Rule conditions and actions
Every condition field, operator and action in the rule editor, and how each one compares or changes a transaction.
Updated November 10, 2026
A rule applies its actions to a transaction when its conditions match. The If list sets whether all conditions or any condition must match. Categorize transactions automatically with rules shows the steps.
Condition fields
| Field | What it tests | Value |
|---|---|---|
| payee | The payee name. On a new transaction, the name as it came in, unless an earlier rule changed it. On a transaction you already have, the current name. | Text |
| imported payee (raw bank text) | The text as it arrived, before any rule or rename. For a bank transaction, this is the bank's own description of the transaction (shown as Bank description in Details), which can differ from the payee name Good Steward shows. For a file, it is the payee text in the file. For a transaction you enter in the Add row, it is the payee you enter. It is empty if you choose the category yourself or save a split or a transfer. | Text |
| notes | The transaction's notes. On a bank transaction, the notes start as the bank's description. | Text |
| amount | The amount with its sign. Money out is negative, so a $50.00 purchase is -50.00. | Number |
| amount (inflow) | Money in only. Compares the size of the amount. | Number |
| amount (outflow) | Money out only. Compares the size of the amount, so enter a positive number. | Number |
| date | The transaction date. | Date |
| account | The account the transaction is in. | Account |
| category | The transaction's category. | Category |
| cleared, reviewed, reconciled | The transaction's status when the rule runs. A split counts as reviewed when every line is. | yes or no |
For a transaction being added or imported, cleared is the status it starts with, before any rule changes it: what your bank reports for a bank transaction, otherwise the cleared mark in the Add row or the choice under New transaction defaults in Settings. A rule that sets cleared changes the saved status, not what the cleared conditions of other rules see.
To match spending over $50.00, use amount (outflow), is greater than, 50.00. Amount boxes ignore $ and commas.
Operators
| Fields | Operators |
|---|---|
| payee, imported payee, notes | is, is not, one of, not one of, contains, does not contain |
| amount, amount (inflow), amount (outflow) | is, is approximately, is between, is greater than, is at least, is less than, is at most |
| date | is, is approximately, is greater than, is at least, is less than, is at most |
| account, category | is, is not, contains, does not contain |
| cleared, reviewed, reconciled | None. Choose yes or no. A new condition starts as payee contains. Each time you change a condition's field to cleared, reviewed or reconciled, the list is set to yes, also on a condition that was set to no. |
How each comparison works:
- Text: capitalization and spaces at the start and end are ignored. is needs the whole text to match. contains needs the value to appear anywhere in the text.
- one of and not one of: enter values separated by commas, for example
Starbucks, Tim Hortons. The text must equal one of them. - is approximately: on an amount, it matches within 7.5% of the value, rounded to the cent. A value of
-100.00matches-107.50through-92.50. On a date, it matches within 2 days either way. - is between: includes both ends. Enter the two amounts in either order.
- is greater than, is at least, is less than and is at most are
>,≥,<and≤. On amount, the sign counts:-20.00is greater than-50.00. - account and category: with is or is not, the rule compares the item you choose from the list. With contains or does not contain, it compares the item's name, and you enter part of the name.
The lists leave out closed accounts and hidden categories. An off-budget category shows "(off-budget)" after its name.
A rule that already uses a hidden category keeps working. In the editor, the category's name shows with a small hidden label instead of a list. Select Change to choose a different category from the list. The hidden category is never offered as a choice.
The Rules page shows each rule in short form, for example imported_payee contains “sbux” or amount ≈ “-$45.99”. ≈ means is approximately. amount-inflow and amount-outflow are the amount (inflow) and amount (outflow) fields.
Actions
| Action | Value | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| set category | A category | Sets the category. Skips transfers and the parent of a split transaction. |
| set payee | Text | Sets the payee. Creates the payee if the name is new. Skips transfers. |
| set notes | Text | Replaces the notes. |
| set account | An account | Moves the transaction to that account. Applies only with Run rules and Apply actions to N selected now, not on import or bank sync. Skips transfers, split transactions and transactions from your bank, which stay in the account the bank put them in. It also skips a transaction when that account already has a copy of the same imported transaction. |
| set date | A date | Sets the date on every matching transaction. |
| set cleared | yes or no | Marks the transaction Cleared or Uncleared. Ignored for transactions whose status comes from your bank. Apply actions to N selected now also skips reconciled transactions. Run rules does not apply it. |
| set reviewed | yes or no | yes marks the transaction reviewed. no marks it To review. On a split it marks every line. Run rules does not apply it. |
| add tag | A tag | Adds the tag. A rule never removes a tag. The list shows tags you have not archived. A rule skips a tag you later delete. |
If two matching rules set the same field, the rule that runs last wins. add tag is the exception: a transaction gets the tags from every matching rule. How rules run explains the order.
Split a transaction with a rule
Select Split the transaction… to split every matching transaction into parts. The button then reads Splitting the transaction. The panel starts with two parts: a fixed amount and the remainder.
| Part setting | Meaning |
|---|---|
| a fixed amount | A set amount. Enter it as a positive number. The sign follows the transaction. |
| a percent | A percent of the transaction's amount. |
| the remainder | What is left after the fixed amounts and percents. Several remainder parts share it equally. |
Each part has a category list. Categorize… leaves the part uncategorized. Select + Add part to add a part. Once there are more than two parts, select the X on a part to remove it.
The parts always add up to the transaction amount. If there is no remainder part, the last part takes any difference. The parent transaction has no category. The parts carry the categories.
Example: a $2,000.00 paycheck matches a rule with three parts: a fixed $500.00 to Tithe, 20% to Savings and the remainder to Spending. Savings gets $400.00. Spending gets $2,000.00 - $500.00 - $400.00 = $1,100.00.
- When you save, the split is left out if there are fewer than two parts, or if a fixed amount or percent part has no value above zero.
- A transfer is never split. Run rules does not split a transaction that is already split. Apply actions to N selected now replaces the lines of an already-split transaction with the rule's lines, unless one of its lines is a transfer line. Run rules on transactions you already have has the details. Split a transaction covers editing a split by hand.
- If two matching rules both split a transaction, the layout from the rule that runs last is used.