Import Rules

Overview

Prospects™ allows you to create rules to apply to your transaction table entries. You can apply the rules you create at the time that you are importing a file or you can apply them manually at any time. Rules can be used to manage your transactions in a way that best suits your needs. Some things to remember when creating rules are:

To access the Rules window, click the Rules icon () or go to View > Rules.... The main Rules window looks like:

Creating an Import Rule

To create an import rule, access the main Rules window (as illustrated above) and click the plus sign () or click the action icon and select "New Rule...". The following Input Rules window is displayed:

Enter in the name for the rule you are creating. The "Rule is enabled" is checked by default but if you do not want the rule to be enabled, you can disable the rule by un-checking the corresponding checkbox.

Enter in the Condition(s) for the rule you are creating, utilizing the drop down menus and free text fields. The first drop down menu allows you to choose one of the following:

The second drop down menu in the Condition(s) field allows you to choose one of the following:

You can can add more conditions to the rule by clicking the plus sign () in the Condition(s) field.

Prospects™ allows you to have up to three conditions specified for a particular rule. If you have more than one condition, the option to delete conditions becomes available. To delete a condition, click the "x" sign () next to the condition you wish to delete.

Once you have all of the conditions entered according to your specification, you then need to create actions based upon those conditions. You can select to have the actions applied in a AND or OR fashion. If you would like the actions to occur only if ALL of the conditions are met, seleect All from the drop down list below the Condition(s):

If you would like the actions to occur if ANY of the conditions are met, select Any from the drop down list below the Condition(s):

Then add in the actions according to your specifications/needs. Actions can be performed on the Category field, the Payee field, the Notes field, and/or the Status field, which allows you to choose one of the following options:

Once all of the information is entered into the rule, click OK to save the rule. The new rule will be saved and can be accessed via the main Rules window. If you chose to have the rule enabled, then the checkbox next to the rule will be checked. You can disable the rule at any time by un-checking the checkbox next to the rule in the main Rules window.

Editing an Import Rule

To edit a previously created rule, access the main Rules window (either by clicking the Rules icon () or by selecting View > Rules...). Double click the rule you would like to edit. The corresponding Input Rules window will be displayed. Make updates/edits as you deem appropriate and then click the OK button.Your changes will be saved and the main Rules window will be displayed. Click the Close button if you are finished making changes.

Note that if you have more than one condition specified, the option to delete conditions becomes available. To delete a condition, click the "x" sign () next to the condition you wish to delete.

Duplicating an Import Rule

You can duplicate a rule that you have already created by accessing the main Rules window (either by clicking the Rules icon () or by selecting View > Rules...). Then highlight the rule that you wish to duplicate and click the action icon () and select "Duplicate Rule" from the option list:

Prospects™ will add the duplicated rule to the main Rules window and place the word "copy" at the end of the name. If you wish to edit the duplicated rule, see Editing an Import Rule for instructions.

Deleting an Import Rule

There are two ways to delete a rule. Access the main Rules window (either by clicking the Rules icon () or by selecting View > Rules...). Then highlight the rule you wish to delete and then press the "delete" key on your keyboard or highlight the rule you wish to delete and then click the action icon () and select the "Delete Rule" option from the list:

You can only delete one rule at a time.

Manually Applying the Import Rules

Prospects™ allows you to apply the rules you created at any time to your transactions. Rules are applied on a per account basis. To manually apply rules, access the main Rules window (either by clicking the Rules icon () or by selecting View > Rules...). Then click the action icon () and select the Apply Rules to Current Account option from the list:

Prospects™ will traverse through the transactions for the account you have selected and apply the rules that are enabled.

Applying the Rules at Import

Prospects™ allows you to apply the rules you created at the time that you are importing files. To apply rules at the time of import, access the Import window (either by clicking the Import icon () or by selecting File > Import...). Then ensure the "Apply Rules During Import" checkbox is checked:

Navigate to the file you wish to import and select Open. Enter/Choose the information as described in the Importing Data Help page, and click Import. After the import is complete, click OK.