Matching transactions from 6+ months ago

Welcome to the QuickBooks Community, @Bdonahue. Let me assist you in matching or excluding your bank transaction in QuickBooks Online (QBO) to avoid recording duplicate entries.

If QBO is unable to find a matching transaction from existing records, you can select the Find other matches option to view the list of other possible matches. Here's how:

1. Go to Transactions and select Bank Transactions.
2. Click the blue tile of the bank account, then go to the For Review tab.
3. Select the transaction to expand the view. Then, click the Match radio button to show the list of possible matches.
4. Set the date range. Select the checkbox of the transaction.
5. Click Match.

If it's not showing, you can exclude the transaction so it won't show as a duplicate in your books. 

Moreover, we recommend reconciling your accounts monthly to ensure your bank transactions match those on your bank statements.

Feel free to reach out to us whenever you have further questions about matching bank transactions. We're always here to assist. Stay safe, and have a great day ahead.

Thank you for the reply!

Is there any way to bypass this 6-month rule? I'm still having this issue even on some transactions that are not 6 months old. Additionally, when I search for potential matches the system will bring up "potential" matches that are almost a year old and nowhere near the same dollar amount. 

It just doesn't make sense as to why QB wouldn't allow for matches to be over 6 months old yet they will attempt to match transactions that are even older and have no correlation whatsoever. 

Thanks! 

Thanks for getting back on the thread, Bdonahue.Allow me to provide additional insights about matching transactions in QuickBooks Online.

If you have manually entered transfers in QBO, be sure to match them with your downloaded transactions. Categorizing them as transfers can lead to duplicates.

Furthermore, QBO does not enforce a 6-month rule for categorizing transactions. You can choose the date range within the system when searching for a match. If the transaction is not visible, you can exclude it to prevent a duplicate in your records. 

We also suggest that you reconcile your accounts on a monthly basis to verify that your bank transactions align with those on your bank statements.

Finally, I'm adding these articles as guides if you encounter reconciliation issues in QBO: 

• Fix issues at the end of a reconciliation in QuickBooks Online
• Fix issues for accounts you've reconciled in the past in QuickBooks Online

Please let me know if you have further questions about managing your bank transactions. I'm always here to help. Have a great day ahead.

In reference to your comment "Furthermore, QBO does not enforce a 6-month rule for categorizing transactions. You can choose the date range within the system when searching for a match.", this is incorrect as I've been told by QB employees and read on other forums that this is in fact a rule. Changing the date range does nothing but pull other transactions that have no relevance. I can see both transactions sitting in my "for review" tab for each bank account but neither will match.

I'm cleaning up a client's books so manually excluding a ton of transactions does not seem like an efficient way to go about this issue. Unless there's another underlying problem that QB won't allow me to match transactions between these two specific bank accounts. 

I appreciate the further clarifications, @Bdonahue. 

You're correct that we can't exclude the transfer transactions. We'll need both sides of a transfer transaction to categorize it as a single entry. I can share a step-by-step guide to help manage and match these older transactions in QuickBooks Online (QBO) without causing discrepancies in your balance sheet. 

To clarify the six-month rule of matching older transactions, it means that if there are old transactions, QuickBooks will stop automatically suggesting that there's an existing record within QBO that you can match with the downloaded real-life transaction. You can still utilize the Find match button to find the existing record. However, since you've clarified that there's no corresponding record for the transfer, it's possible that your client wasn't able to record one within QBO to match the real-life transaction. 

To bypass the six-month rule, you can utilize the Transfer feature within QBO. What this feature does is that QuickBooks will suggest that the movement of funds from your client's bank account is a pair to a corresponding transaction in the PayPal account. When creating a transfer record within QBO, the software will match both sides of the transfer regardless if it's beyond six months and recognize them as a single entry. I'll outline the steps below and add screenshots for visual reference. 

1. Identify the details of the transfer from your client's bank account to PayPal, including dates and amounts. 
2. In your QBO account, go to the +New button.
3. Select Transfer from the OTHER column. 
4. Choose the appropriate bank accounts from the Transfer from and Transfer to drop-down menus. 
5. Enter the Transfer amount. 
6. Ensure to choose the exact date of the transfer.
7. Add details of the transaction in the Memo field.
8. Select Save and new (or Save and close). 
   
