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Everything you need to know about banking in QuickBooks Online - Discover more
Snowgoose71
Level 1

Why do transactions downloaded from my bank not take with them the categories I allocated in my bank account?

I cannot see the point in linking a bank account because all the transactions have to be manually edited to add categories and details. Nothing seems to come across from the bank account except the date and amount. My previous method of using Excel spreadsheet was way quicker and simpler than this!
5 REPLIES 5
Sherrie_F
QuickBooks Team

Why do transactions downloaded from my bank not take with them the categories I allocated in my bank account?

I can only imagine how challenging that situation must have been not being able to take the categories allocated in your bank, @Snowgoose71.

 

No worries, let me guide you through this and provide some ways.

 

To start with, you can select the Copy bank detail to memo and Show bank details for you to be able to see the categories allocated in your bank account.

 

Here's how:

 

  1. In the left navigational bar, select Transactions.
  2. Then, choose Bank transactions.
  3. Click the small Gear icon.
  4. Under Columns, tick the Show bank details and Copy bank detail to memo.

 

Moreover, it also depends on your bank institution if the categories from your downloaded transactions can be allocated to your account.

 

Furthermore, here's an article that you can browse through for you to be able to know if your downloaded transactions end up in the right accounts: Set up bank rules to categorize online banking transactions in QuickBooks Online

 

Let us know if you still have further queries managing your bank transactions. We're always here 24/7. Stay safe there and have a good one!

Snowgoose71
Level 1

Why do transactions downloaded from my bank not take with them the categories I allocated in my bank account?

Thank you for your reply, which has highlighted yet another problem I'm having. It is very confusing to know how I sign in to QuickBooks. I have the option to sign in to QB Online or QB Self Employed. Why the two options?

 

If I sign in to QB Self Employed, all my transactions are shown, from my bank account, but other options are very limited. For example, Rules are nothing like described in the help section and Transactions does not have an option "Bank Transaction" as described in your reply. 

 

If I sign in to QB Online, there are errors everywhere ("Something went wrong") and the only option down teh left hand side is "New". Selecting that does nothing. 

 

So, where am I meant to sign in? Why is my dashboard completely different to the help guides and to your description?

 

Thank you,

Jen

ReymondO
QuickBooks Team

Why do transactions downloaded from my bank not take with them the categories I allocated in my bank account?

Thanks for getting back to the thread, @Snowgoose71.

 

For me to help address your banking concern, can you verify what QuickBooks subscription you're using when managing your business? This will help me identify the reason why your dashboard is showing differently.

 

Please know that QuickBooks Online (QBO) and QuickBooks Self-Employed (QBSE) are two separate versions. The main difference between both programs is that QBSE is designed for independent contractors, while QBO is for small businesses.

If you can log in to both and use their available features, this means that you have an active subscription for both accounts.

 

Also, how banking transactions are shown in QuickBooks depends on data submitted by your bank. Once you connect your bank accounts to QBO or QBSE, your bank transactions will be automatically imported into QuickBooks. Thus, you need to categorise them to ensure that everything is correct.

 

For complete guidelines, you can refer to the following articles below:

 

 

In addition, the steps that were shared by my colleague above are intended for QuickBooks Online. Since you only see +New in the left-hand panel and get some error messages in QBO, let's perform some browser troubleshooting steps. This will help us check if the problem is related to cache issues and fix them. 

 

To start, open your account in a private window by pressing these keyboard shortcut keys:

 

  • For Google Chrome browser: Ctrl + Shift + N
  • For Mozilla Firefox browser: Ctrl + Shift + P
  • For Safari browser: Command + Shift + N

 

Once done, log in to your QBO account and see if it resolves the problem. If it works, return to your original browser to clear its cache or use another compatible one. It's more likely a temporary issue between QBO and your current browser.

 

Moreover, you can set up bank rules in QuickBooks to help automatically classify transactions and speed up your review process.

 

Please let me know if you have any follow-up questions about categorising downloaded banking transactions in QuickBooks. I'll be here to help. Stay safe.

Snowgoose71
Level 1

Why do transactions downloaded from my bank not take with them the categories I allocated in my bank account?

I seem to be getting nowhere and maybe I need to end my subscription as there is nothing here that makes life easier than manually listing my transactions in an excel spreadsheet. 

 

Firstly, logging into QB Online is exactly the same using an incognito browser page or clearing the cache. I have attached a screen shot. 

 

So, why do I have a QB Online log-in when I presumably only have a QB Self-Employed account?

 

Why are all the help articles based around QB Online and there is no help for QB Self-Employed?

 

Why are my bank categories not brought over into my QB Self-Employed account? All I get is what must be the reference which in the case of credits to my account are just random looking strings. This means that for every transaction brought across from my bank account, I have to manually open this and add a QB catergory, then open my bank account to find the transaction so I can make a note of the category and then enter that category into QB. This is way slower than using a spreadsheet and means it's pointless importing bank account transactions. 

 

You mentioned "Rules", but these (on QB Self Employed) are absolutely useless and bear no resemblance to the instructions I was given. 

 

If I only have QB Self-Employed, can you tell me what use it is as I cannot see any benefit, other than for generating invoices, but these can be done on free apps anyway. 

 

Thanks

Jen

SirielJeaB
QuickBooks Team

Why do transactions downloaded from my bank not take with them the categories I allocated in my bank account?

I appreciate your patience in addressing your banking issues in QuickBooks Self-Employed (QBSE), Snowgoose71. It's crucial for us that you have a smooth experience while using the software.

 

I acknowledge the significance of using accurate QuickBooks resources. I'll ensure that the information I provide is accurate and well-referenced. Please note that QBSE relies on the data provided by your bank. As a result, missing transactions may occur due to bank connection delays or maintenance. To confirm this, I recommend checking your bank's website for any maintenance notifications.

 

Furthermore, the system doesn't automatically categorise transactions unless you set up bank rules. You'll have to manually review and categorise the transactions within the system.

 

QuickBooks Online (QBO) categorises accounts for various purposes such as income, expenses, and inventory, while QuickBooks Self-Employed (QBSE) categorises them based on Schedule C. 

 

You can remove transactions downloaded from your bank in QBSE by following the instructions in this article: Exclude or delete transactions in QuickBooks Self-Employed.

 

You can count on me if you have other bank-related inquiries. I always have the resources and information to share. Simply hit the Reply button below. Have a good one.

 

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