OFX Importer and Transaction Matcher

[Berck E. Nash]

Derek Atkins wrote:

>>To give you a concrete example:  Yesterday I tried to import a $100 
>>transaction and the ONLY ONE it offers as a possible match is a $40 
>>transaction!  Yet there were TWO $100 uncleared transactions it should 
>>have listed as a match...
> 
> What are the dates of the transactions?  The matcher should look for
> <date> +/ <date_delta> and <amount> +/- <amount_delta>

This might be the problem.  The date of the transaction was 12 days 
previous.  Is there a hard threshold for date of the transaction?  I 
enter the date I issue a check, and it's obviously not going to clear 
for some time after that...  So it sounds like the matcher is 
excessively weighted on transaction date with hard threshold for x days? 
  The lack of success of the matcher would be consistant with an 
over-emphasis on dates rather than amounts.  It seems like it should 
first look for all transactions matching the amount, then sort them by 
relevance first by description then by date.

Another problem I have with the matcher which isn't related to the date:

My paycheck gets direct deposited every two weeks.  The amount is always 
slightly different.  I never enter the transaction manually, but allow 
the transaction importer to do so as a "new" transaction.  Unfortuately, 
it always attempts to match with the previous transaction rather than 
create a new one.  The date is always two weeks previous, the amount 
different, AND the transaction is ALREADY marked as cleared.  The only 
reason I can think of that it matches is that the description is 
identical.  If it placed a greater weight on transaction amount and 
whether or not the transaction has already been cleared, I think it 
would then suggest that the transaction is a new one rather than try to 
match with the previous one.

In comparison to my other problems, this is merely a minor nuisance, 
since it's quite simple just to check "new" transaction on the importer. 
  But I think it could be improved.