This is part of our Bank Feeds and Reconciliation series (Chapter 3 of the Xero tutorial hub):

• Lesson 1: Connecting Your Bank Feed to Xero
• Lesson 2: Daily Reconciliation in Xero Made Simple
• Lesson 3: Setting Up Bank Rules in Xero to Save Time
• Lesson 4: Handling Personal Spend and Owner Drawings in Xero

If you pay the same supplier or expense regularly, a bank rule can code it automatically so you are not repeating the same clicks every week.

1. Create a rule from a transaction

From the reconcile screen, you can create a rule directly from a transaction you have just coded, telling Xero to do the same next time.

2. Set the matching conditions

Rules can match based on the payee name, amount, or reference, so they only apply to the right transactions.

3. Review your rules occasionally

It is worth checking your list of bank rules every few months, since suppliers change and an old rule can miscode something new.

4. Do not over-automate

Rules work best for genuinely repetitive transactions. One-off or unusual payments are usually safer coded manually.

Xero’s official YouTube channel covers setting up bank rules: watch the official Xero tutorial. Our offsite bookkeeping team can help set these up as part of your ongoing bookkeeping.