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Sort bank transactions into categories for bookkeeping

Get your bank transactions grouped into sensible categories, then set up rules in Xero or QuickBooks so regular payments sort themselves.

Small Business AdminIntermediate30 minAI assistantExcelXeroQuickBooks

When to use it

Monthly, or when setting up bookkeeping

Export your transactions
Download last month's business bank statement as a CSV or Excel file from your online banking.
Remove private details
Delete the account number and balance columns. Keep date, description and amount.
Ask for categories
Upload the file or paste the rows into your AI assistant with this prompt.
Prompt to copyBelow are my business bank transactions. Suggest a category for each from this list: [your categories, e.g. Sales, Materials, Fuel, Rent, Software, Bank fees, Drawings, Other]. Output a table: Date, Description, Amount, Suggested category, Confidence (high/medium/low). Then list the payees that appear every month, and for each suggest a simple rule (e.g. 'Description contains PHONECO -> Telephone'). Mark anything that could be personal or mixed use as low confidence. [paste transactions]
Set up bank rules
Xero and QuickBooks both let you create bank rules that categorise regular payments automatically. Add rules for the high-confidence regular payees.
Ask your accountant about the low ones
Send the low-confidence items to your accountant or bookkeeper. They'll know the right treatment.

Your accountant should agree your categories and check anything tax-related before you rely on them.