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🤖 Rules & Automation

FinTrack Platform's unified rules engine is what sets it apart from other finance apps. Instead of manually categorizing hundreds of transactions, create smart rules once and let automation handle the rest.

🎯 Why Rules Matter​

The Manual Problem​

Without rules, you'd spend hours each month:

  • ❌ Categorizing the same merchants over and over
  • ❌ Manually tagging recurring transactions
  • ❌ Trying to remember which category each expense belongs to
  • ❌ Losing track of spending patterns in the data noise

The Automated Solution​

With smart rules, FinTrack:

  • ✅ Automatically categorizes 80-90% of transactions
  • ✅ Learns patterns from your transaction history
  • ✅ Suggests rules based on recurring patterns
  • ✅ Maintains consistency across all your data

🧠 How the Rules Engine Works​

Core Concept​

Rules use conditions and actions:

IF [condition] THEN [action]

Example:
IF description contains "STARBUCKS"
THEN categorize as "Dining Out"

Rule Components​

Conditions (When to trigger)​

  • Description contains: Text matching in transaction description
  • Merchant equals: Exact merchant name match
  • Amount equals: Specific dollar amount
  • Amount range: Between minimum and maximum amounts
  • Account: Specific account the transaction came from
  • Date range: Transactions within certain dates
  • Is recurring: Transactions that repeat regularly

Actions (What to do)​

  • Categorize: Assign to expense/income category
  • Set merchant: Standardize merchant names
  • Add tags: Apply labels for filtering
  • Mark as recurring: Flag subscription-like transactions
  • Set notes: Add automatic descriptions

🚀 Getting Started with Rules​

Your First Rule​

Let's create a rule for your salary:

  1. Go to Unified Rules page
  2. Click "Create Rule"
  3. Set condition:
    • Field: "Description"
    • Operator: "Contains"
    • Value: "PAYROLL" (or your company name)
  4. Set action:
    • Action: "Categorize"
    • Category: "Salary"
  5. Test with existing transactions
  6. Save the rule

Common First Rules​

Here are the most valuable rules to create first:

Income Rules​

IF description contains "PAYROLL" → Salary
IF description contains "FREELANCE" → Freelance Income
IF amount equals $3500.00 → Salary (if amount is always the same)

Fixed Expenses​

IF description contains "RENT" AND amount equals $1200 → Housing
IF merchant equals "STATE FARM" → Insurance
IF description contains "ELECTRIC" → Utilities

Common Merchants​

IF merchant contains "STARBUCKS" → Dining Out
IF merchant contains "SHELL" → Transportation
IF merchant contains "AMAZON" → Shopping
IF merchant contains "SAFEWAY" → Groceries

🔍 Pattern Detection (AI-Powered)​

Automatic Rule Discovery​

FinTrack's pattern detection analyzes your transaction history to suggest rules:

  1. Navigate to Rules → Pattern Detection
  2. Click "Analyze Transactions"
  3. Review discovered patterns
  4. Approve rules that look correct
  5. Edit or reject rules that need adjustment

What Patterns Are Found​

Exact Description Patterns​

Found 12 transactions: "MONTHLY PARKING PASS"
Suggested rule: Categorize as Transportation
Confidence: 95%

Merchant Patterns​

Found 8 transactions at "WHOLE FOODS MARKET"
Suggested rule: Categorize as Groceries
Confidence: 90%

Amount-Based Patterns​

Found 6 transactions: $1,200.00 to "PROPERTY MGMT"
Suggested rule: Rent payment → Housing
Confidence: 88%

Recurring Patterns​

Found monthly pattern: $15.99 to "NETFLIX"
Suggested rule: Mark as recurring subscription
Confidence: 92%

Pattern Confidence Levels​

  • 🟢 90-100%: Very confident - likely safe to approve
  • 🟡 70-89%: Moderately confident - review before approving
  • 🔴 Under 70%: Low confidence - needs manual review

🎛️ Advanced Rule Types​

Conditional Logic​

Create complex rules with multiple conditions:

AND Logic​

IF description contains "AMAZON" 
AND amount > $50.00
THEN categorize as "Major Shopping"

OR Logic​

IF merchant equals "SHELL" 
OR merchant equals "EXXON"
OR merchant equals "BP"
THEN categorize as "Gas"

Amount Ranges​

IF merchant contains "RESTAURANT"
AND amount between $20.00 and $100.00
THEN categorize as "Dining Out"

Subscription Detection​

Automatically identify and track recurring payments:

IF amount equals $12.99
AND description contains "SPOTIFY"
AND is_recurring = true
THEN categorize as "Entertainment" 
AND tag as "Subscription"

Account-Specific Rules​

Different rules for different accounts:

IF account equals "Chase Credit Card"
AND merchant contains "GAS STATION"
THEN categorize as "Transportation"

IF account equals "Checking Account"  
AND merchant contains "GAS STATION"
THEN categorize as "Cash Withdrawal"

📊 Rule Management​

Rule Priority & Order​

Rules are processed in order - first match wins:

  1. Most specific rules first (exact amounts, exact merchants)
  2. Medium specificity (partial text matches)
  3. Broad rules last (catch-all categories)

