Connect bank and credit card accounts to QuickBooks Online

Connecting your banks and credit cards is the fastest way to get a complete, real-time view of your finances and cash flow. By letting your transactions flow into QuickBooks automatically, you can save hours every week on manual data entry and reconciliation. You can get set up in a few minutes.

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In this article, you'll learn how to:

• Connect a bank or credit card account
• Download recent transactions
• Categorize downloaded transactions

Connect a bank or credit card account

You can also connect multiple businesses and personal bank accounts to keep your business information up-to-date in QuickBooks.

In QuickBooks you can upload up to two years of historical data. Connecting now ensures you have a complete, up-to-date picture of your finances without typing a single transaction.

Note: If you can’t find your bank but still want to add your transactions to QuickBooks Online, you can also manually upload bank transactions.

1. Go to All apps , select Accounting, then select Bank transactions (Take me there).
2. Select Connect account if this is your first time connecting an account. If you have connected an account before, select Link account.
3. Search for your bank. You can connect most banks, even small credit unions.
4. Sign into your bank by entering your banking username and password. Then select Continue.
5. Follow the on-screen steps to connect. Your bank may require additional security checks. It may take a few minutes to connect.
6. Select any accounts you want to connect like, your savings, chequing, or credit card. Then choose the matching account type from your chart of accounts in QuickBooks.
7. If you don’t see the correct account type, from the dropdown ▼, select Add new.

Add a new account type

If you need to add a new account type:

1. Select Add new from the dropdown menu.
2. Configure the bank account settings:
   • For a bank account, set the Account Type to Bank and the Detail Type to Chequing or Savings.
   • For a credit card account, set the Account Type to Credit Card.
3. Enter a name for the account.
4. Select Save and Close.

Finalize the connection

1. Select how far back you want to download transactions. Some banks let you download the last 90 days of transactions. Others can go back as far as 24 months.
2. Select Connect, then Done.

Connect bank accounts from chart of accounts (optional)

Alternatively, you can also connect bank accounts from your chart of accounts. To do so:

1. Go to Settings and select Chart of accounts (Take me there).
2. Find the account you want to connect to.
   • Note: the account type in Chart of Accounts must be Bank or Credit Card.
3. In the Action column, select the Account history ▼ dropdown. Then select Connect bank.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the connection.

Download recent transactions

Stay in control of your data. Once connected, QuickBooks imports your transactions daily. You can also refresh manually at any time to get the latest accurate data that shows exactly where you stand..

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

Categorize downloaded transactions

Review and categorize the downloaded bank transactions to make sure that they are categorized correctly. This helps you to organize your charts of accounts accurately. It also makes it easier to generate reports and file taxes.

Set up bank rules (optional)

Now that your transactions are flowing in, why not set up a bank rule to automate your categorization even further? It’s the easiest way to reclaim your time and keep your finances organized without lifting a finger.

Additional resources

If you have problems downloading transactions or see any errors, here's how to fix them.