linking bank creates new G/L account

Hello there, @AshleyK2.

Thanks for asking the Community today. I'm pleased to guide you with linking your bank account to an existing one in QuickBooks Online. 

Each bank have a different ways on transmitting their transactions. Hence, when connecting bank accounts to online banking, it's best to know how your bank sends the downloaded transactions beforehand.

So, if your connected bank download transactions to one account, you'll need to connect only the parent account. However, if the transactions download to the individual accounts, connect the subaccounts and not the parent account.

For further insights about this process, you can check out this article: About bank or credit card subaccount setup. 

Here's another article that you can guide and give you a better idea on creating subaccounts in your chart of accounts in QuickBooks Online

Visit us again and post some more if you have additional concerns. I'll be there right away to guide you again. 

Hi,

It's the same bank on all three companies, and the same account setup.  There are no parent accounts.  It's just one bank account to match to one QB account.  I select the account in QB and then do the steps to link it, but instead of linking that QB account it creates a new account.

I appreciate you for getting back to us, AshleyK2.

Let's run a few troubleshooting steps to identify what causes this issue.

There are instances queries like this occur when the system encounters browser-related issues.

To start with, link your account using an incognito window. It is the best way to isolate any browser-related issues. You can use these keyboard keys to open one:

• For Google Chrome: Ctrl + Shift + N
• For Mozilla Firefox: Ctrl + Shift + P
• For Microsoft Edge: Ctrl + Shift + P
• For Safari: ⌘+ Shift + N

If the account links to the existing one, you can continue working on it on a regular browser and clear the cache. It refreshes the page so it will load faster.

You also have the option to switch to a different browser like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge.

I've also added these links as your guide in categorizing the transactions:

• Categorize transactions
• Reconcile account

I'll be around when you need my help in categorizing the transactions.

I’ve been linking GL Chart of Accounts to QBO bank link for years. I just started experiencing issues similar to what you described this week. Not sure what is causing it… but when I connect bank, it shows my bank’s list of accounts, but doesn’t let me select from my GL to assign. And same error when I try connecting straight from my chart of accounts. Only lets me setup a new GL, which is not what I want. 

Good day, @M_S_F.

Thanks for joining the thread and your banking concerns with us. Allow me to provide you with further help in linking your account to online banking. 

Once you connect your account from the Chart of Accounts window, you should be routed to the online banking page. At times, too much cache build-up in your current browser might be the cause of the issue. This can be the reason why you're getting this kind of behavior in QuickBooks. 

I'd recommend following the suggested troubleshooting steps that were shared by my colleague Adrian_A above. This will help us identify if the problem is cache-related. 

In case you're still getting the same result, reach out to our QuickBooks Support Team. They can perform a further investigation and help you with the process of connecting your account to online banking. 

Simply follow these steps to connect with them:

1. Click the Help menu in the upper-right hand corner and click Talk to a human.
2. Type in "Talk to a human", then press Enter.
3. Look for I still need a human and click on it.
4. Select Get help from a human.
5. Choose between Chat with us, Schedule an appointment, or Have us call you.

 
Please check out our support hours to ensure that we address your concerns on time.

While working, you can also manually import your bank transactions to QuickBooks using a CSV file. This way, you can match them with the ones you've already entered into the program. Just make sure to open and review the file from your bank. Make sure it's in the correct format before you upload it.

Once your transactions are in QuickBooks, it's time to match and categorize them. The transactions go into your accounts after you review them. QBO also enters certain details automatically if you set up any banking rules, or if it recognizes transaction descriptions.

Please let me know if the suggestions above help fix the issue. I want to ensure that you're able to connect with your financial institution and continue with your business. Have a great rest of the week.

I ended up merging the new account it created into the old account so at least the account is linked and updating again.  Unfortunately, all of the old unmatched transactions came back when I did that, even though I told the new link to only pull transactions from today.  

Welcome back, AshleyK2.

No worries! You'll just need to exclude those old and unmatched transactions from your Bank Feed in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

Here's how to exclude:

1. Go the Banking menu and choose the For Review tab.
2. Select the transactions you want to exclude.
3. Click the Batch Actions drop-down arrow and select Exclude Selected.

