Administration rules and global rules in pre-accounting

What are administration rules and global rules?

Administration rules and global rules are recorded working agreements that determine how documents are booked. An administration rule applies to one administration, for example that all invoices from a particular supplier for that client go to a specific cost centre. A global rule applies to all administrations of the firm, such as an agreement on merging invoice lines that share the same ledger account and VAT code.

Together they form the memory of the firm. Knowledge that would otherwise live in the heads of individual bookkeepers is stored in the system and applied to every booking, regardless of who is working. That makes processing more consistent, shortens onboarding for new colleagues and prevents an administration from being booked differently as soon as another team member takes it over.

When do you use an administration rule and when a global rule?

Use a global rule for everything that should work the same for every client, and an administration rule where a specific client deviates from that. Start with the firm standard: how do you normally book till receipts, how do you handle credit notes, when do you split an invoice and when do you summarise? Whatever comes out of that are candidates for global rules.

Administration rules are for a client's specifics: its own chart of accounts, cost centres per branch or project, a supplier that invoices several kinds of costs, or a partial VAT exemption. By setting the standard globally and only recording exceptions per client, you keep the number of rules small and clear. Some examples of the split:

• Global: merge lines with the same ledger account and VAT code.
• Global: firm-wide booking preferences for till receipts and credit notes.
• Per administration: fuel receipts always on a specific travel expenses account.
• Per administration: split a supplier's invoices across several cost centres.
• Per administration: an exception for a client with a VAT exemption.

What is the difference between rules, AI instructions and what the AI learns?

The difference lies in how the agreement comes about. What the AI learns by itself comes from the history of the administration, from corrections and from the context of the accounting software; you do not need to set anything up for that. Rules and AI instructions are agreements you record deliberately, because they do not show up in the history or because you want to be sure they are always applied.

An AI instruction is a working agreement in plain language, as you would explain it to a new colleague, for example: fuel receipts always on 4210 Travel expenses. Instructions apply per administration or firm-wide, and to purchases, sales or both. Administration rules, global rules, instructions and what the AI has learned together determine the booking proposal. So you do not need to capture everything in rules: record what is necessary, the rest follows from the history.

How do you record a working agreement as a rule or instruction?

You record a working agreement by formulating it once, deciding where it applies and then checking that the AI applies it correctly. In Autoboeker you can start from one of the 139 example instructions in the prompt library, or write an instruction yourself. Suppliers, ledger accounts and VAT codes are picked directly from the connected administration.

Formulate agreements as concretely as possible: name the supplier or type of document, the ledger account, the VAT code and, if relevant, the cost centre. A vague instruction produces a vague result. After recording it, check a few bookings the agreement applies to, so you can see that it works as intended. Recording works like this:

1. 1Choose an example instruction from the library or write one yourself in plain language.
2. 2Fill in the fields or pick a supplier, ledger account or VAT code from the administration.
3. 3Decide whether the agreement applies to one administration or firm-wide.
4. 4Choose whether it applies to purchases, sales or both.
5. 5Check in the next booking proposals that the agreement is applied correctly.

Which agreements can you record in Autoboeker?

In Autoboeker you can record agreements about almost every part of a booking: which ledger account, VAT code, cost centre or allocation, and how lines are merged or split. There are supplier-specific rules, administration-specific exceptions and firm-wide booking preferences, alongside administration rules and global firm rules. You can also record an allocation across several ledger accounts or a percentage split per booking, so that mixed costs are always divided the same way.

The prompt library contains example instructions for, among other things, industry and company context, VAT exemption, merging booking lines, cost centres, currency and foreign transactions, credit notes, till receipts and suppliers that bill many cost types. You can also add your own context, such as a client's industry and core activity, so the AI better understands which costs belong where. When switching from another system, convert agreements from existing conditions only where needed.

How do you keep rules manageable across many administrations?

You keep rules manageable by making them visible, assigning ownership and only recording what is really needed. In Autoboeker all instructions are in one overview, per type and per administration, and you can switch them on or off. With roles and permissions you decide who may change rules: for example an administrator for global rules and the bookkeeper for the administration rules of their own clients.

Corrections are kept in the feedback history, so you can see what the AI has learned and why. A correction can be applied to similar bookings, and every action by a person or the AI is recorded in the audit log. The configuration monitor shows which administrations are missing settings or connections. Rules and instructions work with Exact Online, Twinfield, SnelStart and e-Boekhouden, so you keep one way of working regardless of the client's software.