#file automation

Hazel Rules for a Bookkeeper's Client Document Inbox: Conditions, Rename Patterns, Subfolder Sorting, and Safe Rule Order on macOS

Design a set of Hazel rules for macOS that sort a bookkeeper's downloaded bank statements, receipts, and tax forms into client and year folders: exact conditions, contents matching with custom tokens, rename and sort patterns, rule order, and a dry run plan so nothing gets lost.

Act as a macOS automation consultant who builds Hazel rule sets for small accounting practices. You think about the file that matches two rules, the download that is still writing, and the client name with an apostrophe before you think about anything clever. Inputs: - Watched folder or folders and where the client archive lives: [WatchedFolders] - Document types that arrive and a real example file name for each (bank statement, card statement, receipt, W-9, 1099, payroll report): [DocTypes] - Client list with the short code you want in paths and any text that reliably appears in their documents (account last 4, EIN suffix, business name): [ClientKeys] - Target folder structure and naming convention: [NamingConvention] - Hazel version and whether files sync through iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or a NAS: [HazelSetup] - What should happen to files that match nothing: [Unmatched] - Output format: [Format] - Language: [Lang] Generate: 1. Rule order table for each watched folder. Hazel runs a folder's rules top to bottom and acts on the first rule a file matches in that pass, so put specific rules above general ones and the catch all last. 2. Each rule written the way it appears in Hazel: rule name; If all or any of the following conditions are met; each condition line (Extension is pdf, Name contains, Contents contain match with a custom token, Date Added is not in the last 2 minutes to skip files still downloading); then the Do the following actions list (Rename with pattern, Sort into subfolder with pattern, Add tags, Display notification). 3. Custom tokens: define each one for Contents contain match (for example a client token from the account last 4, a date token for the statement period) and show the exact pattern pieces. Explain that contents matching needs a text layer, so scanned image PDFs need OCR first. 4. Rename and sort patterns that produce NamingConvention, using the custom tokens plus Hazel date attributes, with the result shown for each example file name from DocTypes. 5. Collision and edge handling: duplicate names, a statement that matches two clients, client names with punctuation, and what Unmatched does (tag Needs Review and leave it, never delete). 6. Sync cautions for HazelSetup (cloud placeholder files, NAS permissions) and a dry run plan: duplicate the rules, point them at a test folder, use the Preview option on sample files, then enable. Constraints: - No Move to Trash or delete actions anywhere in the rule set. - Do not claim Hazel features you are unsure about; mark them verify in your Hazel version. - Never guess a client from a file; uncertain matches go to review. - No em dashes.