9. Go to the Bank transactions page. 
10. Select the blue tile for the bank or PayPal account. 
11. Find the transfer transaction. (You can quickly find the entry since QuickBooks will automatically suggest Paired to another transaction for the transfer.)
12. Select Record transfer.
    

     

Should you encounter reconciliation issues in QBO after this, let me add these articles as guides: 

• Fix issues the first time you reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online
• Fix issues at the end of a reconciliation in QuickBooks Online
• Fix issues for accounts you've reconciled in the past in QuickBooks Online

You're always welcome in the Community should you have further updates on recording and matching transfers in QBO go. We're committed to offering ongoing support. Take care.

In reference to your comment,  "You can still utilize the Find match button to find the existing record. However, since you've clarified that there's no corresponding record for the transfer, it's possible that your client wasn't able to record one within QBO to match the real-life transaction." there is a corresponding transaction in the Paypal account. I can see the money coming in and out of each account. My issue is that for whatever reason QBO refuses to acknowledge the match even though both transactions are sitting in my "for review" column in each account. The dates and amounts all match, but QBO will not give me the option to match them. I'm even seeing this issue arise when one of the bank accounts is paying off a credit card, which has all of its transactions uploaded into QBO. Sometimes QBO will allow matches between credit cards and bank accounts and sometimes they will not. There does not seem like a rhyme or reason to it. 

Greetings, Bdonahue. Thank you for returning to the conversation and providing more information about your bank and PayPal transactions within QuickBooks Online (QBO). I'll share some details to help you clear things up.

If your PayPal account is linked in QBO, you'll have to manually add the transactions by selecting its button in the For Review tab before you can proceed to match them within the system.

Please note that for transactions older than six months, you'll need to use the Find Match button as QuickBooks will no longer automatically suggest matching records within QBO. Refer to the instructions from my colleagues above for guidance on this matter.

Visit these articles for your reference in managing your bank transactions moving forward:

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

I'll promptly follow up if you require further clarification. The Community is accessible round the clock for any assistance you may need. Have a good one.

What do you mean by "you'll have to manually add the transactions?" If the downloaded transaction is showing in QBO, what else would I have to manually add? 

As I've said above, the Find Match button does not work as QBO will not acknowledge the match even though both sides of the transaction are sitting in the for review tabs in each account. I'm even seeing this issue arise when one of the bank accounts is paying off a credit card, which has all of its transactions uploaded into QBO. Sometimes QBO will allow matches between credit cards and bank accounts and sometimes they will not. There does not seem like a rhyme or reason to it. 

Yes, you're right, you don't need to do the manual download as the transactions are already showing on your end. I'll guide you on how you can match your transactions, Bdonahue.

Transactions added or matched are automatically marked cleared in the register after you accept them in the bank feed. When QuickBooks looks for matches, it reviews the books for recorded transactions that might be matched. And this will show as similar records found.

If the credit card and bank account you use to pay the credit card expenses are connected (bank feeds), you can record the payment by transferring the record. After that, you can now match the transaction. 

But if the scenario is different, there are several reasons why QuickBooks won't recognize a match. One of which is that the transactions are not in the books. You'll have to make sure to create a transaction to match it with what is being downloaded in the For Review tab. 

Other reasons why the match may not have been recognized:

• The transaction is older than 180 days
• The dollar amount in QuickBooks is different than what cleared the bank.
• The transaction type is different in QuickBooks than at the bank. QuickBooks wants to match a check with a check and an expense with an ACH or debit/credit card swipe.
• The transaction was recorded in a different bank account (see Tip #4)
• The transaction from the bank is a payment/ deposit of two or more open transactions in QuickBooks.

However, if you're sure enough that you've recorded a transaction in QuickBooks, but a match is still not found, use the search tool in the upper right corner to help locate the transactions. Make sure to use a dollar sign or decimal point when searching for a dollar amount:

There are times when transactions are recorded to the wrong bank account in QuickBooks, and the match is not located with the Find Match tool because the dollar amount is higher than the bank transaction. You can edit the original transaction and refresh the Bank feed window.

Otherwise, you can exclude them to avoid difficulty reconciling bank accounts. These transactions will not be recorded in QuickBooks.

In addition, learn how to reconcile your accounts by comparing your bank statements with the ones you entered in QuickBooks. I've added this article for your reference: Reconcile An Account In QuickBooks Online.

Let me know if you have other concerns when matching transactions. I'm always here to help you and ensure to get everything you need. Have a nice day!