Table of Contents
- Overview
- Automate Coding with AI
- Automate Coding with Rules
- Automate Coding with Settings
- Editing tools
Overview
For finance professionals, quick book closures and insightful data are vital. Here's how Ramp amplifies your accounting prowess:
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Seamless Integration: Ramp seamlessly syncs with your accounting system, ensuring all expenses - bills, reimbursements, or card charges - are accurately categorized.
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Swift Book Closings: With advanced tools, including rules and suggestions, classify expenses and close your books faster than ever.
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Precision First: By leveraging multiple data points, rules, and past classifications, Ramp ensures accurate data without compromising speed. We prioritize getting it right the first time, so each sync to your system is flawless.
For an overview of how Ramp accounting works, check out this article.
Automate Coding with AI
Using AI and historical data, Ramp's Suggested Coding & Rules offer intelligent transaction suggestions, simplifying categorization and enhancing accuracy.
Suggest Coding
Suggested Coding references past expense categorizations to predict the suitable General Ledger (GL) account. It assesses components like the transaction's memo, receipt, user, and location. These AI-generated suggestions appear in a dropdown menu, streamlining the selection process for both employees and accountants.
As suggestions get accepted, the system learns, optimizing future recommendations.
Suggested Rules
Automate Coding with Rules
Auto-Coding
Ramp will now automate the coding of your General Ledger Account for transactions. We use a combination of coding history and AI to accurately predict the code for the General Ledger Account.
Pre-Coded Cards
Pre-coding cards is a powerful tool for automating specific transaction categorizations. You can even automatically mark transactions on these cards as "ready" once they meet all necessary criteria. This not only speeds up workflows but also ensures transactions are coded accurately.
Benefits:
- Purpose-Specific Categorization: Create cards for distinct purposes or merchants and have transactions auto-categorized.
- Workflow Efficiency: Transactions are coded swiftly, while ensuring they align with your coding standards.
Use Cases:
- Per Diem Card: Auto-categorize all transactions to 'Meals & Entertainment' or your specified GL account.
- Merchant-Specific Card: For a Slack card, auto-set Category to 'Dues and Subscriptions', Merchant as 'Slack', and other classifications.
How to Set Up:
For New Cards:
- Go to Cards → Issue Card.
- Scroll to 'Accounting' and select the desired accounting info.
For Existing Cards:
- Navigate to Cards → Select an existing card → Edit Card.
- Scroll to 'Accounting.'
- Click 'Add Rules' and select the appropriate accounting info.
You can also set up card programs to pre-code and expedite book closures:
- Spend Programs -> New Spend Program -> Follow Product Flow.
Accounting Rules
Admins and bookkeepers, amplify your efficiency with Ramp's tailored rules, allowing you to map any Ramp field directly to any ERP field.
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Accessing Accounting Rules:
- Navigate to the Accounting page and click on the "Settings" button located at the top-right of the page.
- Choose "Accounting Automation."
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View Current Rules & Add New Ones:
- Here, you'll find a list of your active mapping rules.
- Click "Create Rule" to initiate a new rule setup.
- Upon selecting "Create Rule," choose any Ramp input field (like Category, Merchant, Location, or Department) and map it to a corresponding ERP output field.
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Implementing & Applying Rules:
- Dive into the rule's specifics with "Go to Rule" and establish 1 to 1 field mappings.
- Remember, these mappings will only activate once you save the rule.
- After saving, the system will automatically apply your rules to all un-synced transactions and reimbursements. However, existing synced transactions in your ERP won't be updated.
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Audit & Review:
- To scrutinize which rule was implemented on a particular transaction, hover over the lightning bolt icon and click "View Rule." This action will provide a direct view of the applied rule for the specific transaction field.
Ready to dive in? Click here to get started.
Advanced Accounting Rules 
Ramp's Advanced Accounting Rules pave the way for an unmatched accounting experience, allowing businesses to craft customized workflows suited to their specific needs.
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Accessing Advanced Rules:
- Navigate to the Accounting page and click on the "Settings" button located at the top-right of the page.
- Choose "Accounting Automation."
- Click "Advanced Rules" tab.
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Initiate Rule Creation:
- Click on "Create an Advanced Rule."
- Begin by selecting Ramp inputs, such as Card Merchant.
- Add more Ramp inputs if needed. Note that within a single Ramp input, the logic is based on 'OR' (e.g., Seamless, GrubHub, OR DoorDash). However, when using multiple inputs, it follows an 'AND' logic (e.g., aforementioned merchants AND Growth department).
