off tags, so you can find these transactions later |
| Split across categories | Divides the amount by percent, so a shared bill counts in each category |
| Ignore transaction | Keeps it in your ledger but out of your income and spending |
| Mark as business, Mark as personal | Puts it on one side of your ledger |
| Set the note, Mark as reviewed | Writes a note on it, or marks it as checked |
Steps run in order, one after the other. A step that goes through another app, such as Send an email or Post to Slack, needs that app connected. Until it is, the step says it won't run and offers to connect it. You connect apps under Settings, in Connected apps.
A Change category step only files transactions that belong under that kind of category. If the category is for spending, the rule passes over income that matches the same filters, such as a refund or a payout, and leaves it where it was.
Below the steps, Stop after this rule keeps every transaction this rule catches away from the rules below it in the list. Rules run from the top of the Automations list down, and each rule sees what the rules above it changed. So one rule can rename a charge, and a rule below it can file it by the new name.
Apply it to what you have
What this catches updates as you edit. It is checked against your most recent transactions, and changes nothing. You see a count, such as 12 of your last 2,000 transactions, and a list of the matches. Click one to open it.
Saving a rule does not touch transactions already on file. To run it over them, choose Apply to existing transactions at the bottom of the page. The button works once the rule is saved. A message then says how many transactions changed. If you have a long history, one run reaches only your most recent transactions; the message says so, and you can choose the button again to go further back.
Pause, change or delete a rule
Each row on the Automations page has a switch. Turn it off to pause the rule: the row shows Paused and new transactions pass it by. Turn it on again to resume. The same switch sits next to Save rule inside the rule.
To change a rule, click its name in the list, edit it, and choose Save rule. To remove it, choose Delete rule at the bottom of the rule and confirm. Deleting stops the rule from handling future transactions. What it already did stays: a category it set is simply that transaction's category now.
Frequently asked questions
I saved a rule. Why didn't my older transactions change?
A saved rule handles transactions that arrive after you save it. To run it over the ones already on file, open the rule and choose Apply to existing transactions at the bottom of the page.
Why didn't my rule catch a transaction it should have?
Open the rule and look at What this catches. Check the field: Name is what the transaction is called now, renames included, while Original name is what the bank sent. Amounts are compared without a sign, so add a Kind filter to tell spending from income. Also check whether a rule higher in the list has Stop after this rule turned on and caught it first.
Does deleting a rule undo what it did?
No. Deleting a rule stops it from handling future transactions. A category it set, a name it gave or a tag it added stays on those transactions until you change them.
Two of my rules match the same transaction. Which one wins?
Both run, from the top of the Automations list down, and the lower rule sees what the higher one changed. If they set the same thing, such as a category, the lower rule has the last word. Turn on Stop after this rule on the higher one to keep the lower one away.
Can I describe a rule in words instead of using the pickers?
Yes. On the Automations page, choose Write with the assistant (or Describe it in a chat when you have no rules yet) and say what should happen. The assistant writes the rule and shows it to you, and it is saved once you choose Approve.
Keep reading
Categorize a transaction, and move several at once
Change the category of one transaction, move a whole selection to a category in one go, and file every charge from a merchant the same way from now on.
Connected and manual accounts: which to use, and how to add each
How to connect a bank so it syncs by itself, how to add a bank or card by hand when it can't be connected, and how to file transfers between the two.
Set a budget for a month
Set a monthly or annual budget for a category, let unspent money roll over, give one month its own amount, and fill every budget in one go.