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Find, categorise, and edit transactions in QuickBooks Online

SOLVED•by QuickBooks•16•Updated 2 weeks ago
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After you’ve connected your bank or downloaded your latest transactions, it’s important to make sure that everything is where it needs to be.

This page will guide you through finding, categorising (viewing, matching, adding, and excluding), or editing your transactions from both QuickBooks Online and the QuickBooks Mobile App.


Select the following headings to get started.

QuickBooks downloads the latest available transactions every day - the specific time depends on your bank. You can also manually update your accounts anytime to get the latest available transactions:

  1. Go to Bookkeeping, select Transactions, then select Bank transactions (Take me there).
  2. Select the bank account or credit card tile that you want to search.
    • Newly downloaded transactions will be in the For review tab.
    • Recently categorised transactions will be in the Categorised tab.
    • If you mark a transaction as personal or a duplicate, it goes to the Excluded tab. QuickBooks won't add excluded transactions to your accounts. If you want to include it, select Undo from the Action column.

Can’t find the transaction you’re looking for?

  1. Go to Bookkeeping and select Chart of accounts (Take me there).
  2. Find the account you want to review. Then, in the Action column, select Account history.
  3. Select the Filter icon and select the filters you want to apply. You can use the Find field to search by amount, reference number, or memo.
  4. To remove a filter, select the X next to the filter name.
  5. Select Apply.
  1. Find and select the transaction in the account register to expand the view.
  2. Make changes to the available fields.
  3. If you want to change something that is greyed-out, select Edit to open the full transaction form where you can make additional changes.
  4. When you're ready, select Save or Save and close.

Note: If the transaction you want to edit is marked with the letter R, this means the transaction has already been Reconciled. In order to edit it, keep clicking on the field with the letter until the field becomes blank. Then select Save. You will now be able to edit this transaction.

If you don’t categorise transactions into specific accounts, QuickBooks puts them into the Uncategorised Income or Uncategorised Expense account. To check these accounts:

  1. Go to Bookkeeping and select Chart of accounts (Take me there).
  2. Look for the Uncategorised Income or Uncategorised Expense accounts.
  3. Select Run report.
  4. Look for your missing transaction in the report.

You can match, add, view, or exclude multiple matches from the For Review tab.

This means QuickBooks has matched the downloaded transaction with the one you've already entered. This links them together so you don't get duplicates.

  1. Find a downloaded transaction with the Match option in the Action column.
  2. Note the Date, Description, Payee, and amount spent or received.
  3. Select the downloaded transaction to expand the view.
  4. Review the Matching records found in QuickBooks. This is the possible matching transaction you already entered in QuickBooks.
  5. Select the link next to each match to get more details.
  6. Make sure this is the correct match. In particular, review the Deposit to, Payment method, or Bank account fields on forms for the existing transaction in QuickBooks.
  7. If this is the correct match, close the open transaction.
  8. Select Match.

If you notice one, you can learn how to account for bank fees when matching transactions here.

This means QuickBooks didn’t find an existing matching transaction. Instead, it started a brand new transaction for you using the info from your bank or credit card.

  1. Find a downloaded transaction with the Add option in the Action column.
  2. Select the transaction to expand the view.
  3. Review the recommended Category. This is the account QuickBooks wants to categorise the transaction into. For example, for a petrol expense, QuickBooks may suggest categorising it under expenses related to travel. You can always change the category and put it in a different account.
  4. Change the supplier or customer as needed. Note: If you think you already entered this transaction into QuickBooks, select the Find match option. Review the list of possible matches and select one if you find it.
  5. Review and add any other information that may be mandatory or missing.
  6. When everything looks good, select Add.

View means QuickBooks found more than one potential match.

  1. Find a downloaded transaction with the View option in the Action column.
  2. Select View.
  3. Review the Matching records found in QuickBooks. These are the possible matching transactions you already entered in QuickBooks.
  4. Select the link next to each match to get more details.
  5. Make sure one of these is a match. In particular, review the Deposit to, Payment method, or Bank account fields on forms for the existing transactions in QuickBooks.
  6. Note: The fields you see may differ depending upon the transaction you are matching.
  7. Compare the potential matches.
  8. When you find the correct match, close the open transactions.
  9. Select the correct match and then select Match.

As always, check with your accountant or bookkeeper if you’re not sure how to handle a personal expense or any other type of transaction.

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

The transaction moves to the Excluded tab of the Banking page.

Tip: If you accidentally exclude the wrong transaction, that’s easy to fix. Just select the Excluded tab, select the checkbox for the transaction, then select Undo. The transaction goes back to the For Review tab so you can decide what to do with it again.

Here, you can match, categorise, review, or exclude your transactions on the go.

  1. Select Banking and choose a bank. You can use the list icon to get a better view of all connected accounts.
  2. Select New Transactions. This will bring up a list of suggested matches. If a match is correct, swipe right to accept it. If you want to see transaction details, select the transaction.
    1. If there's just one match and it's correct, select Accept.
    2. If there are multiple matches, choose the correct one, then select Accept.
    3. If none are correct, search to find other possible matches. Choose the correct one, then select Accept.
  1. From the Menu ☰, select Transactions and the bank you want to work with.
  2. Select the transaction you want to categorise.
  3. Depending on your mobile device:
    1. iOS: Tap > beside a field, select an option, and then select Accept.
    2. Android: Under Category, tap >, select a category, and then select Confirm.
  4. Select Accept.
  1. From the Menu ☰, select Banking.
    1. On the iPad, if you have multiple accounts, select the drop-down arrow to see your list of bank accounts, then you can choose the one you want.
  2. Select New Transactions.
  3. Select Recognised to review transactions QuickBooks Online has already recognised, categorised, and matched for you.
    1. If the transaction is correctly categorised and matched, swipe right to accept it. 
    2. If the transaction is incorrectly categorised and matched, select the transaction and make the necessary changes.
  4. Select Accept.
  5. Select All to see any remaining, uncategorised transactions.
  6. Select the transaction, then review and add categories as necessary.
  7. Select Accept.
  1. Go to Menu ☰ and select Transactions.
  2. Select Review transactions.
  3. Select the transactions to exclude, then select the trash can icon.
  4. Select Exclude.
  1. Go to Menu ☰ and select Transactions.
  2. Select Review transactions.
  3. Select the transactions to exclude.
  4. Select Exclude.
  5. Select Confirm.

You can edit transaction information from the Bank Transactions or Expenses tab within your QuickBooks Online account.

  1. Go to Bookkeeping, select Transactions, then select Bank transactions (Take me there).
  2. Navigate to the Categorised transaction list.
  3. Select the hyperlinked transaction within the Assigned To column to open the transaction window.
  4. Make the necessary changes.
  5. Select Save and Close.
  1. Go to Expenses (Take me there).
  2. Navigate to the transaction you wish to edit.
  3. Select View/Edit from the Action column to open the transaction window.
  4. Make the necessary changes.
  5. Select Save and Close.

Next steps

It's always a good idea to plan for every scenario. Learn how to fix common bank and transaction errors like duplicate transactions and transaction feeds that aren't updating.

To save some time in the future, you can set up bank rules to categorise online banking transactions in QuickBooks Online. The more QuickBooks uses your rules, the better it gets. After a while, it can even scan transactions and add details like payees!

Have any other questions for our team?

If any of your questions were left unanswered, we'd love to hear them!
Pop over to our QuickBooks Community's discussion on bookkeeping processes where you can ask your questions, have them answered by qualified QuickBooks Online experts, and hopefully help others with the same questions out in the process.

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