# Bank rules: categorise the routine automatically

> A rule puts every bank line whose description contains some words into a category, as it arrives. Bookalyze also suggests rules for payees you keep categorising the same way.

Category: Banking · Web page: https://bookalyze.com/guides/bank-rules

## Make a rule

**Where in Bookalyze:** Banking → Rules

- **When the description contains** some words (case and spacing don't matter)
- **Money** in, out or either, and optionally **on** one bank or card account
- **Amount from / up to**, if it should only catch some sizes
- **Put it in** a category, and optionally a customer or vendor

The form counts the uncategorised transactions it would catch: **Save and categorize N** applies it to them straight away. Rules run in order; the first that matches wins.

> **Tip:** In a transaction's dialog, **Make a rule** opens the form filled in from it.

## Suggested rules

When you've categorised the same payee the same way by hand at least three times in the last year, it appears under **Suggested for you**. Make this rule opens it filled in; the X turns it down for good.

## What you should see

What you should see:
- [ ] Rule-categorised transactions show a wand on the Transactions list
- [ ] They stay unreviewed, so you still tick them
- [ ] Each rule says how many transactions it has categorised

## Related guides

- [Transactions: review, categorise, split, copy, remove](https://bookalyze.com/guides/transactions.md): Every line that moves money in or out of a bank, card or cash account, in one list. Categorise straight on the list, split across categories, copy one that repeats, and tick it reviewed.
- [Upload bank statements from any bank](https://bookalyze.com/guides/upload-bank-statements.md): For banks without a live connection: upload the statement CSV, match its columns once, and every later upload reuses them. The same file twice adds nothing twice.
- [Connect Wise: make a read-only API token](https://bookalyze.com/guides/connect-wise.md): Create a read-only token in Wise, paste it into Bookalyze, and every Wise balance syncs to your books each day, in every currency, with fees split out.