About processing imported transactions

In the Process bank transactions (CA306000) window, you can match the imported transactions to the documents in the system.
The goal of the matching process is to find a document in the system: a payment that is matched to an imported transaction, or an invoice for which a payment will be created to match to the transaction. When matches are found, the system processes matched transactions: it creates a link between the document and the imported transaction, and marks the document as cleared.

To make the matching easier and less time-consuming, we recommend that you perform the following steps:

1. On the Bank statement settings tab of the Cash management preferences (CA101000) window, specify the parameters the system will use for calculating the relevance rate (a measure of how closely a document matches the selected imported transaction) and for searching for matching documents.
   Alternatively, you can specify these parameters in the Settings for matching dialog box, which opens when in the Process bank transactions (CA306000) window, you select a cash account and click Settings for matching in the window toolbar.
   For more information, see: Transaction matching settings
2. Optional: In the Bank transaction rules (CA204500) window, specify the rules that the system will use to automatically create documents to match those imported transactions for which documents are not found in the system. You can create such rules on the fly when performing manual matching in the Process bank transactions (CA306000) window and use the rules for the next imported transactions.
3. Run the automatic matching tool, which performs matching based on the available transaction information, such as amount, payee name, and date.
   The system uses the transaction information and matching settings that you have specified to calculate the match relevance rate first for each payment in the system that has the Cleared check box available for editing, and then for open invoices.
   If you have configured rules for document creation, the system tries to apply these rules to the transactions for which a match was not found.
   
4. Validate and save the results of the automatic matching.
5. Perform manual matching for the remaining transactions (if any).
   If a match was not found in payments and invoices, you can specify the details of a document that should be created to match the transaction on the bank statement.
   Review and save the results.
6. Validate and confirm the results of the matching.
   

The system allows automatic and manual matching of a transaction to a payment that is not released yet (a payment with the Balanced or On hold status).
If a transaction is matched to such a payment (manually or automatically), the system performs a check for the payment amount discrepancy before processing this document.
For example: The system displays an error if a user first matches the transaction to an unreleased document, then changes the amount on that document, and then tries to process this line.

You can perform transaction matching in as many sessions as you need. You can save the result at any time to continue to work with it later.

In the following sections, you will read about the steps of the matching process in detail.

We recommend that you always start matching with running the automatic matching process, to save time.
Select the cash account for which you want to perform matching and click Match automatically in the window toolbar to run the process for the imported transactions.
When you run the process, the system searches for possible matching payments, and for documents to which the payment could apply.
If no possible matching payments or documents to apply are found in the system, the system suggests that you create a payment.

The process uses the following marks to differentiate the current transaction matching status:

• The check box in the column is selected: A candidate with high relevance has been found and matched automatically or the Create check box is selected and the details of the new payment are filled in automatically (according to the rules configured) on the Create payment tab.
• The check box in the column is cleared: A list of possible matches has been found, and the transaction is pending your review and decision.
• The transaction is marked by an exclamation point: No matches have been found and the system suggests that you create the payment, so the Create check box has been automatically selected on the Create payment tab.

For each imported transaction, the system finds the matching document as follows:

1. To find the matching payments for an imported transaction, the system filters the cash account transactions by the specified matching settings and calculates the match relevance for the possible candidates. The relevance shows how similar the imported transaction is to a cash account transaction (or multiple transactions) in the system.
   The transactions are compared by three factors: the reference number, the transaction date (document date), and the payee name (if any).
   The candidates with high relevance are recognised as the best candidates and are matched automatically.
   If there is no best candidate found, the system displays a list of possible matches with the lower match relevance rate on the Match to payment tab of the right pane. In this case, you need to review possible matches and decide whether to match an imported transaction to one of these matches or create a new document by using the Create payment tab on the right pane.
2. To find a document to which the payments could apply, the system compares the payment amount with the amount of any outstanding documents with the same transaction sign (receipt or disbursement). The system never matches payments to invoices automatically (on the Match to invoice tab).
   Therefore, after the system has found the invoice, the check box in the column for the imported transaction remains cleared, which means it hasn't been matched to any document yet and is pending your review and decision. For imported transactions that have no matches, the system suggests that you create the payment, so the Create check box has been automatically selected on the Create payment tab of the right pane and the transaction is marked by an exclamation point.

