> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dualentry.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Your First Bank Match > Tutorial walking a new user through getting bank data in, creating a rule, applying it, reviewing an AI-suggested match, and matching what's left. In this tutorial, you'll take a bank account from zero data to your first confirmed matches in Bank Match. By the end, you'll have connected an account, created and applied a matching rule, approved an AI-suggested match, and cleared the rest by hand: the same loop you'll repeat every close period. ## Prerequisites * A DualEntry role with permission to create Bank Match rules. Admin, Controller, and Accountant have this permission by default, but it's configurable, so check with your Admin if you're not sure. * A GL cash or liability account already set up in your chart of accounts for the bank account you're about to connect. ## Step 1: Connect your bank 1. Navigate to **Company → Bank Connections** in the sidebar and select **Add Bank Connection**. 2. Search for your bank, then sign in with your online banking credentials in the aggregator's hosted window. 3. Select the accounts you want to connect. Each one appears in the **Bank Connections** list with a status of **Connected**. 4. Select the connection and choose the cash or liability account you set up in the prerequisites under **GL Account**, then save. *Expected result:* at least one bank transaction is visible on the **To Match** tab of the Bank Match page for the account you connected. If your bank isn't supported by the aggregator, see [How to Connect Bank Accounts](../../bank-connections) for the manual statement upload path instead, then continue from Step 2 once your statement is uploaded. If a transaction you expected doesn't appear, check the **Excluded** tab: DualEntry automatically excludes transactions dated before your bank-match start date or duplicated from another connected account. ## Step 2: Set up a rule Look through your unmatched transactions for one you're confident about: something recurring, like a payroll provider name, a consistent vendor charge, or a check number you'll see again. You'll build a rule around whichever of these is most consistent for that transaction. 1. Open **Close Management → Close Workflows → Bank Match**, then the **Rules** view, and start a new rule. 2. Define the condition using whichever field is most reliable for the transaction you picked: the description or merchant text, an amount or amount range, or a check/reference number. 3. Define the action: the GL account, vendor/customer, or category the rule should assign, and whether it applies to deposits, withdrawals, or both. 4. Select **Save Rule**. Keep this first rule narrow and exact. A rule that matches on a specific description string is more reliable than one that tries to cover several similar-looking transactions at once. *Expected result:* the rule appears in your rule list and is active. Saving it doesn't apply it to your existing unmatched transactions yet; that's the next step. For the full range of rule criteria and actions, or for creating one conversationally through Accounting Intelligence instead, see [How to Create a Bank Match Rule](./how-to-create-a-rule) or [How to Use Accounting Intelligence to Create Bank Match Rules](./ai-copilot-rules). ## Step 3: Apply the rule Back on the **To Match** tab, the transaction your rule covers is now flagged with a bolt icon, but it hasn't been created or matched yet. 1. Select **Create & Match**. This button appears whenever a bank line has a fully matching rule, and applies every eligible rule match on the tab at once. *Expected result:* the transaction matching your rule's criteria moves out of **To Match** and into the **Matched** tab, tagged as rule-matched rather than AI-matched. ## Step 4: Review an AI-suggested match Bank Match AI runs next, on whatever your rule didn't catch. It never applies a match on its own: anything it's confident about is queued for you to review, not matched automatically. 1. Open the **Auto** tab. 2. Review a suggested pair: confirm the amount, date, and description genuinely describe the same transaction. 3. Select **Match** to confirm a pairing with an existing transaction, or **Post & Match** if the suggestion is an AI-drafted record that still needs to post. *Expected result:* a confirmed suggestion moves to the **Matched** tab. It's normal for **Auto** to be empty on your first pass. Not every transaction has a confident AI match, and that's what manual matching is for. ## Step 5: Match the rest manually For anything still sitting in the **To Match** tab, select a bank feed transaction and its corresponding GL entry, then choose **Match**. Repeat for each remaining pair. *Expected result:* each pair moves to the **Matched** tab. This is the guaranteed path for anything a rule or AI suggestion doesn't cover. ## What you built Your **To Match** tab now reflects a real close cycle: one transaction cleared by your rule, one reviewed and confirmed from Bank Match AI, and the rest matched by hand. That's the core Bank Match loop: get data in, let rules and AI handle what they can, and match by hand only what's left. It's the same sequence you'll run every period from here on. ## What's next * Read [Bank Match AI](./bank-match-ai) for how matching, scoring, and payment drafting work under the hood. * Follow [Reconciliation](../reconciliation) to complete a full reconciliation for the period. * Read [Common Errors with Bank Match](./common-errors) if you see unexpected prepayment drafts or a rule that doesn't seem to apply.