How to fix improperly auto assigned data in bank feeds? Help!

Hey there, Victor B.

I appreciate the details you've provided. Let me help you sort this out.

Based on the screenshot you've provided,  you have a Renaming Rule that was set up, which is being recognized by QuickBooks. If the assigned name is incorrect, you need to simply edit the rule.

Here's how to  modify a renaming rule:

1. From Banking menu, select Bank Feeds > Bank Feeds Center.
2. Select Rules in Bank Feeds window.
3. In the Rules List window, highlight the renaming rule you need to change.
4. From the Action column, select the drop-down and choose:
   • Edit Rule: If you need to change details of the rule. Make the appropriate changes then click Save.
   • Delete Rule: If you need to remove the rule. Click Yes when prompted to confirm if you want to delete the selected rule.

You can check out this article for more details: Use renaming rules for Bank Feeds.

However, if you'd like to go through this over the phone, you can call our dedicated team who will be happy to assist you. Our contact details can be found here along with our opening hours:

1. Go to: https://help.quickbooks.intuit.com/en_US/contact.
2. Choose your QuickBooks Product.
3. Select your QuickBooks version.
4. On the Contact Us page, click a topic.
5. Click on the Get Phone Number button to see the support number.

Feel free to get back in touch with me if you have other concerns about QuickBooks. I'd love to help.

Thank you for your reply and offer to help.  But there may be an issue with your advice that you may have not thought of.  The problem is not the rule.  The problem is that I have 239 transactions all listed under the same exact name with no other unique identifiers. So yes, I can go in and delete or modify the original rule that caused the problem, but the first time I associate one of these 239 transactions listed as "Remote Online Deposit" with a new customer, QB will then automatically create a new rule and just reassign all remaining 238 transactions to the new rule.   So each time, I will have to go back and delete the new rule for each deposit.   Am I wrong about this?

Welcome back to the QuickBooks Community, Victor B.

Thanks for letting me know that QuickBooks automatically creates a rule after linking the transactions to a new customer. The information helps me identify on what’s causing this behavior.

This can happen if the automatically creating renaming rule is turned on. To keep this from happening, you’ll have to turn off the feature.

Here’s how:

1. First, make sure you’re in a single-user mode.
2. Go to Edit at the top menu bar, then select Preferences.
3. Choose Checking on the left panel, then go to the Company Preferences tab.
4. In the Bank Feeds section, select the Classic Mode (Register Mode).
5. Click OK.

With these steps, you'll be able to assign the transactions seamlessly. 

If you have additional questions using the online banking feature, leave me a comment. I'll be happy to answer them. Have a good one.

Yes, this option works, but only for transactions that have been entered manually.   So, I have to enter all the transactions manually first, and then match them to the downloaded transactions.  That kind of defeats the purpose of downloading the transaction, don't you think.  Is not the purpose of bank feeds to reduce workload by saving you from having to do all the data entry manually?  This method just adds an additional step above and beyond having to manually enter all the data.  I am not seeing how this is of any benefit.  If I have to do this, it would be more efficient to not use bank feeds at all. 

Let me frank with you.  This issue should not exist at all.  It is a failure of Intuit to work with JPM Chase to produce a fully compatible file that works with QB.  Why is it that one of the largest banks in the world JPMorgan Chase and the Worlds leading accounting software company Intuit cannot have their engineers talk with each other and work out this problem instead of burdening the customer with working around incompatibility errors that should not exist in professional paid for software and services?  I would really like to hear an answer to this.

The title of my question is,  how, "How to fix improperly auto assigned data in bank feeds?"  So far, no one as actually addressed this issue.  Rasa-LilaM did tell me how to Match these transactions with existing transactions, but not how to FIX the imported transactions.  Just in case you are having difficulty seeing the difference, let me give you a visual example to guide you. 

Let's say my question was "How to fix my car (QB) that won't run because the  gas station (Chase) attendant (web-connect file) put diesel (improperly formatted data) in it instead of gasoline."   To this question, Rasa-LilaM answered; "Leave the diesel in the tank, get out of the car and start pushing it yourself" (Do all your data entry manually).

