Categorise online bank transactions in QuickBooks Online

Learn how to categorise transactions uploaded to QuickBooks Online.

Review categories for automatically downloaded transactions when you connect your bank to QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks suggests categories based on how you categorise similar transactions.

In this article, you'll learn how to:

• Download the latest bank and credit card transactions
• Review and categorise downloaded transactions
  • Choose the right category
  • Split transactions between multiple categories
  • Exclude duplicate transactions
  • Categorise personal transactions on a business account
  • View check images

Note: QuickBooks Online won’t download pending transactions.

Download the latest bank and credit card transactions

For most banks, we try to refresh transactions every 24 hours. You can also manually update your accounts anytime:

1. Go to Transactions and select Bank transactions (Take me there).
2. Select Update.

This updates the transactions on all of your accounts.

Tip: If you see a message about additional authentication, follow the prompts to continue the update. Not all banks require this, but some do for added security.

Note: QuickBooks recognises common suppliers from your bank transactions, and will automatically add new suppliers into your account. Turn this option off if you don’t want new suppliers added. In Bank transactions, go to Settings ⚙ and turn off Add new suppliers.

Review and categorise downloaded transactions

1. Go to Transactions and select Bank transactions (Take me there).
2. Select the For review tab.
3. Select the account you want to review.

QuickBooks sends downloaded transactions to the For review tab, and suggests categories for each transaction. Review them one by one:

• If the transaction says Add:
  1. Select Add if the suggested category is correct.
  2. Change the category by choosing one from the dropdown or adding a new one.
• If the transaction already exists in QuickBooks, you may have the option to match or view multiple matches.

Note: You can create a bank rule that automatically categorises transactions for you. You can also turn suggestions off if you want to manually categorise your transactions. In Bank transactions, go to Settings ⚙ and uncheck Enable suggested categorisation.

Choose the right category

Categorise income

Money paid to you from:

• Sales
• Customer payments
• Refunds
• Fixed assets sold
• Bank loans received 
• Money invested

Categorise expenses

Money paid to others. For example, money spent on:

• Office Supplies 
• Meals
• Payroll 
• Taxes
• Fixed assets

Note: If you pay yourself (called an Owner pay or Owner draw), this “equity transaction” is also considered an expense for the business.

Split transactions between multiple categories

You can split transactions between multiple categories for better tracking.

1. Go to Transactions and select Bank transactions (Take me there).
2. In the For review tab, select the transaction you want to split.
   Note: If the option is Match, change it to Categorise.
3. Select Split which opens the Split transaction window.
4. From the Category ▼ dropdown, select the categories you want to split the transaction into.
5. Enter an Amount for each split so the Difference shows GBP £0.
6. Select a Supplier or Customer name for each split.
   Note: The field name may vary depending on the transaction.
7. Select Apply and accept.

Exclude duplicate transactions

Duplicates may sometimes occur when transactions automatically update from your bank after you’ve manually uploaded them. In these cases, you might want to exclude them.

1. Go to Transactions and select Bank transactions (Take me there).
2. In the For review tab, select the checkbox for each transaction you want to exclude.
3. Select Exclude.

Excluded transactions move to the Excluded tab. They won’t be added to QuickBooks or downloaded again. If you excluded a transaction by mistake, from the Excluded tab, find the transaction and select Undo.

Categorise personal transactions on a business account

If you spend money on a personal transaction using a business account, that’s an owner’s draw. If you add personal money to a business account, that’s an owner's investment.

View check images

QuickBooks has partnered with selected banks to include check images for check transactions.

Note: The cheque image disconnects when cheques are matched to a bill and converted into a bill payment.

To view the cheque images:

1. Go to Transactions and select Bank transactions (Take me there).
2. In the For review tab, select the transaction you want to view the check image for.
   Note: Transactions with an attached image will have a number in the Add attachment column.
3. Select the image name, then view the check image in the Explore sidebar.

Note: If your connected bank transactions don’t have cheque images automatically attached, your bank is not supported. However, it may be supported at a later date as we work to partner with more financial institutions.

We're here to help
If you're confused about how to review, match or categorise transactions, or need help with manually uploading them, let us know. Sign in to QuickBooks and start a discussion with a qualified QuickBooks Online expert in the community.