Using business rules with reconciliation manager

Business rules can be used to reconcile and match transactions within Reconciliation Manager (RCM).

Reconciliation Manager matches two sets of transactions. The reconciliation conditions are defined in a Rule Set, and apply to an Event Profile. The Event Profile must identify the Reconciliation Manager function and also identify the Reconciliation Profile.

The Rule Set contains IF condition statements that determine the matching criteria. It also contains a MATCH statement that sets the Allocation Marker to Matched on the transactions, if the matching criteria are met.

Reconciliation Manager includes an AutoReconcile facility that automatically matches transactions within each reconciliation set if they contain the same values in selected data items. Therefore, you only need to define business rules to match transactions if you need to apply more complex reconciliation conditions, or match on different data items in each set of transactions. For example, you must define a business rule if you need to match on the invoice number, as this is held in a different data item in each set of transactions.

Defining the Reconciliation Rule Set

Reconciliation Manager reconciles two sets of transactions which appear in the top and bottom sections of the Reconciliation Manager (RCM) window. The transactions that appear in each section of the window are determined by the two reconciliation accounts defined for the reconciliation profile.

It is important that you understand which set of transactions appear in which part of the window in order to define the rule set conditions correctly.

When you define a condition statement for the Reconciliation Manager function, the two Values that appear on the condition statement refer to data items in the different sets of transactions. Value 1 refers to a data item on the set of transactions that appears in the top part of the Reconciliation Manager window (which is referred to as window 1). Value 2 refers to a data item in the set of transactions displayed in the bottom part of the Reconciliation Manager window (which is referred to as window 2).

For example:

Transactions in the two sets of transactions are to be matched on invoice number and base value. However, in the first set of transactions the invoice number is stored in the Transaction Reference data item and in the second set of transactions it is held in the Transaction Description.

Note: The Reconciliation Manager AutoReconcile facility cannot be used here because the invoice number is stored in different data items in each set of transactions.

The following rule set condition would be defined to match the transactions on these fields. It would set the Allocation Marker to Matched on these transactions if the matching criteria is met:

Command Value 1 (Txs for Reconciliation A/c 1 - window 1) Operator Value 2 (Txs for Reconciliation A/c 2 - window 2)
IF Transaction_Reference = Transaction_Description
IF Financial Amount = Financial Amount
MATCH