This will move the transactions to the Excluded tab from the For Review tab.

You may find this article handy to learn more about the process of excluding downloaded transactions in QBO.

If you wish to permanently delete them, you can follow the steps below:

1. Go to the Excluded tab.
2. Select transactions to delete.
3. Click the Batch Actions.
4. Hit Delete.

You know where to find me if you have follow-up questions managing your bank transactions. I'll be around in the Community and I'm always happy to assist. Have a good day ahead!

Yes, but it's not that easy when there are over 10,000 transactions and you an only exclude what shows up on the screen.  It will take days to get through it at this rate, unless there's some way to exclude all at once??

Hello there, @AshleyK2. 

I appreciate your quick response to us. Let me elaborate more on how you can exclude your bank transactions by batch in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

In QBO, you have the ability to show up to 300 transactions per page. Here's how:

1. Go to the Banking menu and choose the For Review tab.
2. Click the small gear icon.
3. Choose 300 in the Page Size section.
   
   

After that, if you want to exclude all of the 300 transactions in bulk, just place a checkmark in the box besides the Date column to select all.

While the feature to exclude all of your transactions at once is unavailable, you can send this request to our Product Development Team to help improve your experience. They can review your suggestions and make some necessary adjustments in the next update. Let me show you how:

1. Click the Gear icon, then select Feedback.
2. Enter your comments or product suggestions.
3. Then select Next to submit feedback.

Once you're good with all of your transactions, you can now proceed to reconcile an account in QBO. If everything matches up with your bank or credit card statements, you know your accounts are balanced and accurate.

Keep me posted if you have follow-up questions about your duplicate transactions by commenting below. We're happy to help anytime!

I tested two separate troubleshooting fixes this morning. The first one was: opening in a private browser window. By doing this I was able to select from active chart of accounts. The second troubleshooting workaround was: to clear browser cache. By doing this I was also able to select from active chart of accounts.

Note on Troubleshooting QBO Bank Link: After linking two accounts successfully in private browser window, I went into Link a third and ran to the same issue where the active chart of accounts was not displaying as an option from the drop-down menu. By closing all browsers and opening a new private browser window, I was again able to see the active chart of accounts. 

So I am back in business and ready to catch up on some bank reconciliations. 

For information purposes, my bank switched to a login where you need a company ID (new), user name, and password.  I had to completely disconnect and update because it was even a new URL for the login.  This is how I ended up searching for help because this is a new problem I had today.

This HAS to be some kind of new bug that QB needs to fix, though.  If you're not super savvy with QB or know how to search and come here...I can imagine it would really make someone upset...like the gal who keeps getting cut/paste answers up there and 10,000 transactions that need excluded.  ;-/

The browser workaround did not work for me.  I tried different browsers, cleared cache, and also incognito. 

First I edited my old account to disconnect it from the old banking login.

I had to bring the new account in, with only transactions downloading since my last connection--otherwise you will get more than you need and have to exclude all the extras. It looks like that may not be working for everyone, though, it did for me.

Go to the new account and delete the opening balance transaction that QB automatically made.  It's reconciled so it will ask if you are sure.  You are, because this would give you too much money in the account when it's merged, and it will already be reconciled so not show up on your next bank rec.

Then I had to  use directions for merging accounts. 

Go to the chart of accounts and edit the new account that was made.  You have to name the new account the same as the old one (don't need to use a number, just the name and also make sure they are in the same parent account if you use sub accounts).  When you go to save the new account with the old name, it asks if you want to merge the two.  This worked wonderfully, and even kept my unmatched transactions from before the bank login changed in the old account.

Good luck!

I linked our checking and money market accounts to a 2-month-old QB desktop-to-online conversion.  All was fine before linking, and reconciled through 9/30/2022.  The linking created a new checking account (similar name and correctly, identical balance) and a new money market account (similar name and correct balance with interest added).  I saw no option to confirm a match to the GL.  Tonight I would just like to undo the linking, and link correctly some other time.  Can I just delete the 2 new accounts without disasters?

Thanks for any help in advance. 

Yes, just try to do it in Chrome and use Incognito!