General Coding Rules

Go to: ExFlow Setup - Overview --> ExFlow General Coding Rules

General Coding Rules control what values users can pick when coding invoices and other purchase documents. They act as company-wide guardrails — users only see the accounts, dimensions, and items that have been approved.

ExFlow creates a default set of General Coding Rules automatically. In most cases, it is only necessary to edit the existing rules if needed, not create new ones.

How Do General Coding Rules and User Coding Rules Work Together? General Coding Rules apply to everyone. User Coding Rules allow further restrictions for a specific person.

Moreover, Denying Coding Rules can be used to restrict approvers from creating invalid coding in ExFlow Web.

Button	What it does
Restart Lines	Adds lines for any new coding columns that have been set up since the rule was created
Mark All	Resets all lines back to their defaults

General Coding Rules	What it does	Example
Filter	Controls what shows up in dropdown lists	Only GL Accounts 4000–8999 appear
Validation	Checks that the value is allowed when the line is approved	Rejects GL Account 9999 if it's outside the range

Field Descriptions

Field	Description
ID	Auto-generated number that identifies the rule. Cannot be changed.
Rule for	Which document types this rule applies to: All, Invoice, Credit, Quote, or Order.
Name	A descriptive name to easily identify the rule, e.g. "All Invoices – GL Filter".
Reminder Note	An optional note for administrators. Not shown to end users.
Active	Turns the rule on or off. A rule must have a type selected (Filter or Validation) before it can be activated.
From Amount / To Amount	Only apply this rule to documents where the total amount falls within this range. Leave blank to apply to all amounts.
From Line Amount / To Line Amount	Only apply this rule to coding lines where the line amount falls within this range. Leave blank to apply to all line amounts.
Validation Rule	Tick this to make the rule check entered values when a line is approved.
Filter Rule	Tick this to make the rule control what appears in dropdown/lookup lists.

Quick coding examples

Task	How
Let users pick any GL Account	Tick "All" on the GL Account line
Only allow a range	Type 4000..8999 in Text Range
Only allow specific values	Type SALES\|ADMIN\|HR in Text Range
Apply the rule to invoices only	Set "Rule for" = Invoice
Give one user fewer options	Create a User Coding Rule and assign on the ExFlow User Card Permission
Block a bad combination	Create a Deny Rule
Update a rule after adding columns	Click "Restart Lines"

Edit a Rule

ExFlow provides default rules out of the box. To adjust them:

Open ExFlow AP Setup → Coding → General Coding Rules
Select the rule to change
Update the fields as needed (see table below)
Configure the allowed values for each coding column (see below)
Ensure Active is turned on

Setting Allowed Values

Each rule has lines — one per coding column (GL Account, Department, Project, etc.). For each line, set:

All — tick this if any value is fine (no restriction)
Empty — tick this if it's OK to leave the field blank
Text Range — type a filter to control which values are allowed:

Expression	Users can pick
4000..8999	Any value from 4000 to 8999
SALES\|ADMIN\|HR	Only SALES, ADMIN, or HR

If a column does not need restrictions, tick All. Leaving it blank blocks everything.

Restricting by Amount

A rule can be limited to apply only when the document or line amount falls within a specific range.

Use the From/To Amount or From/To Line Amount fields.

Common Errors

Error message	What to do
"General Coding Rule is missing"	Create a Filter Rule and activate it
"General Coding Rule is missing for {Column}"	The rule is missing a line for that column — add it or use "Restart Lines"
"Validation failed on Line No. X"	The entered value isn't allowed — check the Text Range on your rule
"Below values combined is not allowed"	A Deny Rule is blocking this combination — use different values