"Online Banking Administration" user is randomly creating suppliers automatically when it syncs my accounts. How do I stop this?

Thanks for sharing your online banking experience in the Community, @CH360. 

As an overview, when you initially connect your online banking in QuickBooks Online, our system will only depend on what your bank shares with us during the transmission. 

You'll want to contact your bank and verify the transactions, as some banks listed suppliers' names instead of the actual name of the store.

For future reference, you'll want to exclude transactions from your online banking that won't supposed to be there.

Let me know if you have additional concerns. I'll be there to guide you again. 

Hi,

I'm not sure why I would want to Exclude Transactions - the transactions are all correct, I want them there.

What I don't want is for new suppliers to be set up without my authorisation/permission.

Check the audit log that I screenshotted and attached to my original message - why are these suppliers being created?

I already have a supplier called Adobe Creative Cloud, now I have another one called Adobe for no reason whatseover. And worst of all, I can't delete them! (Marking them as inactive is NOT deleting them!)

Having this resolved as soon as possible is our priority, @CH360. I'm here to guide you to aid this error encountered in the banking tab.

QuickBooks is dependent on the data the bank gives. We recommend contacting your financial institution to find out the purpose of the setup of suppliers without your consent. 

I'm also sharing these articles that will help you reconcile your books in the future:

• Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online.
• Void or delete transactions in QuickBooks Online.

You can always visit the Community page for more assistance with your transactions and to check this further. Have a great day.

How would the bank be responsible?

I've linked an account in the Bank Transactions section so that QBO downloads transactions from the bank. It's the QBO platform that's deciding to create these suppliers, not the bank.

For 6 months, it worked absolutely fine, then on December 15th, it created around a dozen additional suppliers. I 'deleted' (translation: marked as inactive) most of them, and all continued to be OK, then on Feb 6th it decided to create 4 more suppliers which I also 'deleted'. Feb 11th and it recreated 3 of those 'deleted' (inactive) suppliers again.

If this continues, at the same rate, I will end up with over 100 'deleted' inactive suppliers by the end of 2023!

Firstly, I would like to stop this happening.

Secondly, I would like to DELETE these additional suppliers. I do not want to mark them as inactive, I want to remove the unwanted data - this is not an unreasonable request since I didn't even put it there in the first place.

I have always kept very tidy and accurate accounts, so I am not happy about have my data polluted unnecessarily, and like I say, marking as inactive is NOT the same as deleting.

Additionally, here is something weird in relation to three of the transactions where Suppliers were created.

Looking at my credit card statement:

Crv*The Old White Horse, London

Crv*43043205 Costa Coffee, London

Msft *<E07..........cu>,Msft Azure (hidden for security reaons)

In all three cases, if I look at the Categorised Transactions (I've already matched them), the Descriptions show as:

White Horse

Costa Coffee

Microsoft

However, if I click through to the actual Expense transaction then the Description shows as:

Crv*The Old White Horse, London

Crv*43043205 Costa Coffee, London

Msft *<E07..........cu>,Msft Azure (hidden for security reaons)

And the names of the suppliers that have been set up randomly are:

White Horse

Costa Coffee

Microsoft

In all cases, the supplier name does not match the details on the transaction, but it is pretty damned accurate!

It's almost as if QBO has programmed some rules to automatically create suppliers for certain transaction descriptions. I have checked my own rules, and nothing like this exists.

What is going on here?

PS None of these new suppliers have any transactions associated with them. QBO has created the suppliers using information from a few of my many transactions, but then has not bothered to do anything with them!

I already have a supplier set up for Microsoft Azure - I don't need another one!

I definitely don't want to track how much I spend at Costa Coffee - an expense category is perfectly adequate

The Old White Horse was a one off transaction when meeting with a potential client. It's highly unlikely that I will ever spend at that place again!

I've just been reading this post:

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-uk/other-questions/bank-description-column-is-wrong/0...

...about how the description column doesn't match what comes from the bank.

