In banking, what is "categorized" all about?

I am looking forward to getting help. 

Hello, jtingen. 

Let me explain and share some insight into what is categorize and how it works in QuickBooks Online. 

In QuickBooks, once you connect your bank account, QuickBooks downloads your bank data automatically. That said, After you’ve downloaded transactions from your financial institution, you can assign and categorize them. Each downloaded transaction, QuickBooks analyzes all the information received from the bank and tries to give you the best possible suggestion for accepting the transaction.  

To learn more about categorizing your transactions, you can read through this article: Categorize and match online bank transactions in QuickBooks Online. 

Don't hesitate to leave a comment below or start a new thread if you have other QuickBooks related concerns. The Community team got your back. Stay safe!

And my version of QuickBooks online there is an option to select categorized. When I click that there is a long list of transactions and off to the right is and undo option. What is this?

In my version of QuickBooks online when I go into banking there is an option to select called categorized when I select that option there’s a long list of transactions to the right is an option to undo. What is all this about?

This is the same answer you already gave in the beginning of this thread. I have the same problem. All of the 'categorized' items are from before I reconciled...i.e. January 23 is reconciled but my items are from November and December. How do I clear these off...I don't know whats wrong

Not to worry, PL4N. I'm here to help you sort things out with your reconciliation concerns.

To verify, have you reconciled your November and December transactions? If you do, then they will be included in the reconciliation. You can no longer remove them as it will affect your books. You'll want to run the reconciliation report to see the lists of cleared and which were left uncleared when you reconcile. Here's how:

1. Go to Reports.
2. Type Reconciliation Report in the Find report by name search bar.
3. Select Reconciliation Reports.
   
4. Select the Account for the reconciliation report you want to view.
5. From the Report period dropdown arrow, choose the reconcile period.
6. Select View Report.

If you haven't reconciled those items, unreconcile your January individually to proceed with reconciling November-December transactions. I'll guide you on how:

1. Go to Accounting, then select Chart of accounts. 
2. Look for the account that has the reconciled transaction. Then select View register.
3. Find the transaction. If the transaction is reconciled, you’ll see an “R” in the checkmark ✔ column.
4. Select the transaction to expand the view.
5. In the checkmark ✔ column, select the box with the “R” until the box is C. This removes the transaction from the reconciliation.
6. Select Save.
   

Here are articles you can read for additional reference:

• Learn the reconcile workflow in QuickBooks.
• How do I view, print, or export a reconciliation report?

That should do the trick. If you have other questions about banking or other issues, post them anytime. We are 24/7 open to assist.

So it is ok to have LOTS of entries in the Categorized tab of Banking?  I have deleted all entries in Excluded without any harm to my financial statements.  Can I delete the stuff in Categorized also?

Shari

Hi, Shari.

I'm here to answer your query with regard to deleting transactions on the Categorized tab.

The entries on the Categorized tab are the transactions you've added from your bank. Thus, it will reflect on the Chart of Accounts page. Deleting them may cause discrepancies in the bank account as they are already matched and accepted. On the other hand, the transactions on the Excluded tab may be a duplicate so removing them causes no harm to your financial statements.

If you want to delete the entries on the Categorized tab, you may use your bank statement as your reference to make sure they are not valid transactions. I also suggest reaching out to your accountant so they can guide you accordingly.

I've added this article as your guide in deleting downloaded transactions: Unmatch a downloaded transaction. 

To ensure your accounts match your bank and credit card statements, you can reconcile the account. Here's an article as your guide: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online.

I'm always around if you have other concerns about deleting transactions.