After the automatic matching process is done, the matched imported transactions become excluded from the next run of the automatic matching process.
To run the process for these transactions again, click Unmatch for a certain transaction or click Unmatch all to clear matches for all transactions at once.

After you have run the automatic matching process, the transactions pending your review and decision may be left. See Match transactions on how to proceed.

If a match was not found in payments and invoices, you can create a document to match the transaction on the Create payment tab, see also: Create a new payment or document.

See Create a new payment or document and Match a bank transaction or incoming payment line to different documents on how to use this tab.

For new payments that originate in the Cash management workspace, you can create a rule the system will use to automatically create new payments if the details of an imported transaction meet the conditions of the rule. You can define such rules before you perform the matching process by using the Bank transaction rules (CA204500) window, or you can define the rules on the fly when you manually match transactions. When you click Create rule in the Process bank transactions (CA306000) window, the system navigates to the Bank transaction rules (CA204500) window.
The system automatically fills boxes in the Matching criteria section with the transaction details, and you need to specify output details only. You can clear or modify values in the Matching criteria section if some of the transaction details cannot be used as criteria.
For example: You can modify the transaction description by using wild card characters (* or ?) and the Use wild cards check box, or clear the Description field.

For example: Suppose that you know that the bank charge transactions usually are not greater than €100 per transaction and appear with the SRVCHG transaction code in the bank statement. Therefore, you can define a rule to create BANKCHARGE cash entries in the system from the disbursement bank transactions that comply with these conditions.

When you have finished matching imported transactions, for transactions that are matched to a payment or an invoice, the check box in the column is selected.
Also, for transactions with no match, details of the new payment are specified and the exclamation point is no longer displayed.
To confirm the matching results, click the Process button on the window toolbar.

During the processing, the system does the following:

• Sets the read-only Cleared check box for the matched payments in the system.
• Creates and applies payments for the matched invoices, releases the created payments and the applications, and sets the read-only Cleared check box for every processed document.
• Creates the documents based on the imported transactions for which a match was not found, releases the created documents and the applications (if any), and sets the read-only Cleared check box for every processed document.
• Sets the read-only check box in the column for those imported transactions that are matched to payments or invoices.
• Sets the read-only check box in the column and removes the exclamation point for those imported transactions for which new document details were specified.

Payments that the system creates during processing of the matched transactions are not subject for approval, even if the process of approval is set up.

Once processed, the imported transactions are excluded from future processing of matched lines and displayed in the Reconciliation statements (CA302000) window marked as cleared and ready to be reconciled. Press ESC to refresh the information in the Process bank transactions (CA306000) window, and the processed transactions no longer appear in the window.

You can also review processed bank transactions by using the Bank transactions history (CA402000) window.
You select a cash account and a date range for which you want to review processed bank transactions, the system displays the list of corresponding bank transactions.
You can view whether a transaction was matched to an existing document in the system or a new document was created to match this transaction.
A reference number of the matched document can be found in the Reference no. column, by clicking this number you navigate to the respective window where you can view document details.

You can revert the result of processing a transaction by using the Unmatch button on the table toolbar of the Import bank transactions (CA306500) window.
You select a cash account and a reference number of an imported bank statement, and the system displays the corresponding list of bank transactions.
You then select a processed bank transaction and click Unmatch.

The system does the following for the selected bank transaction: clears the check boxes in the and Processed columns, and removes the link to a matched document.
The selected bank transaction becomes available for further processing in the Process bank transactions (CA306000) window.
Also, the system clears the following for the matched document: the Cleared check box and the Clear date field on the Financial details tab of the document in the Customer payments (AR302000) window.
If a document was created to match the transaction, you should handle this document manually (for instance, voiding or matching the document).