The present invention relates to the matching of resources to work entries. In particular, the present invention allows work items to be assigned to a particular resource based on the characteristics of the work item and on the qualifications and preferences of the resource. Furthermore, the present invention does not rely on queues, thereby allowing characteristics of a work item other than or in addition to the amount of time that a work item has been waiting for service to be considered in assigning the work item to a resource. The types of work items that may be validly assigned to a resource, or the preference rules used to select a valid work item for handling by a resource, may be altered by altering the validation rules and preference rules associated with the resource and/or work item. Accordingly, the rules for allocating work may be adjusted easily and quickly, including at run-time, and may represent any attribute desired for use in allocating work.