Organizing Your Rules​

Rule Categories​

Group rules by type:

  • 💰 Income Rules: Salary, freelance, investments
  • 🏠 Fixed Expenses: Rent, insurance, utilities
  • 🍕 Variable Expenses: Food, entertainment, shopping
  • 💳 Account Management: Transfers, fees, payments

Rule Naming Convention​

Use clear, descriptive names:

  • ✅ "Starbucks → Dining Out"
  • ✅ "Rent Payment ($1200) → Housing"
  • ✅ "Amazon under $25 → Household Items"
  • ❌ "Rule 1"
  • ❌ "Amazon rule"

Testing & Validation​

Rule Testing​

Before saving a rule:

  1. Test against recent transactions
  2. Check how many transactions would match
  3. Verify the categorization makes sense
  4. Look for edge cases that might cause problems

Rule Performance Monitoring​

Track how well your rules work:

  • Match rate: Percentage of transactions automatically categorized
  • Accuracy: Percentage of automatic categorizations that are correct
  • Coverage: Percentage of spending covered by rules

🔄 Workflow Automation​

Import + Rules Workflow​

Set up your workflow for maximum efficiency:

  1. Import new transactions (weekly)
  2. Auto-apply all rules to new transactions
  3. Review uncategorized transactions (should be under 20%)
  4. Create new rules for recurring uncategorized items
  5. Adjust existing rules if needed

Rule Maintenance Schedule​

Weekly (5 minutes)​

  • Review any uncategorized transactions
  • Create quick rules for new recurring merchants
  • Fix any obvious mis-categorizations

Monthly (15 minutes)​

  • Analyze rule performance and coverage
  • Merge similar rules for efficiency
  • Update rules for changed spending patterns
  • Clean up unused or redundant rules

Quarterly (30 minutes)​

  • Full rule audit - remove unused rules
  • Reorganize rule order for better performance
  • Update categories if spending patterns changed
  • Export rule backup for safekeeping

🎯 Rule Strategy by Lifestyle​

For Students​

Focus on simple categories and low-maintenance rules:

Dining hall meals → Food
Textbook purchases → Education
Part-time job → Income
ATM withdrawals → Cash

For Young Professionals​

Emphasize career-building and subscription tracking:

Salary → Income
Professional development → Career
Lunch near office → Work Dining
Gym membership → Health & Fitness
Streaming services → Entertainment

For Families​

Complex rules for household management:

Grocery stores → Groceries
School expenses → Children/Education
Medical appointments → Healthcare
Family entertainment → Entertainment
Childcare → Childcare

For Retirees​

Focus on healthcare, travel, and fixed income:

Social Security → Retirement Income
Medicare payments → Healthcare
Travel expenses → Travel & Leisure
Home maintenance → Housing
Investment distributions → Investment Income

💡 Pro Tips for Rule Success​

Start Simple, Scale Up​

  1. Begin with your most frequent transactions
  2. Create broad rules first (e.g., all Amazon → Shopping)
  3. Refine with specific rules later (Amazon under $25 → Household)
  4. Add complexity as you learn your patterns

Common Pitfalls to Avoid​

Over-Categorization​

❌ Don't create 50+ categories
✅ Start with 10-15 main categories

Too-Specific Rules​

❌ Rule for every single transaction
✅ Rules that capture patterns (5+ transactions)

Conflicting Rules​

❌ Multiple rules that could match the same transaction
✅ Clear hierarchy and specific conditions

Rule Efficiency Tips​

  • Use merchant names instead of description when possible (more reliable)
  • Set amount ranges rather than exact amounts for flexibility
  • Group similar merchants in single rules (OR conditions)
  • Test rules before applying to large transaction sets

📈 Measuring Rule Success​

Key Metrics​

Track these statistics to optimize your rules:

  • Auto-categorization rate: Goal 80-90%
  • Time spent on manual categorization: Goal under 30 minutes/month
  • Rule accuracy: Goal >95% correct categorizations
  • Coverage: Goal >90% of spending captured by rules

Monthly Rule Report​

FinTrack provides insights on:

  • Most active rules (which rules fire most often)
  • Unused rules (rules that never match)
  • Rule conflicts (multiple rules matching same transactions)
  • Uncategorized patterns (new rule opportunities)

🔧 Troubleshooting Rules​

Rule Not Firing​

  1. Check spelling in conditions (case-sensitive)
  2. Verify field mapping (description vs merchant)
  3. Test condition with known matching transaction
  4. Check rule order (earlier rule might be matching first)

Wrong Categorizations​

  1. Review rule conditions - might be too broad
  2. Check for partial matches causing unexpected results
  3. Verify category mapping is correct
  4. Add exclusion conditions if needed

Performance Issues​

  1. Simplify complex rules with many conditions
  2. Remove unused rules to speed processing
  3. Combine similar rules for efficiency
  4. Use indexed fields (merchant, amount) when possible

🚀 What's Next?​

Once your rules are working well:

  1. Explore advanced dashboard features powered by your clean data
  2. Set up account preferences for optimal experience
  3. Learn about data export for external analysis

Smart rules are the key to effortless financial tracking!

Happy automating! 🤖