So yes, Rasa-LilaM's answer gets me down the road, but only at the expense of a ton of EXTRA work that that does not even fix the issue of the corrupt data.  Bank feeds serve the same purpose as a car; they are to help us move faster and more efficiently then walking by foot or entering data manually.  That is the whole reason for their existence.  Having to enter all the data manually to try to feed the improperly formatted data, is the same exact thing as pushing your car down the road to get to the store.  Yes, you get to the store eventually, but it would have been a lot easier if you just left the car at home instead of pushing it.  Why in the world would I input all the data manually to try to fix the bad data from Chase? LOL!  Makes absolutely no sense at all. It is not a solution or troubleshooting.  ROFL!

As far as issuing a trouble ticket; I don't have to because I am not the first person to have this problem.  Chase is one of the largest banks in the world and millions of people use their mobile deposit system every (I have proof of this if you need it).  Many people have gone to Inuit for help with this issue and Intuit support has one answer; "Go to Chase Bank and tell them about the problem with THEIR data reporting".    I have been down this road so many times before and it is nothing but a game of "Pass the Buck".  Intuit says it is the Banks problem to fix and the Bank says it is Intuit's problem to fix.   They play ping-pong with their customers until the customer finally gives up.

Here is the solution.  Inuit needs to send it's engineers of to talk with the Chase database administrators and tell them how to properly format their data feeds to work with QB.  It really is that simple.  Inuit know what QB needs, so it is their responsibility to make sure banks that offer QB support knows how to give what they claim to offer.  If I had my way, Intuit would sue every bank for "Failure to Render Advertised Services).  In the case of Chase, we are not talking about a simple mistake here.  We are talking about a complete lack of any effort what-so-ever to offer QB compatible data.  But they are glad to charge $9.95 a month for their Quickbooks service that does not work. 

Hi Victor B,

First and foremost, I want you to know that your voice matters and I completely agree with the solution that you provided. Your time is very valuable to me and the last thing I want you to deal with are problems like this.

This isn't the impression that I'd like for you to be left with. The updates and changes to QuickBooks are largely the results of feedback provided by users, just like yourself. That said, I'm making it my top priority that your feedback reaches our engineers and make them understand the urgency of this matter. After all, updates and changes to QuickBooks are largely the results of feedback provided by users.

Please don't hesitate to touch base with me here in the Community if there's anything else I can do for you.I assure you that I'll do my best to help you out.

Hi AldrinS.  Thank you for your answer.  I am not going to pretend that I have the know how to technically tell you how to solve this problem, but I can tell you exactly what the problem is, and what needs to be done to solve it.  There is one thing I want to make clear.  This problem is not with the QB program itself or any updates that have been made to it.  This problem is 100% a problem with how Chase Bank reports check deposits made via their Mobile Deposit System.

There are several factors at play in why this problem exists and the solution is not as easy as it should be due to multiple factors, primarily being the inability of OCR software to consistently and accurately interpret the eccentricities of human handwriting.  Let me explain.

Q: Why does Chase report mobile check deposits the way they do?

 A: Because when making a check deposit through the mobile deposit system, Chase bank only requires the user to input the amount of the check and take a physical picture of the check.  

So the only DIGITAL data that is available in a mobile deposit is the amount.  The rest of the critical data (that is needed by QB) is contained on the raster image (picture) of the physical check.  This information is not in digital format is unavailable to be processed and included in the Chase Bank report of the deposit.  This is why chase bank report all mobile deposits as the same thing and they all look like this screenshot below.

Now notice in this screenshot the little check icon to the left of the REMOTE ONLINE DEPOSIT #1.  That icon is live and can be clicked to see the actual check raster image.  So we see in this example that the only useful digital data is that which was input by the human that made the deposit, that being the Amount of the deposit, and since no OCR software can reliably interpret human hand writing, that raster image of the check is  for human benefit alone and is not usable as digital data.  This is why all Chase reports all mobile deposits at the same thing.  Since QB needs a "Unique Identifier" to be able to differentiate one deposit from another and to properly assign that deposit to the correct account, QB has no way to know who these deposits came from, since they come from the same PPayor, which is; REMOTE ONLINE DEPOSITE #1.

