Excluding vs deleting unmatched bank feed transactions

Thanks for checking in with us, SurlyBird.

If you need to exclude and then delete the downloaded bank transactions, it will not go back to the Banking page where you can categorize or match them. On your next question, yes you can leave those transactions in the Excluded tab if you want to see those records. If not, then you can delete them after you exclude the transactions.

If the downloaded transaction is a personal expense, we recommend adding it to QuickBooks, rather than excluding it. Otherwise, your bank account in QuickBooks won’t match your bank statement when you reconcile it. To avoid recording the transaction as a business expense, many business owners add the transaction to an equity account they’ve created, called an owner’s draw.

As always, check with your accountant or bookkeeper if you’re not sure how to handle a personal expense or any other type of transaction. Here's how to exclude bank transactions: 

1. Go to Transactions, then select Bank transactions (Take me there).
2. Choose the For Review tab.
3. Select the checkbox of the transactions to exclude.
4. Press Exclude.

The transaction moves to the Excluded tab of the Banking page. If you accidentally exclude the wrong transaction, just go to the Excluded tab and select the checkbox for the transaction. Once done, select Undo and the transaction goes back to the For Review tab so you can decide what to do with it again. To learn more about this one, check out this article: Exclude a bank transaction you downloaded into QuickBooks Online.

Moreover, I'm adding this article that tackles reconciliation to ensure your account is balanced and accurate: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online.

I've got your back if you have more questions about managing your banking transactions. Just leave a comment below and I'll be back. 

Thank you, RCV, for your thorough and helpful response! I think this is the assurance I needed.

Thanks again,

SB

Hello there.

We're glad to know that the issue has been resolved for you. If you require further assistance working on specific tasks in QuickBooks, the Community is willing to assist you at any time. Have a great day ahead!

Does this same recommendation apply to sole proprietors starting out and using their personal bank account/personal credit cards? Is it not better to exclude? If I don’t exclude, I’ll have a ton of irrelevant transactions that I have to track. Thoughts?

I'm here to provide details about handling your bank transactions concern in QuickBooks Online (QBO), @Sporcler.

Excluding a bank transaction means that the transaction won't be downloaded again when your bank updates. On the other hand, deleting a bank transaction will make QBO recognize that the transaction isn't accounted for and will make it download the transaction again.

If you're in the early stage and forced to use personal accounts, excluding irrelevant transactions is generally more prudent than deleting them. This provides flexibility to correct any misclassifications or errors without permanent loss of data.

If you're in the middle stages of your business, it's best to work with your accountant to set up separate business accounts and migrate your accounting processes accordingly. This will make financial management more straightforward and reduce the complexities involved in separating personal and business expenses.

Moreover, mixing your personal and business accounts is not recommended. Since you've already mixed the two, please refer to this article about recording business expenses you made with personal funds: Pay for business expenses with personal funds.

Also, you're correct that if you don't exclude the transactions, you'll have a ton of unnecessary transactions in the For review tab to manage.

Additionally, ensure to reconcile your accounts to keep them accurate and up-to-date.

Let us know if you have other concerns about your bank transactions in QBO. We're here to help you in any way we can.