Good guidance is short, specific and about one job. Here's how to add it, and how to word it so William follows it the way you meant.
Add guidance
You can add guidance in three places:
William AI > Guidance – open the William tab in the sidebar, go to Guidance and click Add guidance.
From a document – click Add guidance in the William AI card on the document.
From a suggestion – accept a suggestion or answer an open question. See our article: Teach William about your policies.
To add guidance:
Open the Add guidance window.
Write one instruction in plain English.
Type @ and start typing a name, then pick the supplier, category, tax rate or tracking category from the list. This links your guidance to the exact item in your ledger, so William doesn't have to guess.
Optional: add a tag, such as Category, VAT, Tracking category, Publishing or Line items. Tags don't change how William uses your guidance; they just help you find it later.
Click Save.
Your guidance appears on the Guidance page, where you can find, edit or remove it later.
Word it so William can follow it
Good guidance is one or two sentences about one job. It says:
Who – the supplier, picked with @, or a group such as all receipts or subcontractor invoices.
What – exactly what to do, such as use, set, split, add to the description, or don't publish.
Where – the field, or where the value sits on the invoice, such as the purchase order (PO) number box.
When – a condition, only if you need one, such as if a VAT number is shown.
William is a guide, not code, so say what to do rather than leave a note. Show the format you want, or William may replace the whole description.
Instead of | Write | Why |
Check the VAT | If the receipt shows a VAT number, use @20% (VAT on Expenses). If it doesn't, use @No VAT. | Give William a condition to act on. Say what decides the answer. |
Add invoice number to description | Add the supplier's invoice number to the end of the description, for example, Parts - INV-4044. | Show the format, or William may replace the whole description. |
Do not publish | Don't publish supplier statements or pro forma invoices. | Say which documents to hold back. |
Category is Travel, don't auto-publish, add the date | Three separate pieces of guidance, one for each job. | One job per piece of guidance. |
Tip: If a supplier rule already sets the same field, the supplier rule wins. Clear that field in the supplier rule if you want guidance to decide.
Guidance for line items
William keeps line items as they are unless you ask. Say, split the line items by… or group the line items by… and name each category with @. Guidance can:
Group lines – For @Supplier, group the line items by tax rate
Code lines – For @Supplier, split the line items: food to @Food, drinks to @Beverages
Set tracking on lines – Assign each line to @Department based on the delivery address
If a supplier rule sets one category for that supplier, William keeps the lines together. Remove the category from the supplier rule if you want guidance to split them.
To see every line with a predicted category, turn on line-item capture in the supplier rule, or use Capture on the document.
What's next
See examples of guidance – copy-paste examples for VAT, Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), descriptions, dates, line items and publishing.
Fix guidance that isn't working – check that guidance worked, and what to try if it didn't.