How to Set Up Global Rules for Accounting CS (ACS) Integration

How to Set Up Global Rules for Accounting CS (ACS) Integration

For Accounting CS (ACS), the Rules Engine setup lives under Rules Engine, then Manual. You upload each client's ACS chart of accounts, make sure each client's accounts are linked to your firm's Global Categories, and then create Global Rules that assign a Global Category. When you export transactions in the ACS format, LedgerSync fills in each client's own GL code.

How the pieces fit together

  • Global Rules are created once for your firm. A rule finds matching transactions, for example bank text that contains "Starbucks", and assigns a payee and a Global Category such as "Meals".
  • Global Categories are your firm's master list of categories. Each one can be linked to one account in each client's chart of accounts.
  • Each client's chart of accounts holds that client's GL codes. When a transaction's Global Category is linked to one of the client's accounts, the ACS export uses that account's GL code.

Example: Client ABC has the account 10000 Meals and Entertainment. You link the Global Category "Meals" to that account for Client ABC, and you create a Global Rule that assigns "Meals" to Starbucks transactions. Starbucks transactions for Client ABC then export to ACS with GL code 10000.

Step 1: Upload the client's chart of accounts

  1. Go to Rules Engine, then Manual.
  2. In the menu, open Settings, then Initial Setup, then Manual Setup.
  3. In the Select Client step, choose the client and click Proceed to Upload.
  4. In the Upload Data step, click Download ACS Template if you need the file layout.
  5. Drag in or browse to the client's XLS or XLSX file.
  6. In the upload type list, choose ACS Chart of Accounts, then click Upload Data. If the client already has vendors or categories, LedgerSync asks what to do with them: choose Delete and Upload to replace them or Keep and Upload to add to them.
  7. LedgerSync saves the upload and moves to the Review Data step, which lists the client's vendors and categories. The Upload Data step shows how many vendors and categories were created, updated or skipped.

Upload a file for each client. If several clients share the same chart of accounts, you can upload the same file for each of them.

What the upload links for you

When you upload an ACS chart of accounts, LedgerSync links each account in the file to the Global Category with the same name, and creates that Global Category if your firm does not have one yet. If your clients use the same account names, their accounts end up under the same Global Category with no extra work.

If you upload a client's chart of accounts again later, each account in the file is linked back to the Global Category with its own name. Check any links you changed by hand after a new upload.

Step 2: Review your Global Categories

  1. In the menu, open Settings, then Global Settings, then Global Categories. Settings, Initial Setup, Categories Mapping opens the same page.
  2. For each Global Category, the Clients Mapped column shows how many clients have an account linked to it, and Clients Not Mapped shows how many do not.
  3. To add a category of your own, such as "Meals", click Add Global Category, enter a name and click Save.

Step 3: Link a Global Category to a client's account

  1. Click the Global Category, for example "Meals".
  2. Under Connect Client Categories, find the client. The list starts with unassigned clients, and you can switch between Unassigned and Assigned.
  3. In the client's row, choose the client's account, for example 10000 Meals and Entertainment.
  4. Click Save.

An account can belong to only one Global Category. If the account is already linked to another Global Category, for example the one the upload created with the same name, LedgerSync will not save the new link. To move the account, open the Global Category that holds it, clear the client's account there and click Save, then link it to the new category.

Step 4: Create a Global Rule

  1. In the menu, open Rules, then Global Rules.
  2. Click Add Global Rule. If you do not see this button, your user does not have the Manage Global Rules permission.
  3. Choose the Rule Type, give the rule a name, and choose which transactions it applies to.
  4. Add a condition that finds the transactions, for example Bank Text Contains "Starbucks".
  5. Under Then assign, choose the payee and the Global Category, for example "Meals".
  6. Click Save.

Exporting to ACS

On the Transactions page under Rules Engine, then Manual, click Export Transactions and choose ACS. The file lists each transaction's posted date, description, dollar amount, GL code and vendor name, ready for you to bring into Accounting CS.

Key points to remember

  • Global Rules are created once and work for all your firm's Manual clients.
  • Link each client's accounts to your Global Categories so the ACS export uses that client's own GL codes.
  • A client rule wins over a Global Rule for the same transaction.
  • Rules only change unreviewed transactions.

Need help?

Contact LedgerSync support at support@ledgersync.com.