Before You Start

This guide assumes you have access to the Xero banking tab and a basic understanding of bank feeds.

Overview

15 min
Setup Time
Intermediate
Difficulty
Weekly
Maintenance

What You’ll Learn

  • Leverage ‘Any’ vs. ‘All’ conditions for precise matching
  • Automate inter-account transfers seamlessly
  • Efficiently split transactions across multiple accounts
  • Handle partial payments and recurring expenses with ease

1. Preparation Steps

Before creating advanced bank rules, ensure these foundations are in place:

Required Xero Setup

  • Active bank feed connected to your Xero organization
  • Chart of Accounts reviewed and organized
  • Contacts for frequent payees/payers created

Recommended Best Practices

  • Avoid creating rules for one-off transactions
  • Regularly review bank rules for accuracy
  • Understand your most common transaction types

2. Understanding ‘Any’ vs. ‘All’ Conditions

The choice between ‘Any’ and ‘All’ conditions dictates how precisely your rule matches transactions.

‘Any’ Condition (Broad Match)
  • Matches if any of the specified conditions are met.
  • Useful for transactions with varying descriptions.
  • Less precise, higher chance of false positives.
‘All’ Condition (Exact Match)
  • Matches only if all conditions are met simultaneously.
  • Ideal for consistent, specific transaction types.
  • Highly precise, lower chance of incorrect coding.

Expert Tip: For critical transactions like payroll or loan repayments, always use the ‘All’ condition to minimize errors. For less sensitive items like office supplies from various vendors, ‘Any’ might suffice.

3. Step-by-Step: The 5 Power-User Rules

Mastering these rules will significantly boost your Xero bank reconciliation efficiency.

Here is a sample structure for a bank rule definition (conceptual):

{
  "rule_name": "Recurring Software Subscription",
  "conditions": {
    "type": "All",
    "criteria": [
      { "field": "description", "contains": "SAAS_COMPANY_NAME" },
      { "field": "amount", "is": "Fixed", "value": 99.99 }
    ]
  },
  "actions": {
    "account": "Software Subscriptions (Expense)",
    "contact": "SAAS Company Inc.",
    "tracking_category": "Operations"
  }
}

4. Implementing Advanced Xero Bank Rules

  1. 1

    Transfer Rule (Between Bank Accounts)

    Create a rule to automatically reconcile funds moved between your Xero-connected bank accounts. Use ‘Payee contains [Other Bank Account Name]’ and ‘Transfer Money’.

  2. 2

    Split Line Rule (Multiple Accounts)

    For transactions that need to be allocated to several accounts (e.g., a single payment covering rent and utilities), set up a rule to split the amount by percentage or fixed value.

  3. 3

    Partial Payment Rule (Advanced)

    Handle situations where a transaction matches part of an invoice or bill. This requires careful setup using specific conditions to avoid over-applying.

  4. 4

    Keywords & Wildcards Rule

    Use keywords and wildcards (e.g., *supplier*) in the description field to catch variations of a vendor’s name or common transaction patterns.

  5. 5

    Fixed Amount Recurring Expense Rule

    Automate consistent monthly expenses like software subscriptions or loan repayments by matching a fixed amount and payee/description.

Common Pitfall: Overlapping Rules

Ensure your bank rules don’t overlap, as Xero processes them in a specific order. If multiple rules could apply, the one highest in the list (or most specific) will take precedence. Review rule order in Xero settings.

5. Testing Your Setup

Bank Rule Audit Checklist

  • Manually review transactions applied by new rules
  • Verify correct account, tax rate, and tracking categories
  • Check for any un-reconciled transactions that should have matched
  • Confirm ‘Any’/‘All’ conditions are working as intended

Need Help?

Optimize Your Xero

Struggling to get your bank rules just right? Our Xero experts can help streamline your processes.

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