Allocation rules

Allocation rules are used to automatically allocate your incoming transactions to the correct accounts. You can save a lot of time in manual allocation by setting up rules.

Allocation rules work well for transactions that you receive regularly, and transactions that conform to a certain pattern—say, a certain monthly transaction that always come in with the same description, or is always the same amount. For example, you can easily set up rules for payments made to utility companies, or for fixed amounts like rent. Allocation rules won’t cover all transactions, but they save significant time once you’ve set them up.

When a transaction comes into MYOB Essentials Cashbook (either via bank feeds or an imported statement), it will be checked against the rules, and automatically allocated if it meets the criteria. Of course, you can always override or edit the allocation if there is an error.

Criteria for allocation rules

You can set up rules based on:

• a unique piece of text
• a specific amount
• a combination of the above.

To make sure the description text of a bank transaction is suitable to be used as an allocation rule, check that the same text appears regularly in transactions, and that the text is unique. It’s good practice to only use the main keyword that appears in the transaction, and not the entire text. You should be careful with rules that are only based on specific amounts, because there may be other transactions will have the same amount. In such cases, you can combine multiple rules to make sure your rules work correctly.

To create an allocation rule

1. Open the cashbook for the relevant business.

2. Open the allocation rules panel. You can do this in two ways:

   To…	Do this…
   Create allocation rules using an existing transaction as a basis, from the View and match transactions window.	Open Banking > View and match transactions Click on the transaction that you want to create a rule for. The transaction panel opens. Click on the Create rule tab.
   Create allocation rules from the Allocation Rules window.	Open Banking > Allocation rules Click the Add a new allocation rule button.

   The allocation rules panel appears.
   

3. Fill out the criteria for the rules:
   1. In the first field, choose whether you want to base the rule on the transaction description (If transaction description) or the transaction amount (If transaction amount).
   2. In the contains field, enter the description or the amount that the matching should be based on. Note that if you’re creating an allocation rule from the View and match transactions window, this field will automatically display the description or amount from the transaction. You can edit this if necessary.
   3. In the third field, choose the logic or action. What you choose here depends on the number of criteria you are using for the rule.
      • If you only have one criteria, choose THEN (the default option).
      • If you have more than one criteria, choose either AND or OR.

   4. For each criteria in the rule, repeat steps a to c.

4. When you have finished setting up the criteria, fill out the last row, the allocation row. In this row, you can also choose whether to split the transaction across multiple accounts.

   

   To…	Do this…
   Allocate the transaction to a single account	In the first field, select Allocate to. In the second field, select the MYOB Essentials Cashbook account you want to allocate the transaction to. In the third field, select the tax code that should apply.
   Split the transaction across multiple accounts	In the first field, select either Split Allocation by Percentage or Split Allocation by Amount. In the second field, enter the percentage or the amount you want to allocate first. Then, select the MYOB Essentials Cashbook account you want to allocate this amount to. Select the tax applicable to the amount. The remaining row will automatically show the balance percentage and amount. Note that you will not be able to edit this amount. In the remaining row, select the MYOB Essentials Cashbook account you want to allocate this amount to. Select the tax applicable to the amount. If you want to split the transaction over one more account, click Add another line, and fill out the fields (you may need to go back and edit the amount in previous rows).

5. When you have finished entering the criteria, and the allocation details, click Save.

   If you've created an allocation rule and your transaction hasn't updated to represent this, refresh your browser by pressing F5 on your keyboard.

All unallocated transactions will now be checked against your rule, and allocated automatically if the criteria match.