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How AI suggestions help match and categorize bank transactions
QuickBooks Online uses AI to suggest how to handle each bank transaction, matching it to a record you already have, or categorizing it. Every suggested match now shows a confidence badge. At a glance, you can tell which matches are safe to accept and which need a closer look.
When you connect a bank or credit card account, QuickBooks reviews each transaction. It suggests the most likely match or category based on your history and the transaction details. These suggestions save you time and help keep your books accurate. This article explains how the suggestions work, what the confidence badges mean, and when QuickBooks asks you to wait for a match.
| Note: These AI features appear on the bank transactions page in QuickBooks Online. The exact features you see can depend on your QuickBooks Online plan. |
AI-powered banking page features
QuickBooks has a new AI-powered bank transactions page that all QuickBooks Online customers can use. Continue reading for more details on how AI suggestions work.
Video transcript
[0:00] The AI-powered banking page is where you review, categorize, and post your bank and credit card transactions in QuickBooks Online. In this video, we'll cover how to use Review Signals, how to match, pair, and edit, and how to post faster with Accounting AI. To get started, connect all of your financial accounts used for business transactions. QuickBooks gathers them in the Pending tab.
[0:25] Once your transactions are categorized and posted, you'll better understand your business and be ready for tax time. In the Pending tab, QuickBooks tries to autofill a payee in the From/To column and a category in the Match or Categorize column.
[0:41] Next to each one, you'll see a Review Signal, a color-coded icon that tells you the strength of the data behind the recommendation and its alignment with your company's policy. A green checkmark means QuickBooks found a clear pattern in your books. Similar transactions have consistently been posted the same way, so the recommendation is good to post after a quick review.
[1:05] To see why QuickBooks made a suggestion, click on the Review Signal by the payee or category recommendations. You'll see a short summary of what's backing the recommendation, like an existing payee in your list or a consistent category pattern. For more detail, select More info. The transaction opens to the right with a Suggestions panel.
[1:27] You'll see the history of similar transactions, alternate categories you can pick, and a description of the payee. You can also edit directly in the table. Update a payee or category right in the row, then select Post in the action column to add the transaction to your books.
[1:45] A blue information signal means QuickBooks found some data to work with, but there's variation in how similar transactions have been handled. Open the suggestion to see the alternates, then confirm the right payee or category before posting. This is also where you'll find the categorization history for payees that QuickBooks identifies from the company's list.
[2:08] You may also see the blue information signal when QuickBooks recommends a new payee based on the bank description. An orange alert means QuickBooks has limited data backing this recommendation. Take a closer look, gather any context you need, and correct the field before posting.
[2:27] These Review Signals are designed to follow and learn from your categorization patterns over time as you post more transactions in the Bank Feed. If QuickBooks sees a transaction from your bank that looks like one you've already entered, it suggests a match. Select the Match or Categorize button in the action column to switch between the two options. To complete a match, select Match.
[2:53] Moving money between accounts or paying down a credit card creates two transactions: one in each account. QuickBooks looks for pairs like these and marks them with a pair badge. Posting one side posts the other, so your books stay accurate. From the actions menu, you can also split a transaction into multiple parts or exclude it from your books without opening it.
[3:16] Posted transactions move to the Posted tab, and excluded transactions move to the Excluded tab. If you have a QuickBooks Online Essentials, Plus, or Advanced subscription, Accounting AI groups transactions which QuickBooks has high confidence is ready to post based on your company history and policy. These are mostly transactions with green checkmarks on both payee and category.
[3:40] Select Review on the banner to see them. From the bottom action bar, you can post all of these transactions in one step. You can also edit, exclude, or send a request for more information without leaving the page. Request more info is a time-saver when the person keeping the books is different from the person who made the purchase.
[4:01] The conversation stays organized in QuickBooks, so nothing gets lost in email. If you'd like a hand getting set up, book thirty minutes with a QuickBooks-certified Live expert bookkeeper. Now you're ready to use the AI-powered banking page in QuickBooks Online.
Get your business taxes done right with unlimited expert help and maximum tax savings. Intuit Expert Business Tax.
Matching suggestions
QuickBooks can suggest a match for any transaction that comes in from your bank. Previous versions of QuickBooks Online relied on there being a near-exact match between the record from your bank and the corresponding record it matched. This needed a narrow date range and dollar amount. QuickBooks will still show you exact matches. But now, using AI, QuickBooks can identify more potential matches, including partial and combined matches. Select the match listed in the table to see more information about the match.
Category suggestions
When you have pending bank transactions, QuickBooks suggests matches or categories based on your past work and transaction details. This can help you keep more consistent and accurate records in your accounting.
If there are no matches, QuickBooks will try to help you categorize the transaction. Suggestions are based on info in the full bank description and your transaction history. Select a row to expand the view and see more suggestions and details.
Example: QuickBooks might find a customer or vendor name in the bank description for a transaction. QuickBooks will suggest the categories you usually use for that vendor or customer, and it will show a snapshot of your history with them. If you don't have them tracked in the From/To column on previous transactions, QuickBooks will show how you categorized similar transactions in the past. If you don't have past transactions that seem similar, QuickBooks can also recommend categories based on categories you might use with that vendor or customer.
