Guidance is the set of rules and logic Dext AI Assist uses to generate suggestions. Core guidance is a library of pre-configured guidance items built by Dext, designed around standard business activities shaped by regional law and compliance standards — for example, HMRC requirements in the UK. It's free of charge and read-only. Only Dext can create or modify Core guidance items.
Core guidance is available to both practice accounts and direct business accounts, regardless of whether you have an AI Assist subscription or a free trial.
Admins — including accountants and bookkeepers accessing client accounts — can view and activate Core guidance and control how suggestions are applied. Standard users can view and apply suggestions to their own items, but can't manage guidance.
Note: Dext AI Assist takes priority over other automation features, including supplier rules, smart categories, and basic extraction.
Important: Core guidance is available for UK, France, and Australia. US and Canada will follow shortly after.
Core guidance for practices
Note: Practice Admins and Client Admins with the Manage the practice's business permission can view and activate Core guidance items from Practice settings > AI Assist > Core guidance. Core guidance items don't appear in client accounts until an Admin explicitly activates them and assigns them to clients.
How to activate Core guidance for clients
To add a Core guidance item to your practice and assign it to clients:
Go to Practice settings, then select AI Assist.
Select Core guidance from the left-hand navigation.
Find the item you want to enable and select Activate.
Select the Application mode — choose Manual review or Auto-apply.
Select Next to move to the Manage Clients step.
Toggle All clients to apply the guidance to your entire client base, or use Find client to search for and enable it for specific clients individually.
Select Activate guidance to confirm.
Once confirmed, the item appears in the Shared guidance list tagged as Core. You can change its Application mode or update which clients it applies to, from the Actions drop-down next to the item in the Shared guidance list.
How to manage an active Core guidance item
You can manage an active Core guidance item from either the Core guidance page or the Shared guidance list.
From the Core guidance page:
Select Manage next to the item to go to the Shared guidance list.
Select Actions > Edit to update the Application mode or change which clients the guidance applies to.
From the Shared guidance list, you can also:
Change the Application mode directly from the drop-down next to the item.
Toggle off Active to deactivate the item for all clients at once.
Note: If you delete a Core guidance item from the Shared guidance list, it's removed from all client accounts it was enabled for and no longer appears in their Business settings > AI Assist page. The item remains available under Practice settings > AI Assist > Core guidance and can be re-added at any time using Add to practice.
How Core guidance appears in client accounts
When an Admin in the practice account enables a Core guidance item and assigns it to a client, it appears in that client's account under Business settings > AI Assist as a read-only item. Clients don't need an AI Assist subscription or free trial for Core guidance to appear.
Clients can't modify Core guidance. If a client wants a change, they should contact their practice directly. The practice can either disable the Core guidance item for that client, or create a new guidance — either as a Shared guidance item in their Practice settings to apply across clients, or directly in the client's Business settings to apply to that account only.
Core guidance for direct business accounts
Core guidance is also available to direct business accounts — you don't need to be part of a practice to use it.
To access Core guidance in a direct business account:
Go to Business settings.
Select AI Assist in the left-hand navigation.
Select Core guidance.
How Core guidance works in a direct account
Core guidance appears automatically in your account at no cost, whether or not you have an AI Assist subscription or free trial. Each item shows its name and a description of what the guidance does.
Items are inactive by default. You can activate the ones relevant to your business.
How to activate Core guidance
To activate a Core guidance item:
Go to Business settings > AI Assist > Core guidance.
Find the item you want to activate and select Activate.
In the Activate Guidance modal, choose the Application mode — Manual review or Auto-apply.
Select Activate to confirm.
Once activated, the item appears in your Account guidance list tagged as Core.
What you can and can't change
Core guidance items are read-only in terms of their name and description — only Dext can update these. However, you can:
Change the Application mode at any time by selecting Edit next to the item in the Account guidance list, or by using the Application mode drop-down directly in the list.
Activate or deactivate items at any time using the Active toggle in the Account guidance list.
Note: Changes to Application mode apply to new items only. Existing Inbox items won't be updated.