Okay, so now we understand the problem.  What is the solution? Well, the solution can be simple or complex, depending on what the end QB user needs.  The simple solution is for Chase to require the person making the mobile deposit system to enter the Name of Payor of the check at minimum.  This NAME data would then be readily available to report with the deposit.  In this case, a Chase deposit report might look like this:

REMOTE ONLINE DEPOSITE FROM: JANE DOE                               $40

REMOTE ONLINE DEPOSIT FROM: JOHN HANCOCK                     $100

So when QB imported these transactions, it could then create a Name Association Rule that says that: REMOTE ONLINE DEPOSITE FROM: JANE DOE   = Customer: Jane Doe; and then it could automatically allocate these deposit transactions to the proper customer account.  

As I said, that is the simple solution, but not a complete solution.  There are two critical pieces of data that are still needed to properly report a customer check that would still not be in this simple system I outlined above.  These are; the Check Number and the Date the Check was written.  Banks report when a check was deposited, not when it was written.  Anyone that has entered a Sales Receipt for a check payment in QB knows that you are required to enter the Sale Date and the Check Number.  So you might think that the solution to this is simply to require the human making the deposit to enter this data, but that will not work, but then the Chase deposit report would end up looking something like this:

REMOTE ONLINE DEPOSIT FROM: JANE DOE, DATE: 01/10/2019, CHK# 1234        $40

This is what could be called a CUSTOM Non-repeatable Unique Identifier.  This would be horrible for QB would because, since the date and the check number would be different for each deposit,  QB would see each deposit for Jane Doe as being a New Customer and you would have to create a new name association rule for each deposit, thereby subverting the automation process and adding more work to import the chase web connect file.  Plus, I doubt that Chase bank would be willing to force their customer to have to input all that extra data to make a mobile deposit anyways.

The other more complex solution is for the two departments within Chase Bank to work together; these are the Quickbooks Services Department and the Debt Collection and Reporting Department.  When a check is deposited, it authorizes Bank 1 to access the information from the Payor's account from Bank 2.  All that Chase (Bank ) needs to do is instruct the department that collects the money from Bank 2, to funnel the data like Payor's Name and Check Number and Date from Bank 2 over to the Reporting department to be associated QB web connect services in a format that can be used by QB.  This would be extremely complex and would require the creation of custom advanced algorithms to accomplish. 

Now you might be asking, "How is this Intuits problem to fix?"  Well, because Intuit is the one who bears the responsibility to TELL Chase what information it needs to include in its QB services to make them compatible for QB customers. Intuit is the one who knows what QB needs and how it needs to be formatted.  Intuit also needs to make it as easy as possible for all banks to provide this data in a manner that is readily available and usable to the QB program.  In short, Inuit is the one that is setting the STANDARD and they need to make sure that banks know what that STANDARD is.  But not only that, Inuit needs to make sure banks MEET that standard.  Inuit needs to tell banks that " If their services DO NOT meet QB standards, they CANNOT offer QB services."  Basically, "We make the rules, and if you want to play the game, you have to play by our rules."

Bottom line.  Intuit makes billions selling an accounting software that is supposed to make life easier than doing things the old fashion way.  Chase bank makes billions selling Quickbooks services to their customers.  There is no reason, these two giant multi-billion dollar companies should ever not be talking to each other to work out these problems for the benefit of their customers.

But here is what I no from using Quickbooks for 20 years now.  I have yet to find a single bank that truly offered a fully compatible QB file.  Every bank I have tried has had worse or greater problems then this issue with Chase, and it 100% boils down to INTUITS lack of enforcement of any kind of standard upon banks to offer services for their software.  It is ultimately Inuits fault.

I too have the same issue with Bank of the West. I have a 2 page list of rules that I didnt want. It is sooooo frustrating to have to do twice the work!!! Can you just turn off the automatic part? If you could just set up your own rules it would be a great tool, but having to go back and correct all the automatic rules defeats the purpose of the download from your bank.

