How Automation Rules Work
Last updated on June 20, 2026
Rules are the engine behind Circlevine's automation. They watch your bank transactions and automatically categorise, tag, and assign them to members — saving you hours of manual work every month.
The Concept
Every rule has two parts:
- Conditions — When should this rule activate? (e.g., "If the description contains 'SUBS'")
- Actions — What should it do? (e.g., "Set category to Subscription Fees")
When you import a bank statement, Circlevine runs every active rule against each transaction. If a transaction matches a rule's conditions, the rule's actions are applied.
Conditions
Conditions define which transactions a rule should match. You can combine multiple conditions — all conditions must be true for the rule to activate (AND logic).
Available Condition Fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Description | The transaction narrative/description text |
| Reference | The bank reference field |
| Amount | The transaction amount |
| Direction | Whether the transaction is a debit or credit |
String Operations (for Description and Reference)
| Operator | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Contains | The field contains the specified text anywhere |
| Equals | The field exactly matches the specified text |
| Starts With | The field begins with the specified text |
Amount Operations
| Operator | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Equals | Amount is exactly this value |
| Greater Than | Amount is more than this value |
| Less Than | Amount is less than this value |
| Abs Equals | Absolute amount equals this value (ignores sign) |
| Abs Greater Than | Absolute amount is more than this value |
| Abs Less Than | Absolute amount is less than this value |
Direction Operations
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Credit | The transaction is an inflow (money in) |
| Debit | The transaction is an outflow (money out) |
Actions
Actions define what Circlevine does when a transaction matches.
| Action | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Set Category | Assigns a category to the transaction |
| Add Tags | Adds one or more tags (accumulates across rules) |
| Set Member | Assigns the transaction to a specific member and creates a ledger payment entry |
Override Category
If a transaction already has a category (from a previous rule), a new rule will not overwrite it by default. Check the Override Category option if you want a higher-priority rule to take precedence.
Rule Priority
Rules run in priority order (highest number first). This matters when multiple rules could match the same transaction:
- The first rule to set a category wins (unless override is enabled).
- Tags from all matching rules accumulate — every matching rule adds its tags.
- The first rule to set a member wins.
You can drag and drop rules to reorder their priority on the Rules page.
Account-Specific Rules
By default, rules apply to transactions from all accounts. If you want a rule to only apply to transactions from a specific bank account, select that account when creating the rule.