What are Direct feeds?
Direct feeds provides a secure and reliable connection between your bank account and QuickBooks. By establishing a connection directly with the bank, QuickBooks can receive transactions without requiring you to enter your bank sign-in information into QuickBooks.
Direct Feeds vs Standard Feeds: What's the difference?
| Standard Feeds |
Direct Feeds |
| Connect your bank account by logging in with your Internet Banking username and password |
Connect your bank account by either completing a Client Authority form or enabling the feed from an Internet Banking setting for Westpac and ANZ accounts |
| Transactions start flowing into QuickBooks immediately after the feed is connected successfully |
Can take up to 10 business days to process the Client Authority form with your bank, or up to 3 business days once enabled on Internet Banking for Westpac and ANZ accounts |
| All bank account types are supported, such as loan and term deposit accounts |
Not all bank account types are supported (see below for eligible accounts) |
| QuickBooks logs onto your Internet Banking to screen bank account transactions to bring them into your QuickBooks company |
Your bank provides QuickBooks with bank transaction data on a daily basis, and we bring them into your QuickBooks company |
| Any time you update your bank account credentials, you have to update this in QuickBooks as well to continue receiving transactions |
Updating your bank account credentials will not interrupt transactional data from flowing into your QuickBooks company |
What types of accounts are eligible for Direct feeds?
Direct feeds are available for customers who hold the following bank accounts:
You can connect your account to QuickBooks Online via the standard feed if:
- you have an account from a bank that doesn't support Direct feeds
- you have an account with any of the listed banks but it's not one of the support bank types – like a Credit Card or Loan account
I already have a Standard feed for these three banks. Can I still sign up for Direct feeds?
Absolutely. Once the bank has processed your Client Authority Forms (CAF), or your internet banking authorisation if you have ANZ or Westpac accounts, you'll be able to merge and sync your Standard feed together with your new Direct feed to become one account.
Just look out for the Get a better connection message under your bank account tile which looks like this:
How often do my transactions download?
After a transaction has been processed by the bank, they are sent to QuickBooks the following weeknight. Your transactions are sent nightly, from Monday to Friday.
| Transactions taken by the bank on: |
Transactions available in QuickBooks: |
| Monday |
Tuesday |
| Tuesday |
Wednesday |
| Wednesday |
Thursday |
| Thursday |
Friday |
| Friday |
Monday |
| Saturday |
Monday |
| Sunday |
Monday |
How do I sign up for a Direct feed?
If you're connecting a Direct Feed from scratch (you haven't connected this bank account to QuickBooks before):
- Go to Bookkeeping, select Transactions, then select Bank transactions (Take me there).
- Select Link account on the top-right corner of the screen.
- Find your bank in the search bar, then select it.
- Select the Get direct bank feeds link and follow the instructions to generate a Client Authority Form. Or, in the case of Westpac and ANZ, connect direct feeds in your Internet Banking settings.
- Print the Client Authority Form and get all signatories to sign it, then email the form to intuitforms@siss.com.au. Alternatively, you can post the form to:
Mail: SISS Data Services Pty Ltd
Locked Bag 3060
Crows Nest, NSW, 1585
- Note: This step is not applicable for Westpac and ANZ bank accounts.
See the articles below on connecting Direct Feeds for specific banks:
How long does the setup process take?
Once we receive the Client Authority Form, it will usually takes up to 10 business days to activate. If you emailed the form to intuitforms@siss.com.au, you'll receive an email from SISS acknowledging receipt of the form and starting the 10 business days count.
If you connect to a Westpac or ANZ Direct feed, it usually takes up to 2-3 business days to activate.
If your Direct Feed still hasn't connected after the above time frames, contact our team for further assistance.
Who is SISS Data Services?
SISS is an established third-party partner of QuickBooks Online in Australia who has been vetted and confirmed to meet our strict security and data protection standards. SISS provides data processing services to many banks, financial institutions and companies like Intuit.
You won't ever need to contact SISS. Any questions about your Direct Feed can be handled by the QuickBooks team.
How do I check the status of my application?
To check the status of your application:
- Go to Bookkeeping, select Transactions, then select Bank transactions (Take me there).
- Select the Direct feed account shown within the Bank and Cards page.
The status of your application, such as 'Pending', will be displayed here. Any alternative alerts prompting action, will also be shown here.
Why has my application been declined?
The most common reason for a decline is that the signature on the form does not match with the bank's records. The best way to resolve this is to update your new signature at your bank branch and re-submit your Client Authority Form.
Another common reason is dual signatories. If your account is a joint account, make sure that both you and the joint account holder hand-sign the form before submission.
What happens if I disconnect from Direct feeds?
If you disconnect a bank account, the bank account will stay active in QuickBooks. However, disconnecting the account will stop QuickBooks from directly downloading and delivering your transactions from your bank.
You can reconnect to the same bank account later if you choose to. However, you'll need to re-apply for approval from your bank. You can do this by going through the full process of completing a new Client Authority Form and posting this to us again.
