When importing the bank payment notification, which lists the movements on own bank accounts, there will always be some transactions, which cannot be matched and processed automatically by the built-in auto match functionality. E.g. recurring financial transactions like fees and interests, will initially not be matched, as they do not relate to neither open customer transactions nor executed payments. For those transactions, search strings can prove a very useful tool, as they allow the everyday users to add additional match rules to the existing auto match functionality, which increases the match rate and thereby decreases the need for manual work.
What is a search string?
A search string is a match rule, used by the built-in auto match functionality, to tie certain text and/or codes on imported bank transactions, to a given action or an account. The search string setup consists of three parts:
1. Trigger
2. Action
3. Log
TRIGGER
The trigger part is used to by the auto match functionality to identify the search string rule to use, and what action to trigger as a result. The trigger part consists of two fields:
1. Search string: Used to specify a user-defined text. This is e.g. useful in situations, where the registered customer name does not correspond with the name provided by the bank or the customer itself. In such cases, the user can specify the provided customer name as a search string, allowing to auto match to determine the customer based on the search string
2. Transaction code: Most banks “tag” the individual bank transaction with transactions codes, which are also known as business transaction codes. This code is useful to determine the overall nature of the transactions, which is particularly useful, when receiving recurring, financial transactions like fees and interests. In such cases, the bank provide transaction codes can be entered in the transaction code field, allowing to auto match to quickly identify and prepare the imported transaction, which can then be posted with minimal user involvement
ACTION
What to do, when a search string is identified, is determined by the action part of the search string setup. The action part consists of three fields:
1. Action: Determines which action to take, when the search string is identified and triggered. There are three actions available • Match: When met, the auto match functionality applies the account information, which has been specified in the Account type and Account fields.
• Delete: When met, the auto match functionality deletes the transaction and informs the user, that a transaction was deleted.
• Bridge post: Used to initiate bridge posting of the transaction. When met, the auto match functionality will apply the related bank account’s bridge account to the transaction. This is particularly useful, when using account statements to post bulk payments, which have already been specified in earlier files. E.g. Lockbox files (US) and FIK-indbetalinger (DK).
2. Account type: The account type to apply to the matched transaction. This field is only enabled, if the Action field value is Match
3. Account: The account number to apply to the matched transaction. This field is only enabled, if the Action field value is Match
LOG
The final part of the search string setup, is the log part. The two date fields Creation date and Last used are useful when cleaning up search strings, as they provide a quick overview of, which search string rules are being used regularly.
ADDING SEARCH STRINGS
To start using search strings, first step is adding new search string match rules. There are two ways to add search strings
ADD SEARCH STRINGS FROM SETUP PAGE
To create a search string without initial data, use the following steps:
1. Go to AMC Banking > Setup > Search strings
2. Click New
3. Specify the Search string and/or Transactions code
4. Specify Action
5. Specify Account type and Account (if Action = Match)
6. Click Save
INITIATE AND ADD SEARCH STRINGS FROM POSTING JOURNAL
The second method of adding search strings, is by doing it from the posting journal. This is more practical approach, because it is in the posting journal, where users are made aware if something is not matched as expected. Therefore, users can add search strings on a need-to basis.
Another benefit of creating search strings from the posting journal is, that the search strings are initiated from the selected posting journal transaction. This means that search strings are initiated with Search string and Transaction code, and in addition Account type and Account if manual match info has been applied. This allows users to add search string quickly and correctly. Adding search strings from the posting journal is done, using the following steps:
- Select the posting journal transactions to initiate the search string from
- Click Functions > Search string
- Choose Action
- If not already initiated, specify Account type and Account
- Click Save
ACTIVE SEARCH STRINGS
To see active search string, go to AMC Banking > Setup > Search strings.
The setup form contains a list containing various combinations of search strings, transaction codes and their related action and/or account.
Please note, that it is also possible to open the search string setup from specific customers and vendors using the Search string button from either AMC Banking > Common > Customers or AMC Banking > Common > Vendors. When opened from a specific customer or vendor, the search string list only includes search strings tied to the selected customer or vendor.