How Vendor Rules Work in Sumext
What are vendor rules? Vendor rules are the memory of Sumext's AI. When you approve an invoice and map it to a specific ledger account and tax code, Sumext saves that combination for that vendor. Next time an invoice arrives from the same vendor, Sumext applies the rule automatically, no review needed.
How Rules Are Created
Rules are created automatically, you don't need to set them up manually.
Every time you:
- Upload an invoice
- Review the extracted fields
- Select the account and tax code
- Click Submit to Xero
...Sumext saves a rule for that vendor.
After 3 approvals from the same vendor with the same account mapping, Sumext marks that vendor as Auto-approved.
Future invoices from that vendor skip the review queue entirely and sync to Xero automatically.
Viewing Your Vendor Rules
Go to Settings → Vendor Rules.
You'll see a table of all vendors with saved rules:
| Vendor | Account | Tax Code | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| VentraIP | 630 Software | GST | Auto |
| Office Rent | 400 Office | GST | Auto |
| New Vendor | - | - | Review |
Learn from History
Sumext can scan your existing processed documents and automatically build vendor rules from past history.
Go to Settings → Auto-Rules and click Learn from History.
Sumext scans your previously approved and synced documents and builds vendor-to-account mappings automatically.
This is especially useful when:
- You've been using Sumext for a while and want to formalise existing patterns.
- You want to bulk-create rules instead of waiting for individual approvals to build them up.
Editing a Rule
Click any vendor row to edit. You can change:
- The default ledger account
- The default tax code
Changes apply to all future invoices from that vendor.
Deleting a Rule
Click the vendor row → click Delete Rule.
The next invoice from that vendor will go back to the Review queue so you can set a new mapping.
When Rules Don't Apply
Rules don't apply when:
- The invoice amount is significantly different from previous invoices (fraud protection)
- The vendor name doesn't exactly match a saved rule
- You've manually disabled auto-approve for that vendor