Following the instructions and ticking the box labelled 'Show bank details' now makes that column display the actual details from the bank, rather than the made up data that QBO changes it to.

I've noticed this issue on both my bank account and credit card accounts (both with different banking providers).

Despite the whole post in the link above claiming that it's down to the data from the bank, it's very obvious that it isn't, and QBO obviously has some rules that change the Description. And since it seems that it's these changed descriptions that also set up suppliers, there must be some rules in place for that too.

Hopefully, with the change I made to display bank information instead, maybe this problem will go away!

I say again, this is definitely a QBO problem, and not a bank problem.

You guys need to get more information on what the back end does and doesn't do instead of just blaming the bank. And liaise more with your developers - this issue needs to be raised to them as it is obviously a bug or unexpected/unwanted feature misbehaving.

Assuming this is fixed (translation: worked around!), there is still the matter of properly deleting these suppliers that have been created without my consent.

Even if you have to get your developers to delete them directly from the back end database, I would like them deleted, please!

I hear your sentiments, CH360. I'm aware of the difficulties when the Online Banking Administration user creates suppliers in QuickBooks Online (QBO) without your authorisation. Let me ensure you'll get the assistance you need to prevent this from happening again.

QBO creates specialized user profiles automatically to track particular actions in the audit log. The Online Banking Administration displays a change that QBO performed automatically in connection with your linked bank accounts.

I understand this may have been an inconvenience for you and your business. For further assistance, it's best to reach out to our customer support team. They have access to a screen-sharing tool that can determine the cause of the issue and walk you through the resolution.

To do that:

1. Go to the Help (?) icon.
2. In the QB Assistant section, provide a brief description of your concern.
3. Click Contact Us to connect with a live support agent.
4. Choose between Start a chat and Call us.

Feel free to check the support hours through this link to ensure you'll be assisted timely: QuickBooks Online Support.

Moreover, it's recommended to reconcile your accounts once a month to ensure that the transactions you've entered into QBO are accurate compared to your actual bank statements. Doing so will guarantee that your books are correct and balanced.

Please don't hesitate to notify us if you have further clarifications about the audit log. We're always available in the Community to assist you. Take care.

I've tried customer support, and despite spending over an hour showing them clearly in the Audit logs that QBO was creating the suppliers, they would not admit to the fact that this was happening. They first stated that I must have created them, they then stated that the bank must have created them, and finally attempted to blame it on other staff.

There are no other staff!

After going around in circles for a long time, we eventually ended the chat as it was just a waste of time.

Same thing happened the following day which led to this post.

I note that you have not acknowledged the fact that I would like these unnecessary suppliers deleted.

I would like this dealt with, please, and not just marked as 'inactive'.

The executive team at Intuit works hard to give customers experiences that make running a small business easier, @CH360.

I wish you didn't have to overcome all these hurdles when communicating with our support. Nonetheless, I will relay your experience with the support department to our management. Thus, we are doing everything possible to provide a great experience.

I've filed a formal complaint on your behalf with our Banking team for them to investigate your account and support experiences and take further action as necessary. Rest assured that your issues have been acknowledged and will be addressed accordingly. They may contact you for additional information.

Again, we appreciate your patience as we work through this. If you ever require further support, please respond to this thread. We will make every effort to provide assistance and get you back on track.

Here is another example attached.

The Audit log shows that I logged out on the 13th Feb - email address hidden for privacy

It then shows an Automatic update of accounts, followed by the creation of Argos as a supplier.

WHY IS IT DOING THIS? HOW DO I STOP IT?

I HAVE ALSO ASKED SEVERAL TIMES FOR THESE UNWANTED SUPPLIERS TO BE DELETED AND MY QUESTION HAS BEEN COMPLETELY IGNORED!

I just deleted the new Argos supplier, and did a manual sync.

Now I have 3 more new supplier - Argos, Ford and Barclaycard Commercial.

Argos was on the Credit Card account

Ford and Barclaycard were transactions on my Bank Current account

The Credit Card is with Barclaycard, the Bank Account is with Virgin Money

That's another 5 suppliers added in the last couple of days.

