Working with Global Rules and Global Categories

Working with Global Rules and Global Categories

Notes
Prerequisites
This guide assumes you have already connected at least a few of your LedgerSync clients to QuickBooks Online and completed the initial integration setup. If you have not done this yet, please see: How to Connect Your LedgerSync Client to QuickBooks Online.

Overview

Global Rules allow you to create firm-wide categorization rules that apply across all of your connected clients at once. Each client’s own chart of accounts and GL codes are used automatically — you don’t need to remap anything per client. This article walks through the three main components of Global Rules: Global Categories, Global Vendors, and Global Rules themselves.

How to Access Global Rules

  1. From the top navigation bar, click Rules Engine
  2. Select Global Rules from the dropdown
You will see three tabs: Global Categories, Global Vendors, and Global Rules.

Tab 1. Global Categories

Global Categories are the master chart of accounts for your firm. They act as a bridge between your one firm-level category name and each client’s unique account name in their own QBO file.

Example: Your Global Category is "Bank Fees." In Client A’s QBO it’s called "Bank Fee," in Client B’s it’s "Bank and ATM Fee," and in Client C’s it’s "Bank Expenses." You map each client once — and every rule that uses "Bank Fees" applies to all three correctly.

The Global Categories table shows:
  • Category name and description
  • Number of clients currently assigned to it
  • Number of clients not yet assigned

AlertImportant: If a client’s account is not mapped to a Global Category, rules using that category will not apply to their transactions. Always map your clients’ categories before running rules. A "rule pending — category unmapped" badge will appear on affected transactions to alert you when this is the case. Once you map the category, the rule automatically applies to the backlog of previously-matched transactions (this also works for Zoho Books clients, not just QuickBooks).

Creating a Global Category:
  1. Click Add Category
  2. Enter a name and description for the category
  3. Map each client’s corresponding QBO account to this Global Category
  4. Click Save

Auto-mapping when creating a Global Rule from a transaction: When you create a Global Rule directly from a transaction (using the inline rule-creation button on the transaction row), LedgerSync will look up whether the client’s category already maps to an existing Global Category by name. If a match exists, it is used automatically. If none exists, a new Global Category is created and mapped for you — no manual category setup needed.

Tab 2. Global Vendors

Global Vendors is your firm’s master vendor list. Each Global Vendor has a unique name and an alias — a keyword or phrase that LedgerSync looks for in bank transaction descriptions to identify the vendor.

Example: Global Vendor name is "Starbucks." Alias is "STARBUCKS." Any transaction whose bank description contains "STARBUCKS" will be identified as this vendor across all clients.

AI-generated vendors (created by LedgerSync’s AI rule generation) are prefixed with "AI" so you can identify them easily and review before activating.

Tab 3. Global Rules

Global Rules define what happens when a transaction matches — which Global Category to assign, which vendor to tag, and whether the rule applies to Money In, Money Out, or both directions.

The Global Rules table shows:
  • Priority order (rules are evaluated top to bottom)
  • Rule name
  • Which clients the rule applies to
  • Conditions (e.g., transaction description contains "AMAZON")
  • Category and payee assigned by the rule
  • Active / Inactive status

Recommended naming convention: [YourInitials].[Chart of Account].[Payee Name] — for example, MB.MealsEnt.Starbucks

Creating a Global Rule

There are two ways to create a Global Rule:

Option A — From the Global Rules tab:
  1. Click Add Rule
  2. Enter a rule name (follow the naming convention)
  3. Set the condition: transaction description contains [keyword]
  4. Set the direction: Money In, Money Out, or Money In or Out (matches both)
  5. Select the Global Category and Global Vendor to assign
  6. Set the rule to Active
  7. Click Save — the rule is applied asynchronously in the background; a status indicator shows progress

Option B — Directly from a transaction (recommended for speed):
  1. In the Rules Engine transaction grid, find the transaction you want to create a rule for
  2. Click the Create Global Rule button on that row
  3. LedgerSync pre-fills the rule with the transaction’s vendor and category data
  4. Review the pre-filled fields, adjust if needed, and click Save
  5. The rule is immediately added to your Global Rules library and applied

AI Rule Generation

For unmatched transactions (no rule currently applies), you can use AI to generate rules automatically:
  • Single transaction: Click Generate Rule with AI on any unmatched transaction row. LedgerSync’s AI creates a Global Rule and Global Vendor for that transaction.
  • Bulk: Click the Bulk AI Rules button to select all unmatched transactions at once and generate rules for all of them in a single action. Note: Bulk AI is restricted to admin and super-admin users.
AI-generated rules are prefixed with "AI" so you can find, review, and refine them easily. You will then map the Global Category to complete the setup.


Editing a Global Rule

Click any rule row to open it for editing. Changes take effect on new transactions going forward — transactions that were already categorized by the previous version of the rule are not retroactively updated.

Rule History

Every edit to a Global Rule is tracked. Click the History icon on a rule to see every version of the rule, who changed it, and when. This is useful for troubleshooting unexpected categorization behavior.

Resetting Transactions to Re-Run Rules

If overlapping or incorrect rules mis-categorized transactions, you can reset them and re-run the corrected rules:
  • Reset TXS in Review: From the For Review screen, reset selected mis-categorized transactions back to their original state so corrected rules can re-apply to them.
  • RESET TRANSACTIONS (full reset): Clears a client’s categorization and Global Category mappings. After a full reset, global rules intentionally do not re-apply until you re-map the client’s categories — this is expected, because the rules have no valid mapping to write to until you remap. Once remapped, rules apply to the backlog automatically.

Audit Log

The Rules Engine maintains a complete audit log of every action taken by any user in your firm:
  • Global rule creation, edits, and deletions
  • Client rule creation, edits, and deletions
  • Category mapping changes
  • Transaction actions: Accept, Undo Accept, Exclude, Undo Exclude
Each audit entry shows the user who took the action, the timestamp, and the specific details of what changed. For batch actions (e.g., accepting 200 transactions at once), you can expand the summary row to see every individual transaction that was affected. Filter the log by user, entity type, or date range.

Filtering and Navigation Tips

  • Use the Active/Inactive filter to see only rules currently running
  • Use the Money In / Money Out filter to isolate rules by direction
  • Use the text search to find rules by name, vendor, or keyword
  • Columns in the transaction grid (Review and Categorized tabs) can be sorted by clicking the column header
  • The Categorized tab defaults to showing only transactions not yet synced to QBO, so you see only what still needs your attention

Need Help?

Contact our Rules Engine workflow specialist:

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