Top 5- Banking

Hello QuickBooks Community! With the evolving world of finance, it's important to stay up-to-date and informed. That's why this month, we're focusing on banking within QuickBooks Online.

We've gathered the top five most frequently asked questions from our community on the topic, and we're excited to share our insights with you.

So, let's dive right in!

1. How do you add a bank account?

This is an awesome question!

When you link your online bank with QuickBooks, the transactions will automatically download and get categorized. This feature makes it super easy and quick for you to update your bank feeds. All that's left for you to do is simply review and approve the transactions.

 Here’s how you can go about doing this:

Step 1: Connect a bank or credit card account

1. Go to Transactions, then select Bank Transactions (Take me there).
2. Select Link Account.
3. Enter the URL or name of your bank in the Search field, then select the bank.
   Note: If you can’t find your bank, you can manually upload transactions instead.
4. Enter your Sign info in the Login and Password fields, then select Continue. 
5. Select the account that you want to connect and date to pull transactions from the dropdown ▼. Then, select Next.
   Note: Some banks let you download the last 90 days of transactions. Others can go back as far as 24 months.
6. Select your account type on the Account type ▼ dropdown, then select Next.
   Note: Choose the account type that matches your chart of accounts in QuickBooks. If you don’t see the correct account type, select +Add new.

Step 2: Download recent transactions

1. Go to Transactions, then select Bank transactions (Take me there).
2. Select Update.

Step 3: Categorize downloaded transactions

After QuickBooks downloads and categorizes your online bank transactions, take a minute to review them. This way we can make sure that everything is sorted and accounted for perfectly. Keeping your books updated will make managing your finances a breeze!

Check out this article for more detailed info: Connect bank and credit card accounts to QuickBooks Online

2. How do you undo a bank reconciliation?

We see this one come up all the time. Remember, even small changes can throw your accounts off balance. To avoid this, you can only unreconcile transactions one at a time.

Maybe things got so out of whack that you need a complete do-over. If that's the case, we recommend reaching out to your accountant. They have tools on their end that can undo an entire reconciliation. But sometimes, like in the case of a minor mistake, unreconciling a single transaction may be the way to go. Here’s how:

1. Go to Settings ⚙, then Chart of accounts (Take me there).
2. Find the account that has the reconciled transaction. Then select View register.
3. Find the transaction. If the transaction is reconciled, you’ll see an “R” in the checkmark ✔ column.
4. Select the transaction to expand the view.
5. In the checkmark ✔ column, select the box with the “R” until the box is blank. This removes the transaction from the reconciliation.
6. Select Save.
7. Close the account register.

Reminder: If you’re unsure about whether or not to unreconcile a transaction, it’s best to ask your accountant.

Here’s more on how to undo or remove transactions from reconciliations in QuickBooks Online.

3. How do you delete duplicate transactions?

It's not uncommon to come across duplicate transactions in QuickBooks Online. Luckily, there are two ways to handle them - you can either exclude or delete them.

If you choose to exclude a duplicate transaction, it simply won't show up in your bank feeds again. But if you decide to delete it, QuickBooks will recognize it as missing and download the transaction again, creating extra work for you. That's why I highly recommend excluding duplicates to avoid any potential reconciliation problems. 

Let me guide you through the process.

1. Go to Transactions, then select Bank transactions (Take me there).
2. Select the For Review tab.
3. Select the checkbox of the transactions to exclude.
4. Select Exclude.

You can learn more here: Exclude a bank transaction you downloaded into QuickBooks Online

4. How do you import transactions with a CSV file?

When you link your bank and credit card accounts with QuickBooks, it'll automatically download transactions from up to a certain date. But what if you want to enter old transactions, can't find your bank, or connect it manually? No worries! You can always upload these transactions to QuickBooks manually to keep your records accurate.

Uploading these transactions yourself might take a little extra time, but it's a simple, step-by-step process that anyone can tackle. Follow the steps below.

Step 1: Pick a start date 

To prevent duplicate entries, make sure you know the date of the oldest transaction already recorded in the account.

1. Go to Settings 
2. Then, select Chart of Accounts (Take me there).
3. Find the account you want to upload the transactions into. Then, select View Register.
4. Find the oldest transaction, then write down the date.

Step 2: Get transactions from your bank

To get transactions from your bank, you need to download CSV files of your transactions.

1. Sign in to your bank or credit card's website.
2. Follow your bank's instructions on how to download CSV files of your transactions to your computer.
3. Check the date range for the download. It should be at least one day before the date of your oldest transaction.
4. Download your transactions. Save the file somewhere you can easily find it, like your computer's desktop.

Step 3: Review the file format and size

Before uploading your bank file, give it a quick review and check the formatting to avoid errors. Here are some things to check for:

• Remove any zeros (0) from the file and leave those cells blank.
• Fix any transactions that show numbers in the Description column.
• Remove the word “amount” from the Credit or Debit column header. They should only say “Credit” and “Debit”.
• Make sure that all dates follow the same format. We recommend you use dd/mm/yyyy format.
• If you’re a Mac user, make sure to save the file as Windows CSV file.
• Some banks add the day of the week in the Date column (for example, 20/11/2018 TUE). You need to remove the day of the week. To do this, split the date and the day of the week into separate columns.

Step 4: Manually upload the transactions

1. Go to Transactions, then select Bank transactions (Take me there).
2. Select the blue tile for the account you want to upload the transactions into.
3. Select the Link account▼ dropdown, then select Upload from file.
   Note: If your account is not connected yet to online banking, select Upload from file.
4. Select Drag and drop or select files and select the file you downloaded from your bank. Then, select Continue.
5. In the QuickBooks account▼ dropdown, select the account you want to upload the transactions into. Then, select Continue.
   Note: If you're new to QuickBooks, you may not have an account to upload the transactions into. If you don't see one, select Add New ▼ from the dropdown to create a new bank account.
6. Follow the onscreen steps to match the columns on the file with the correct fields in QuickBooks. Then select Continue.
7. Select the transactions you like to import. Then select Continue.
8. Select Yes.
9. Select Done.

That’s it! For more information check out these helpful articles:
Manually upload transactions into QuickBooks Online
Fix bank upload errors in QuickBooks Online

5. Is there a way to lock an accounting period once reconciled?

You absolutely can lock specific accounting periods in QuickBooks Online. This is done by setting a closing date, which prevents any changes or entries from being posted after the period has been closed.

It's especially important to use this feature when you're preparing to close out your yearly books and file your taxes. Locking down your books ensures that nobody can edit your accounting data before the closing date.

Before you close out your books, take a few moments to review all of your accounts for accuracy. First, make sure that all outstanding invoices, expenses, and payments are properly accounted for. Also, take the time to reconcile your accounts up to the closing date and check your inventory quantities.

How to close your books: 

1. Go to Settings ⚙ and then select Accounts and settings.
2. Select the Advanced tab.
3. Select Edit ✎ in the Accounting section.
4. Turn on the Close the books switch.
5. Enter a closing date. Give yourself a comfortable deadline. You shouldn't need to edit any transactions before this date. Your new bookkeeping work will start after this point.
6. Select the Allow changes after viewing a warning and entering a password option from the dropdown menu if you want to require a password before editing your closed books.
   

    

7. Select Save and then Done.

It’s that simple. Here’s a more in-depth article on this topic: Close your books in QuickBooks Online

That's all for now, folks! I hope the top 5 banking questions I answered today were useful and helped clear up any confusion. Remember, if you have any other questions or concerns, don't hesitate to let us know here in the Community.

Thanks for tuning in, and I'll see you all again next month!