THIS PROBLEM NEEDS FIXING ASAP

I CANNOT CONTINUE TO USE A SYSTEM THAT POLLUTES MY DATA

ADDITIONALLY, PLEASE ALLOW THE ABILITY TO PROPERLY DELETE THESE SUPPLIERS

I AM IN THE SAME BOAT AS YOU!!!

I am confirming that this started mid February!

They are clearly aware of the changes they introduced but they try to make it a bank fault!

They told me the same - it's the problem on the bank side. I asked them how is the bank responsible for the AUTO supplier creation in QBO? They went quiet.

They keep suggesting me to mark them as inactive. Seriously.

I've spent hours with support on this case. I gave them full admin access to my QBO. I've made screenshots for them.

All they did was change the case into the investigation and gave it a new number. Big progress. Wow.

My case number is [removed]

Investigation number is INV-83781

Their latest response was:

======================

Thank you for requesting updates on QBO Auto-Creating Suppliers Through Online Banking. While we haven’t resolved this unexpected behavior yet, here is the most recent information:

Current Status:

We are currently reviewing this issue and gathering details in order to implement the best solution to this investigation.

Our next update is currently scheduled for: Wed Mar 15 19:00:00 GMT 2023

We thank you for your patience.

======================

QBO Support,

I have a follow up question to your above suggestion:

I buy gas from various gas stations across my province. For instance Petro-Canada.

Every location has its own unique name:

Petro-Canada #1113

Petro-Canada #East Side

Petro-Can Gas Airdrie

Petro-CND Evedrgreen

PtroCND #201245

Shaw's Petro-Can

etc etc etc

So I have a question for you and QBO decision maker team. Who decided that it would be nice to AUTO-create each individual Supplier for each gas station and fast food joint in the country? And you're saying we should contact our banks to solve this, right? What should we inquire? Make all Petro-Canada locations appear as one Petro-Canada for all of their customers, because QBO decided to auto-create suppliers and didn't think through the fact that each location will be unique in the bank statement?

Please clarify.

Hey. Thanks for your post. Sorry to hear that you're having the same problem - it's so frustrating.

I now find that I check my Audit logs before doing anything, and then have to spend time cleaning up all the rubbish that they're putting in.

I was just thinking that it seems to have not happened for a while, and then discovered today that one named PG&E had been set up. It doesn't even remotely match any of my transactions ?!?

I've sent an email to support with the details of your case so that at least they know somebody else is experiencing it too.

Mine is Case:1595135340 - it's probably worth you passing that on to them.

My guess is that this is happening to loads of people but they're just not noticing, or are happy for it to happen. I prefer to manage my own data, and when it sets up a supplier named Apple when posting a payment to Microsoft, that is not acceptable!

I'm hoping they'll sort it soon, but I'm not holding my breath!

EXACTLY my thoughts!

It seemed like auto-create stopped for a while, but then today I hit "Update" transactions and got and Esso and Mobil for my fuel purchases. I travel to my clients across Alberta.

I export the supplier list (above the supplier list > an arrow icon beside the gear wheel) every time I perform a transactions update and cross check with the previous export to identify the new suppliers. Frustrating.

Also frustrating that we cannot delete Suppliers when they are empty and no other transactions are "linked" to them. I reuse them when I need to enter a new Supplier - I just pick the one that bothers me most and rename it to what I need.

I just noticed that my case number got auto-removed by the moderators. Yours may also get removed in 15-30 min.

I am sure it happens to everyone, an just like you said - they just haven't noticed it yet.

I've directed another QBO user to this thread to get us a momentum. That discussion is here (if I can call it "a discussion"):

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-ca/banking-currency/how-do-i-stop-the-automatic-creat...

Last time I spoke with QBO Support, they mentioned their AI engine (artificial intellect) they used to categorize the transactions and come up with the Description fields. So when they say that we should be checking with our banks because QBO is "just a receiver", this is a flat out lie - their AI is "coming up" with own description.