Transactions with a "top suggestion"
You'll see the Suggested by AI 
icon when there's an AI-powered category suggestion for you. The category will be filled out for you in the table if QuickBooks has enough information to suggest a single category as the most likely one you might use.
Select the icon to see more about why that category was chosen as the "Top suggestion." You can always change the category if you need to, and QuickBooks will learn for next time.
Tip: Fill out the From/To column for each transaction to improve future category suggestions.
Transactions with a "Consider" suggestion
Even if a transaction doesn't have all the information needed for QuickBooks to suggest a top category that stands out as the most likely, you will often still see categories to consider. These won't be filled in for you on the table like a top suggestion though.
Select the Suggested by AI icon to see these categories to consider, plus an explanation for what information was used to identify them.
Need more help? Intuit Experts offers bookkeeping support with ongoing or one-off consultations. Schedule a call if you'd like some expert support.
Vendor and customer suggestions
If QuickBooks suggests a customer/vendor that is already one you've added to your customer list or vendor list, you'll see their name filled out for you next to the Suggested by AI icon in the From/To column.
If a customer/vendor isn't tracked in your lists yet, you'll see the Suggested by AI icon, but no pre-filled name. Select the icon to see a generated description for the potential vendor or customer. QuickBooks will include a link to their website if it can find one.
Identifying a potential customer/vendor can be very helpful when trying to determine what a transaction might have been for. QuickBooks does this with generative AI and uses information found in the full bank description. If there isn't enough information to go on, no suggestion will appear.
Why does QuickBooks warn me before I categorize a transaction?
Sometimes a transaction looks like it should be matched to a record that hasn't arrived in QuickBooks yet. When your history shows you usually match this kind of transaction, QuickBooks shows a potential match warning instead of a category suggestion. This helps you pause and review before you categorize. That way, you don't create a duplicate entry when the matching record hasn't come in yet or isn't available to pair.
The record you'd match to may still be syncing in from a bill pay, payroll, or third-party expense app. This is common for bill payments, payroll runs, and expenses. Other times, a matchable record simply isn't available yet.
What to do when you see a potential match warning:
Select Find match to look for the record to pair with the transaction.
If a match isn't available yet, wait for the record to come into QuickBooks, then match it.
If categorizing is truly the right action, you can still categorize the transaction. The warning is guidance, not a lock.
Review Signals
Review Signals are color-coded icons on the bank transactions page that show the quality of data behind each QuickBooks suggestion. At a glance, you can tell whether a suggestion is based on a strong pattern in your books, based on limited data that's worth a second look, or based on very little history that needs your attention before you post.
Each pending transaction can show up to two Review Signals: one for the Category suggestion and one for the From/To suggestion.
What each Review Signal means
| Review Signal | What it means | Suggested next step |
Green checkmark  | QuickBooks has strong data behind the suggestion, with a clear pattern in your history. For a category suggestion, similar transactions have consistently gone to this category. For a From/To suggestion, QuickBooks matched a customer or vendor already on your lists. | Review any other required fields for the transaction, then select Post. |
Blue info signal  | QuickBooks found some data to work with from your company's history, but there's variation across similar transactions. For a From/To suggestion, we'll suggest a new payee based on the bank description. | Confirm the suggestion is right before you select Post. If it's a new payee, you can add them to your customer or vendor lists to track them going forward. |
Orange alert  | QuickBooks has limited data behind the suggestion. For a category suggestion, there aren't similar transactions in your books to support it. | Review the suggestion carefully, gather any context you need, and adjust the Category or From/To before you select Post. |
| Note: Orange alerts apply to category and From/To suggestions. Match suggestions use only green and blue confidence badges. |
What do the match confidence badges mean?
Every suggested match shows a confidence badge so you know how strong the evidence behind it is. QuickBooks scores each match on the same things you'd check by hand:
Whether the amount is an exact match.
Whether the payee lines up.
Whether there's a single clear candidate.
How close the dates are.
How often you've accepted this kind of match before.
Whether it's the right money-in or money-out type.
The score is clear and explainable — green means strong evidence in your books, not a guess.
| Confidence badge | What it means | Suggested next step |
|---|---|---|
| Green — high confidence | Strong evidence backs the match, so you can accept it with less second-guessing. | Review any other required fields, then select the match and Post. |
| Blue — medium confidence | Something is still ambiguous — a new payee, more than one possible match, or a thinner history. | Review the match and confirm it's right before you post. |
| Note: Low-confidence suggestions are filtered out of the inline feed entirely, so you focus only on what needs your judgment. If you don't see a suggested match, you can still select Find match to search for one. |
| Note: If your company file is new, even a clean match may not show as high confidence (green) until QuickBooks has seen you accept that kind of match a few times. |
For accountants using Intuit Accountant Suite
If you manage clients' books in Intuit Accountant Suite, these features are intended to work the same way on the bank transactions page. Green means a high-confidence match and blue means a medium-confidence match. A potential match warning appears when a transaction is usually matched.
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