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Configuring and Understanding Matching Preferences in ZoneReconcile

Audience: External | All Users

 

Matching preferences control how ZoneReconcile automatically matches bank statement lines to transactions in NetSuite. This article explains each preference, the default matching order, and how to customize or troubleshoot matching behavior.

Matching preferences overview

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The following preferences are available on your Bank Account Configuration record. Enable or disable each one to control which matching strategies ZoneReconcile applies when processing a bank statement.

  1. Disable automatic matching — Select this checkbox if automatic invoice or bill matching should not take place. This option is designed for high-volume accounts where matching can be scheduled in the background after importing the statement.
  2. Open and closed transaction definitions:
    • Open: A customer invoice or vendor bill that has not yet been paid.
    • Closed: A customer or vendor payment.
  3. Match on document number or parameter — Performs an exact one-to-one match when the specified value is found in the description column of the transaction line.
  4. Match on exact amount within a date range — Ignores the description column and matches solely on the amount from the bank statement within the date range set in general preferences. If your date range is very large, this may produce false matches — review proposed results carefully.
  5. Match on entity name — Applies only when a counterparty column is specified in your bank configuration.
    • The first time you configure a vendor or customer for a specific counterparty value, ZoneReconcile stores that value in the entity record field Name as on bank statement.
    • For subsequent bank statements, ZoneReconcile automatically populates the vendor or customer column and locates the related open or closed transaction for processing.
  6. Allow non-numeric matches — When enabled, the matching algorithm also matches strings that contain no digits. By default, strings without digits are ignored. Enable this option when matching order IDs or other reference numbers that do not contain numeric characters.

Default matching order

The matching hierarchy in ZoneReconcile is fixed by default and runs in the following order (for each enabled preference):

  1. Match open transactions based on parameters
  2. Match sales orders based on parameters
  3. Match open transactions based on amount
  4. Match open transactions based on counterparty
  5. Match closed transactions based on parameters (including direct debit reversals if the related customer payments are not yet reconciled and the preference Create Direct Debit Reversal when Auto-Matching on Customer Payment is enabled)
  6. Match direct debit reversals on document number
  7. Match closed transactions based on amount
  8. Match closed transactions based on counterparty
  9. Custom matching rules

Customizing the matching order

To prioritize a specific matching strategy, enable the preference Show Customize Order Matching Fields in Setup > Company > General Preferences > Custom Preferences. Then follow these steps to set a custom order:

  1. Navigate to Setup > Bank Reconciliation Setup > Bank Account Configurations.
  2. Select the Change Matching Order Algorithm checkbox.
  3. In the pop-up window, drag and drop the strategies into your preferred order. Available strategies include:
    • Custom Rules — User-defined matching rule definitions
    • Amount — Matching based on transaction totals
    • Reference / Parameter — Matching based on additional matching fields or parameters
    • Counterparty — Matching based on entity name
    • Sales Order
    • Direct Debit
  4. Click Apply Order to save the hierarchy.
  5. Save the Bank Account Configuration record.

Important: If matching preferences are enabled or disabled after a custom order has been saved, the change is not automatically applied to the custom matching order. Repeat steps 1–5 above to update the order. To remove a custom order entirely, repeat steps 1–2, click Cancel Custom Order, and save the record.

Matching preferences additional information

The sections below describe the technical behavior of each matching strategy in detail, including the saved searches that control them and the conditions that must be met for a match to succeed.

Match open or closed transactions on document number or parameters

For a string to be considered during parameter-based matching, all of the following conditions must be met:

  • The matching string must be at least 4 characters long.
  • The matching string must not contain year numbers in the format 201x or 202x (applies to strings that are exactly 4 or 8 characters long).
  • The matching string must contain a number (this requirement can be overridden by enabling Allow non-numeric matching).
  • The matching string must be capitalized on the record itself.
  • The description and any additional fields are separated by the characters specified in the Parsing Delimiters field on the related Bank Account Configuration record.

Matching of open transactions is controlled by saved search BS TR O P C, which can be customized — particularly date filters to prevent timeouts during import. Set a customized version as the default in Setup > Company > General Preferences > Custom Preferences > Auto-match open: Saved Search Id (enter the saved search's internal ID). The bank account subsidiary filter is added automatically in the background.

Matching of closed transactions is controlled by saved search BS TR C AC, which can also be customized. Set a customized version as the default in Setup > Company > General Preferences > Custom Preferences > Auto-match closed: Saved Search Id (enter the saved search's internal ID).

Important: A built-in filter restricts closed transaction matching to transactions from the past 183 days. The bank account subsidiary, bank account, and in-transit account (if configured in the related Bank Account Configuration) filters are added automatically in the background.

Match deposits for sales orders on document number or parameters

  • Saved search BS M O SO is used and cannot be customized.
  • All sales orders where Amount Unbilled is greater than 0.00 are considered.
  • Only sales orders matching the bank account's currency and subsidiary are included.

Match open or closed transactions on exact amount within date range

  • Open transactions use saved search BS TR O A, which cannot be customized.
  • Closed transactions use saved search BS TR C AC, which can be customized.
  • The date range is controlled by the preferences Auto-match closed: days offset Prior and Auto-match closed: days offset after in Setup > Company > General Preferences > Custom Preferences.
  • If multiple transactions match the same amount and date range, the system does not select any of them.
  • Only transactions matching the bank account's currency and subsidiary are considered.

Match on entity name and open or closed transactions for that entity

  • For open transactions, saved search BS TR O P C is used and can be customized.
  • For closed transactions, saved search BR TR C AC is used and can be customized.
  • An internal saved search for the entity runs in the background, returning only entities where the Counterparty Name field value in the Bank Account Configuration matches the Counterparty column in the bank statement.
  • When a match is found, the system compares the filtered entity's transaction amounts against the bank statement transaction amount:
    • If there is no exact amount match but open or unreconciled transactions exist, the system populates the entity and sets the matching reason to Counterparty Matched.
    • If there are no open or unreconciled transactions for the entity, the matching reason remains empty.

Important: If multiple entities share the same value in the Name as on bank statement field, this may result in incorrect matches or entity proposals.

Matching of direct debit reversals where payments are not yet reconciled

  • The preferences Match closed on document number or parameters and Create Direct Debit Reversal when Auto-Matching on Customer Payment must both be enabled.
  • Saved search BR TR C AC is used and can be customized.
  • Applies only to customer payments.

Matching of direct debit reversals where payments are already reconciled

  • The preferences Match closed on document number or parameters and Match direct debit reversals on document number must both be enabled.
  • A saved search is created in the background; the date range is controlled by the preferences Auto-match closed: days offset Prior and Auto-match closed: days offset after in Setup > Company > General Preferences > Custom Preferences.
  • Applies only to customer payments that belong to the bank statement's account or the in-transit account configured in the related Bank Account Configuration record.

Why lines do not auto-match

If bank statement lines are not matching automatically, check the following common causes:

  • Configuration flags: The Disable auto match checkbox may be selected on the Bank Account Configuration record, or specific matching preferences may be disabled.
  • Performance throttling: In high-volume scenarios, custom matching logic may be disabled internally to prevent import failures if matching rules are not optimized.
  • Data mismatches: Differences in foreign exchange rates, transaction timing, or partially matched lines can prevent a clean auto-match.
  • Parsing delimiters: Characters used to split the description into smaller strings (such as - or /) may be missing or duplicated in the Parsing Delimiters field.
  • Saved search date range: If saved searches have been customized, the date range may exclude the transactions that need to be matched.

 

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