I noticed you mentioned in one of the comments that selecting [X] "Show Bank Details" - replaces the "Description" column with the "Bank Detail" and forces the system to use the actual data provided by the bank. Looks like that's how you override the QBO artificial (un)intelligence engine.

LOOKS LIKE THIS SETTING IS SO MUCH MORE THAN JUST "SHOW BANK DETAILS".

APPARENTLY, IT STOPS THE QBO AI AND FEEDS TRUE BANK INFO INTO THE TRANSACTIONS DETAILS!

I don't understand where they hire their QBO developers.

Unfortunately the 'Show Bank Details' box didn't fix it.

I have that ticked all the time but still get these suppliers generated sometimes - maybe not as many, but it definitely still happens.

I apologize for the confusion. The Show Bank Details does not prevent auto-creation of Suppliers.

What it does, however, is prevent the QBO AI engine to come up with it's own "description" of the transaction.

For instance, I had a transaction with the bank details "Shawcliffe Petro-Canada".

The QBO AI looked at the bank details and came up with it's own description: "Shaw's"

The only way to prevent the AI and force the original Bank Details to be populated, is to enable the "Show Bank Details" option.

This does not prevent automatic creation of the Suppliers, but proves that QB Support statement that QBO doesn't alter the bank details - is a flat lie. Their AI does, when "show bank details" is unchecked.

I am so glad it is not just me going mad! QBO drive me nuts when they 'make little changes' to improve the software and always end up making something else much worse. They have no real world experience and everyone on the help desks is just told to blame anyone else and never admit fault at any cost, but don't forget to have a nice day!

I 1000% agree with this QBO user this started happening in 2023 and it’s messing up my QB systems with useless vendors that I have to keep inactivating 

I search all over try fry find a way to turn it off -  ridiculous programmers/developers that have no idea about accounting 

On Mar 29, 2023 I received an update from QBO:

Dear M***** T******,

Good news, the investigation QBO Auto-Creating Suppliers Through Online Banking has been resolved for QuickBooks Online. If you are still experiencing this unexpected behavior, we would ask you to reach out to your online support team for further assistance.

Thank you for being patient with us while we worked to resolve this issue for you!

This is in reference to support contact Case Number 1595246090

======================

I haven't been getting any new suppliers with my last 2 banking updates. Looks promising.

Can anyone confirm? Cheers!

Hello there.

It's great to hear that you're no longer getting new suppliers when updating your bank in QuickBooks Online (QBO). Upon checking on our system, it's good to confirm the news that the issue is indeed closed and resolved by our product engineers. 

Moreover, I'll also share this link where you can search for articles that can serve as your reference to help you manage your QBO account: QuickBooks Online Help Articles.

 Feel free to leave a reply if you have additional QuickBooks-related queries. The Community team always has your back. Have a good one.

Glad to hear yours is allegedly sorted! Hopefully mine is too. I haven't had a response from Quickbooks yet.

I haven't seen any new suppliers for a while, but then last time I said that, a new one appeared the following day - lol.

Next challenge will be to get Quickbooks to delete all of the extra suppliers they created without my permission. Marking them as inactive is not the same as deleting!! Lol!

Hi there!

I would expect Intuit to be using a unified platform for all QBO users and their fixes should be taking effect globally, in the same way their "feature improvements" mess all of us up at the same time.

I hope they don't fix things on individual accounts -that would be an administrative nightmare.

Absolutely agreed with Delete Suppliers feature. The system should allow us to delete a supplier if no transactions are linked to it i.e. the transaction list is empty.

I have about 7 rogue suppliers left and what I've been doing is recycling them when I need to enter a new supplier i.e. renaming them to what I need. For now I'd just rename them to "QBOopsie 1 through XX.

I also submitted a Feedback. The word on the street is - they read our prayers from time to time.

Mine is doing this as well. Started the same time as yours. And it's driving me BONKERS! Have you been able to figure out how to turn off the automation?