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Utilizing Department/Location-Specific Logic:
- If your GL categorization involves departments or if departments/locations influence outcomes, you can craft a single rule for all departments.
- Once you pick a department or location, you'll be prompted to apply the rule across all fields (see the illustrative image below).
- After selecting "Yes, Set Up," you can set coding criteria for every department.
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Naming and Finalizing the Rule:
- Once your rule's logic is in place, name it. We recommend a descriptive title for easy reference.
- After saving, you'll return to the main rule creation section, where you can view all your active rules. Plus, a simple click on the dropdown arrow reveals a rule preview.
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Audit and Review:
- As with the basic rules, any field that meets these rule criteria will display a lightning bolt icon. Clicking on this icon takes you directly to the applied rule, ensuring you always have clarity on the categorization process.
Ready to dive in? Click here to get started.
Accounting Rules Hierarchy
The priority in which accounting rules are applied can greatly influence your financial outcomes. Here's how Ramp structures the hierarchy:
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Card & Card Program Rules:
- These are paramount and will always supersede other rules.
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Advanced Rules:
- These are prioritized over standard mapping rules.
- Within Advanced Rules, more specific rules (having more input fields) take precedence.
- E.g., A rule with both "Merchant" and "Department" inputs will be prioritized over one with only "Category".
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Rule Application based on Output Fields:
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GL Account (Accounting Category):
- Merchant mappings first, followed by Category mappings, then other fields.
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ERP Vendor:
- Merchant mappings take precedence, then other fields.
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Other ERP Outputs:
- Department mappings are prioritized, followed by Location, then Merchant, and lastly, Category mappings.
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GL Account (Accounting Category):
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Noteworthy:
- If two input fields (e.g., Category and Merchant) aim to map to the same output field, the more specific mapping is chosen.
- It's possible for more than one rule to apply to a particular transaction.
Automate Coding with Settings
Default Coding
Ensuring that every transaction is appropriately categorized is crucial. However, there may be instances when a specific rule or user doesn't allocate a value. For such cases, having default values in place is beneficial. Here's why and how you can set them up:
Why Set Default Values?
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Consistent Coding: If transactions are mostly coded a particular way with only occasional exceptions, set the common coding as a default and create rules for the exceptional cases.
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Avoid Automatic Vendor Creation:
- Some ERPs like QuickBooks Online, NetSuite, and Xero require a 'Vendor' field for every transaction.
- To prevent Ramp from automatically creating vendors, set up a default vendor, e.g., "Misc. Ramp Vendor". This acts as a fallback, ensuring no new vendors are unnecessarily added to your ERP.
How to Set Up Default Values:
- Go to Accounting settings.
- Choose Manage Accounting Fields.
- Click the Edit icon.
- From the dropdown menu, select the desired default value.
Important: Ensure the default value is already established in your accounting provider before choosing it in Ramp.
Require Employees to Code
Save time closing your books by requiring employees to code their own transactions―many hands make light work, you know. Ramp cardholders can be required to add accounting fields like category, location, vendor, billable, etc. to their own transactions.
How do I require employees to code their own transactions?
Conditional Filtering
Customers can create rules to dynamically change the field options which are available to users. The image below illustrates how to accomplish this with Conditional Filtering.
Editing Tools
Bulk Editing
Boost your efficiency with Ramp's bulk edit and mark-as-ready features. These tools help fast-track the transaction coding process, ensuring you spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time on strategic decision-making.
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Select Transactions:
- Click the checkbox on the top left to select every transaction on the current page.
- Tip: Filter using the tools at the top to pinpoint specific transaction types or criteria.
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Bulk Edit:
- Once transactions are selected, a bottom pop-up appears allowing you to edit the 'Category' for all selected transactions simultaneously.
- For more options like 'Location' or other fields, click the 3 dots next to “Mark as Ready”.
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Mark as Ready Across Multiple Pages:
- Ramp provides the flexibility to select transactions across various pages and mark them as ready in a batch.
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Confirmation:
- After coding the transactions, confirm by clicking the “Mark as Ready” button.
Maximize Use of Filters:
For best results with bulk editing:
- Filter to specific criteria, such as all 'Amazon' transactions.
- Apply bulk changes, like updating the location for all selected transactions.
- Remember: You can filter by almost any criterion on the Accounting tab, such as transactions with missing fields, by statement date, by merchant, and more.