11. Using Bank Feeds and Online Banking

You don’t have to use all the online services offered by your financial institution. Checking balances and transferring funds are typically free services, but many banks charge a monthly fee or per-transaction fee for bill payment services (direct connect). You should weigh this fee against the cost of postage and paper supplies and the time you save to determine whether the service is worthwhile to you.

If your bank or credit card institution does not provide online services and you want to use these features, you can open a new account with a bank or credit card institution that does provide these services. Opening an account for the purpose of using online services doesn’t necessarily mean you have to sever ties with your original financial institution, however. For banking, you can use one bank for online services and keep another for savings and loan services.

Go to Edit, Preferences and Select Checking.

Click the Company Preferences tab.

In the Bank Feeds section, choose either Express Mode or Classic Mode (Register Mode).

If you select Express Mode, click the Create Rules Automatically or Always Ask Before Creating a Rule box as appropriate.

Click OK.

Select Banking, Bank Feeds, Set Up Bank Feed for Account.

Enter your bank’s name.

Click Next if needed to locate your bank or financial institution and click to select your bank.

Alternatively, click your bank if it is listed under the popular banks on the right.

If your bank offers Direct Connect, you see the Enroll in Direct Connect screen. If you need to enroll, click the Enrollment Site link.

If you’re already enrolled and ready to connect, click Continue.

If you’re already set up for Direct Connect with your bank, enter your ID and Passcode or Pin.

Click Connect and continue to link the account to QuickBooks.

You see a list of your bank accounts. On the right, click to select the appropriate account to import transactions into QuickBooks (not shown).

Select Banking, Bank Feeds and choose Bank Feeds Center (not shown).

Click the bank account from the list of bank accounts to select it.

Notice the balance per the bank and per QuickBooks.

Click the Refresh icon or the drop-down arrow to select to sync this account or all for this bank.

When prompted, enter your password to download the transactions.

Click OK.

Note the number of transactions waiting to be added to QuickBooks.

Select Banking, Bank Feeds and choose Bank Feeds Center (not shown).

Click the bank account from the list of bank accounts to select it.

Click the Refresh icon.

From the web browser window that opens in QuickBooks, enter the login information to access your bank account.

Navigate your bank’s website to download transactions (not statements) and select to download the QuickBooks (QBO) file type (not shown).

Click Open.

Select Import New Transactions Now.

Click OK.

Alternatively, if you choose to save the file, then you need to manually import it. Click Banking, Bank Feeds, Import Web Connect File.

Select the file to import and choose to use an existing QuickBooks account or create a new account.

Click Continue to import the transactions.

Open the Bank Feeds Center by selecting Banking, Bank Feeds, and choosing Bank Feeds Center.

Select the bank account desired (in this example it is a credit card account).

Note the number of transactions waiting to be added to QuickBooks.

Click Transaction List.

Filter the transactions if desired by status, type, or dates.

Click a single transaction on the left (or see the “Batch Adding Transactions” section later in this chapter).

The Payee field automatically populates if the QuickBooks Rules recognizes the payee. If it doesn’t populate, simply click the drop-down menu to make a selection from your QuickBooks lists (vendors, employees, customers, other names) or begin typing the name and have QuickBooks add it to your lists.

The Account field automatically populates if the QuickBooks Rules recognizes the payee from a previously downloaded transaction. If it doesn’t populate, simply begin typing the account name or click the drop-down menu to select from a list of your accounts.

If you have class tracking enabled, enter the class.

In the Action column, click the drop-down menu and select Quick Add.

If you set the preference to create rules automatically and always ask before creating a rule, then the Rule Creation window opens. Click OK.

In the Action column, click the drop-down menu to select Add More Details for the appropriate transaction.

You can accept the default date or modify as needed.

If no number downloaded, enter an optional Number with which to identify the transaction.

Select or enter a name in the Payee field.

Edit or enter an optional Memo for the transaction in the Memo field.

In the Account field, type the account name or select one from the drop-down menu that displays when the field is selected.

Accept the default amount that displays or modify if needed in the Amount field.

Optionally, enter a memo about the transaction.

Assign the expense to a customer using the Customer:Job field.

Place a check mark in the Billable box if you will be using the QuickBooks Add Time and Costs feature to invoice the customer for the expense.

Assign a class with the Class field if you departmentalize your company’s Income Statement (and use classes for other reporting).

Click Remove Selected to clear the line detail above.

Click Add to QuickBooks, and the transaction is included in the QuickBooks register for that financial institution.

If you set the preference to create rules automatically and always ask before creating a rule, then the bank rule window opens (not shown).

From the Transactions List, click the Downloaded As column heading to sort and group transactions together.

In the No. field, you can add a transaction number (optional).

Click the Payee field to select the payee from your QuickBooks lists.

Click the Account field to select the account from your QuickBooks chart of accounts.

