When connected to bank, check numbers disappear after "confirming" the transaction?

Hi there, mirandajae.

I'm glad to see you back here in QuickBooks Community. I'll provide information about how transactions work in QuickBooks Online.

When you add or categorize a check transaction in QuickBooks, this will show as an expense in the system. This is how the software works. That's the reason it appears in your bank register as Expense with no reference number instead of CHECK in Ref No. Type.

However, you'll have the option to manually enter a check transaction in QuickBooks and then match this to the downloaded entry. This way, the entry will show as Check in the Register.

Here's how to record check:

1. Select + New and choose Check.
2. Choose the Payee from the drop-down list.
3. Specify the Bank Account where the money will be withdrawn.
4. Complete the check fields. (Note: The Memo field is optional. Text you enter in the Memo field appears in the register, on printed checks, and on reports that include this check).
5. Hit Save and close.

For more details, you can open this article: Enter and write checks in QuickBooks Online.

Once done, go to the Banking page and match the downloaded entry to the one you manually entered. You can refer to this article on how you can perform the steps: Categorize and match online bank transactions in QuickBooks Online. This will also help to avoid duplicate transactions.

Please click this article to view information on how you can reconcile your accounts so they always match your bank and credit card statements and to avoid any discrepancies: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online.

Let me know if you have any other issues or concerns by leaving a comment below, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I'm always here to help. Have a great one!

Thanks so much for your response! That was very informative.

Can you tell me why it was showing up as a Check in the register when I was importing the transactions via .csv? I guess where I'm getting confused is why it was showing one way for years vs now when we are finally connected to our bank. It's a big change for me visually. Especially because the majority (90%+) of our transactions are checks. We only have few incomes over the year (selling grain we harvest). 

I am a super-novice at this so I'm so sorry if my question seems elementary! 

Glad to have you back, @mirandajae.

I'd like to add some more insights on what will happen to your transactions once you've uploaded a .CSV file in QuickBooks Online.

When importing a CSV file in QuickBooks Online, the system will read all the checks on your transactions as expenses. This is because it is money out entry of your account. 

Thus, the expense can be an expense itself or a check. For you to identify them, you may add the check number manually, as suggested by my peer above.

For additional information about importing bank transactions in QBO, please check out this reference: Learn how to get transactions from your bank or credit cards and manually import them into QuickBook...

It'd be my pleasure to assist if you need more help, @mirandajae. Feel free to leave a reply below. Keep safe!