Bank Feed duplicating 15 months of transactions.

It isn't the experience we want you to have when using QuickBooks Online (QBO) to manage your client's books, Angela.

You can modify the active rule inside the company file to prevent QBO from accepting transactions that cause duplicates inside the account whenever you download bank transactions. We'll gladly write down the steps to get you going:

1. Access your client's QuickBooks Online company.
2. On the top-right corner, click the Gear icon and select Rules.
3. Locate the active rule and in the Action column, click Edit.
4. Make necessary changes to the rule to prevent it from auto adding duplicates to the register.
5. Once done, click the Save button.

Also, you're right about the Backup and restore feature being available only in the Advanced version of QBO. For lower versions, the option they have would be to import downloaded files manually. To prevent books from being messed up, ask for another copy of the company file from your client and use it as a reference before making necessary changes.

There's also an option to batch-delete transactions depending on the page where you're performing it. In the Sales tab and the All Sales section, utilize the Batch Actions button. If you have converted transactions, they won't be deleted. Unselect those transactions to continue with the bulk deleting.

If they wish to upgrade to the higher version to utilize the feature, feel free to refer to this article: Upgrade or downgrade your QuickBooks Online edition.

Furthermore, here's an article to help you keep track and manage your clients inside QuickBooks: Manage clients in QuickBooks Online Accountant.

We're always open to help if you need further assistance or have follow-up questions about backing up QuickBooks or handling duplicate transactions inside the program. Keep safe.

We are having a similar issue of transactions being duplicated. We recently connected our bank account (Bank of America) to QBO. Since connecting, some (not all) transactions are being duplicated. I've look into editing rules as your suggest, however there is no rule that appears to apply. Is there another way to prevent duplicate transactions?

Thanks for reaching out to the Community, JEllixson. I can help you manage your duplicate transactions in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

When using the Bank rules feature in QBO, you can only set up a rule to automatically categorize your transactions. You're unable to use it in excluding your transactions.

Since you're having duplicate transactions, you can consider excluding them manually to prevent duplicates in the future.

Here's how:

1. Go to Transactions, then select Bank transactions.
2. Select a bank account. Then, go to the For Review tab and tick the duplicate transactions. 
3. A black box will appear at the top of all transactions, showing how many are selected. Select Exclude.
4. To permanently remove the transaction, go to the Excluded tab. Then, mark check the box. Click Delete.
5. If the transactions are already matched or categorized. Go to the Categorized tab and click all duplicate transactions.
6. Click Undo. This will move them over to the For review tab.
7. Go to the For review tab. Then repeat steps 4 & 5 to delete the transaction permanently.

If it still shows duplicate after you matched the transaction, you can consider contacting your bank support to review the information they sent into QBO.

In addition, you can refer to these articles to learn how to categorize your bank transactions and how to reconcile your account in QBO:

• Categorize online bank transactions in QBO.
• Reconcile an account in QBO.

Comment on the post if you still have concerns about your bank transactions in QBO. I'm always here to help you.

Is there a way to automate the process you describe?

I appreciate your prompt response, JEllixson. Let me provide information about automatically excluding duplicate transactions in your QuickBooks Online (QBO) account.

In QBO, a fully automated way to exclude duplicate transactions is unavailable. This process requires manual steps to identify and remove duplicates.  However, you can select multiple transactions and use the batch action to exclude several duplicate transactions simultaneously. This can help save time when dealing with a large number of duplicates. Here's a sample screenshot:

In addition, when you download transactions from your bank, you need to categorize them so they go into the correct accounts.

If you have any other questions about excluding duplicate transactions in QBO, don't hesitate to post a reply below. I'm just around the corner to help.

Hi,

If you’re encountering duplicated transactions in QuickBooks, there are a few steps you can take to resolve this issue:

Check Audit Log:

• Sign in to your QuickBooks Online (QBO) account.
• Navigate to the Gear icon and select “Audit log.”
• Filter by “All users” and review the log to identify duplicate transactions.
• Delete the duplicates from there1.

2. Exclude Duplicates from Bank Transactions:

• Go to the Banking or Transactions menu.
• Select your bank account and go to the “For review” tab.
• Find the duplicate transactions and exclude them1.

3. Delete Duplicates from Chart of Accounts:

• Go to the Accounting menu and select “Chart of Accounts.”
• Locate the affected account and click “View register.”
• Delete the duplicate transactions1.

Remember to consult with your accountant for additional guidance at + +  + . Once resolved, your bookkeeping will be accurate! 1

Make sure you do not have any rules that is on auto accept. Without auto accept, the transactions will stay in banking reconciliation area. With auto accept, the transactions goes directly to the ledgers. I have all my client turn off auto accept function but it adds to monthly work. The rules and auto classification functions were pretty handy. I spent many hours and had several tickets with QBO helpdesk/sales and there were no other solution for this problem. I had to delete every transaction  one by one (no bulk delete function).  This process took me days to clean up my account) A simple solution to this kind of "sxxx happened" problem is to restore to a prior day/version. QBO only offer that to the most expensive subscription. In my opinion, an accounting software is incomplete without a back up/restore option to protect our data. I encourage you to reach out to QBO and request this functions for all clients.

If the rules have auto accept turned on, the transactions will hit the ledger directly.  This is really not a real option.  

Both option 1 and option 3 involves opening each transaction and deleting each transaction one by one.  When a large number of transactions gets loaded into the ledger (auto rules), this process can take forever. 

The only solution I have found is to turn off all the auto rules so duplicated transactions can be caught at the bank register stage.  However, there is not a real solution because the auto rule/auto accept function is an essential function for users to quickly classify their reoccurring transactions.  Removing that function adds a lot or work to the normal book keeping process.  Also, there is no way of telling if the transactions in the bank registers section have already been accepted/reconciled unless the user can remember every transaction or perform a bank reconciliation after the fact.  

These kind of duplication often happens when there is a problem with the bank feed.  It might not happen often, but when it does, it is often a large quantity of transactions.  The current fix if to identify them one by one and delete/exclude them one by one.  

What QBO needs is a back up/restore function and a mass delete option.  Both of these functions are available for QuickBooks Desktop/Enterprise.  I believe Intuit's initiative to move people off Desktop and onto QBO is premature.  QBO is missing some essential functions to make it a reliable accounting application.   

I heard your preference for deleting bank transactions from the ledger in bulk, Angela. Indeed, it's also convenient for everyone to have the option to auto-categorize bank entries from their banking page and help save more time for this specific task.

You're correct that when switching off the bank rules, transactions will remain in your bank feeds until being categorized. While this is essential for your business, I'd recommend sending feedback about having the option to delete bank transactions in bulk from your register or ledger. This way, our product developers can check the feasibility and implementation of the feature. 

Here's how you can send your suggestions:

1. Go to the Gear icon.
2. Select Feedback.
3. Enter a brief description of your product suggestion.
4. Click Next to submit feedback.

Furthermore, you can refer to these articles that will help you with categorizing your transactions and reconcile them to ensure your books are balanced:

• Categorize online bank transactions in QuickBooks Online
• Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online

Keep me posted if you have other banking concerns. The Community always has your back. Stay safe!