If you use classes, enter a class in the Class field.

To select all the transactions, place a check mark (if not already checked) in the column to the left of the transaction. If not selected, you can manually add or remove individual check marks for individual items you want to add to your financial institution register.

Click the drop-down menu for and select Add/Approve to add the selected transactions to your QuickBooks register for this financial institution.

If you set the preference to create rules automatically and always ask before creating a rule, then the bank rule window opens (not shown).

Renaming rules are useful because your financial institution may assign a transaction number in addition to the downloaded payee name. For example, you purchase mobile phone services from Verizon Wireless. When the transaction is downloaded, the vendor name is “Verizon wireless - <transaction code or location>.” You want QuickBooks to ignore the transaction code and assign it to the proper vendor (in this example, Verizon Wireless without a store number or code). Thus, a renaming rule is created that begins with, ends with, contains, or exactly matches the downloaded transaction (and uses the vendor name of Verizon Wireless and posts it to the proper expense account automatically).

Follow these steps to modify the renaming rules created automatically by accepting transactions into QuickBooks from Bank Feeds or imported transactions.

Click Rules from the top-left corner of the Bank Feeds Center to open the Rules List.

Click the name for which you are modifying the renaming rule from the list on the left.

Click the drop-down menu to select Edit Rule.

Select the Description drop-down menu and choose from the Contains, Starts With, Ends With, Matches Exactly, or Does Not Contain options.

Edit the description rule as needed (contains, starts with, ends with, matches exactly, does not contain) depending on the transaction and information provided from the bank or financial institution. In this example, Burger King #12724, North Kansas was automatically created for the Contains option based on the description from the bank. We can edit it to Contains Burger King (and remove the store number and location) so the rule applies to any transaction when the description contains Burger King.

Review (or edit) details for the Payee Field.

Review (or edit) details for the account to use for the transaction.

Click Save to assign the renaming rule.

Click the dark orange color block that shows transactions changed by rules to filter for only those transactions.

Click the Batch Actions drop-down menu and select Add/Approve to batch add the transactions to QuickBooks.

On the drop-down menu for Action for the selected transaction, click Select Bills to Mark as Paid.

Select the vendor from the drop-down list, or begin typing the vendor name and QuickBooks finds vendor names that match.

Accept the default date or change as needed.

Enter an optional memo in the Memo field.

Enter an optional transaction number or name in the Number field if no number displays. (In this example, the check number was downloaded from the bank with the transaction.)

Select Match to Existing Transaction and place a check mark next to the open bill or bills that are being paid by this downloaded transaction.

Click the Add to QuickBooks button to record this transaction in QuickBooks.

For one transaction, from the Action drop-down menu, select Ignore.

For multiple transactions, select the transactions by checking in front of them and from the Batch Actions drop-down menu, select Ignore.

A confirmation prompt displays. Click Yes to permanently delete the transactions from the download.

Click No to be returned to the Select Items to Delete dialog box.

After the service is enabled (your bank may charge a fee for this), you use QuickBooks to record the bills being paid and send instructions to your financial institution. Your financial institution’s payment processor makes the payments electronically or prints and mails the check for you.

If you activated your online bill payment service, as discussed in the “Activating Bank Feeds” section earlier in this chapter, you have the Send Items to Your Bank section in the Bank Feeds Center.

Click Create New to create an online check, pay bills, or transfer funds. The transaction is sent to your financial institution for payment directly to the vendor. Alternatively, you can create transactions as usual in QuickBooks and check the box for Online Payment.

In this example, a check has been prepared. Select Pay Online. QuickBooks includes this in your Bank Feeds Center as a transaction ready to send.

Click Save & Close.

Click Send Items in the Bank Feeds Center window.

Enter your PIN if requested (not shown).

From the Bank Feeds Center, on the Create New drop-down menu, select Cancel Payments.

Alternatively, click on Online Checks (or Bill Payments or Transfers) waiting to be sent.

In the Online Payments to Be Sent dialog, select the payment you want to cancel.

Click Cancel. The Cancel Payment prompt box displays (not shown).

Click Yes to cancel the payment (not shown).

Ignore the date—QuickBooks forces this date to read Next Business Day when you indicate you are making an online transfer of funds.

Enter or select the account from which you are transferring funds.

Enter or select the account to which you are transferring funds.

Enter the amount of the transfer.

Check the Online Funds Transfer box.

Click Save & Close to close the Transfer Funds Between Accounts dialog box. Alternatively, click Save & New to record another transfer, or click Clear to remove your entries in the data fields.

Select Reports, Custom Transaction Detail Report. The Modify Report window automatically displays.

Click the Filters tab.

Click Online Status in the Filter list.

Select the type of online transactions you want to see. For example, pick from transactions to send, transactions that have been sent, and so on.

Click OK.

The Custom Transaction Detail report displays with your Bank Feed transactions listed.