Autocoding — automated transaction categorisation

How Autocoding works, how to run it, and how to handle each result category.

Autocoding automates transaction categorisation by learning from historical data. It operates at the client level and can be used independently of formal job creation — allowing your team to get a head start on the ledger.

Getting started

  1. Navigate to Clients and select Autocoding.
  2. Provide: Client Name, Date, Prior Year General Ledger, and Current Year Bank Statements.
  3. Once saved, the client appears on your Autocoding dashboard. Click the Run icon.

Result categories

CategoryDescriptionAction required
AutocodedTransactions that clearly match prior-year patterns. Codes assigned automatically.Quick validation only.
Human Intervention RequiredMultiple potential matches identified — system cannot confidently select one.Review suggestions and select the correct code.
Query to ClientNew or unique transactions with no historical precedent.Raise a query to the client for clarification, or manually recode.

Matching logic

  • Exact match: Direct field-to-field match between Bank Statement fields (Payee, Description, Reference) and Prior-Year GL codes.
  • Fuzzy match: Partial similarity — Zato identifies the most likely account code.
  • Uncoded: Transactions that don't meet matching criteria are flagged. Select the transaction, assign the correct code, and save. The mapping appears under the Recoded section.

Once all actions are complete, click Export CSV to download the final output for import into Xero.