Stop 1 of 8 · Daily
Bank CSV to categories
Three hundred rows in, a categorised table and an ask-the-client list out, with the rows nobody should guess left alone.
The file that starts every client month
A CSV from the bank, three hundred rows, no categories. Farid used to work down it line by line, sure about most of it, guessing at some of it, and leaving a scattered handful for a call with the owner that never quite happened.
The work does not change. What changes is where his attention goes. Claude returns the same three hundred rows with an account against each one and a confidence next to that, so the eighty rows nobody was ever in doubt about stop taking any of his time and the twelve that matter get all of it.
Strip the file first
Bank exports carry more than transactions. The header block usually holds the full account number, often the routing number, sometimes the owner's home address. None of it improves a categorisation.
Farid's pass takes half a minute per file.
| Cut before upload | Keep |
|---|---|
| Account and routing numbers in the header | Date, description, amount |
| The client's legal name in the file name | The client code, CL-04 |
The rule list is the real asset
Claude categorising from general knowledge gives you what most online stores do. Claude categorising from CL-04's rule list gives you CL-04's books. The rule list is a short document per client that you paste or keep in the client Project, in stop 3:
- Every Stripe or Shopify deposit goes to the clearing account, never to sales.
- Anything from the 3PL goes to fulfilment, not shipping income.
- The Amex ending in a known last four is the owner's card. Personal spend on it goes to the ask list.
- Meta and Google charges go to advertising, split by platform in the memo.
Six to fifteen lines per client is normal. Every time Farid answers a question the owner has already answered once, a line goes on the list.
What Claude must never decide
Owner draws against distributions against payroll. Loan payments where principal and interest sit in one number. A transfer that could be a purchase. A personal charge that could be a legitimate business expense. Claude produces the candidates and the question. Farid produces the answer.
Here is CL-04's August bank export, the chart of accounts, and my rule list for this client. Give me a table: date, description, amount, suggested account, confidence high or medium or low. Use only accounts that appear in the chart of accounts and only rules that appear in my rule list. Do not classify anything as an owner draw, a distribution, a loan principal payment or a personal expense. Put every row you cannot resolve from the rule list in a second table with the one question I should ask the owner about it. [upload the redacted CSV, the chart of accounts and the rule list]
From the same export, list every transaction that appears twice with the same amount within four days, and every description that matches a row I already categorised last month at a different amount. Table only, no conclusions, sorted by amount descending.
Take the ask-the-client table above. Draft one email to the owner of CL-04, grouped by vendor, no more than eight questions, each with the date and amount so they can recognise it. Plain English, no accounting terms. End by saying that anything they cannot place stays uncategorised until they can.