Hello, @derkurnic.

Yes, you can turn this off. Let me guide you how to do it.

Here's how:

1. Click Edit at the top menu bar.
2. On the drop-down list, click Preferences.
3. In the left pane, click Checking.
4. Go to Company Preferences.
5. Under Bank Feeds, make sure to remove the check on the Create rules automatically tick box.
6. Hit OK.

Should you have other questions feel free to leave your comments below. Have a good one.

How do you do that in QB Mac, I want to turn off the auto renaming and categories. I would like to keep the ones I make, but I don't want the software to make new ones. Seems there is a bug, because I correct the renaming and give it the proper category - but then it changes it when I add to register. 

Welcome back to the QuickBooks Community, idsgraphics. I'll be sharing details on how renaming rules works in QuickBooks. Then, ensure you'll be able to perform an alternative way to achieve your goal and to fix unexpected movements in QuickBooks Desktop.

You can always create a remaining rule in QuickBooks Desktop for Mac and when you set up this feature, QuickBooks renames the transactions you download with the conditions you set. 

However, turning off the auto renaming isn't possible in Mac and this is only available in the window's version. Meanwhile, you can select the action for the conditions you set to Don’t rename. This will allow QuickBooks adds a default list of these “don’t rename” rules for checks, deposits, and withdrawals. To see further details you can open this article: Manage renaming rules for payee names in QuickBooks Desktop for Mac. 

On the other hand, since correcting the renaming rules changes when added to the register, I recommend running the  Verify and Rebuild Data Utilities to get this sorted out. The Verify Data utility identifies any potential data damage issues that might've caused unusual behavior. While the Rebuild Data utility repairs damaged data in your company file. Before this, you'll have to secure a backup copy of your company file.

To Verify data:

1. Go to the File menu.
2. Scroll down to Utilities.
3. Select Verify Data.
4. Click OK.

To Rebuild Data:

1. Go back to the File menu.
2. Choose Utilities.
3. Select Rebuild Data.
4. Click on OK when you get the message Rebuild has completed.

For further details, you can refer to this article: Verify and rebuild data in QuickBooks Desktop for Mac. 

 Lastly, you may refer to this article to see what’s included in the QuickBooks Mac Plus 2022 release and how you can use them to benefit your business: What's new in QuickBooks Mac Plus 2022.

Let me know if you have other questions about setting up rules in QBDT Mac. I'm always free to help you whenever you need my assistance. Take care and stay safe always!

These instructions do not match my screen at all. I don't have a menu bar, I don't see Edit, and I can't find anything called Preferences or any of the rest... help!

Thanks for joining this thread, sharkbait.

To verify my understanding, are you using QuickBooks Online (QBO)? The steps provided by Rasa-LilaM and our colleagues are for QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT), which is a different platform from QBO.

If you're using QBO, there's no setting to automatically create rules, but you can manage them from your Rules screen.

Here's how:
 

1. Use the Gear icon.
2. Select Rules.
3. Find a rule you want to manage and use its available options to edit it. You should also see an option to delete them.
4. Be sure to save any changes if you were editing a rule.

I've also included a couple detailed resources about working with rules which may come in handy moving forward:
 

• How to use bank rules
• Set up bank rules to categorize online banking transactions

Please don't hesitate to send a reply if there's any additional questions or information you'd like to provide. Have a lovely Wednesday!

Ah! You are correct. I'm on Quickbooks online.

For some reason half of my bank feed is just totally wrong. If an item in my bank feed doesn’t match a rule, Quickbooks automatically makes random truly odd guesses on the vendor and/or payee. Like, “I have no idea what this transaction is, but instead of leaving it alone, let me just have a little creative fun with this and see what you think…”! It adds extra steps for me and I’m worried some of these errors will make it into my books.

Is there any way to turn off the guessing, and only have it apply rules that are predetermined? Is there a setting I can turn off? (I have checked through all of my rules and there is no way the rules are doing this.)