Add and match Bank Feed transactions in QuickBooks Desktop

Learn how to add and match Bank Feeds transactions in QuickBooks Desktop.

There are three Bank Feed modes available in QuickBooks Desktop. Each displays and handles transactions differently. When QuickBooks makes a match, it looks at the check numbers, amount, date, and who paid you.

This article is part of a series that covers Bank Feeds in QuickBooks for Windows.

• Set up accounts for Bank Feeds
• Download Bank Feed transactions
• Add and match Bank Feed transactions
• Deactivate Bank Feeds for an account

Learn more about switching between banking modes in QuickBooks Desktop.

Step 1: Download transactions to QuickBooks

There are different ways to download transactions to QuickBooks Desktop.

You can also sync transactions from multiple accounts from a bank in Advanced Mode. 

1. Select the Banking menu.
2. Hover over Bank Feeds and select Bank Feeds Center to review the transactions in each category.
3. Select a bank and then select Sync this bank.

Step 2: Review and match transactions

After you download your electronic account statement, you need to match the transactions to the ones in QuickBooks. That way, you can tell what transactions your financial institution has processed and which ones haven’t cleared the bank yet. 

QuickBooks separates your transactions into 3 categories based on your bank’s info and what’s in QuickBooks.

1. Go to the Banking menu.
2. Select Bank Feeds and select Bank Feeds Center and review the transactions in each category.

Match transactions for the bank feeds mode you use

• Express mode
• Classic mode
• Advanced mode
• Manually match transactions

Express Mode

QuickBooks tries to match bank feeds transactions to any entries that are already in the related account. If no match is found, QuickBooks creates a new transaction for you. Check the matches before adding them to the register.

Match categories are:

• (Need Your Review) Unmatched: The download transactions don’t match any  related QuickBooks account.
• (Changed By Rules) Renamed: With no match, one of the renaming rules creates a new transaction ready to add to the register.
• (Auto) Matched: QuickBooks found a match between the downloaded transaction and one in the related account.

QuickBooks matches have a checkmark. If you agree with the match, select Add/Approve or Approve from the Batch Actions or Actions dropdown. Otherwise, the transactions stay pending.

If you don’t agree with the match, select Not a match. The status of the transaction changes to Unmatched.

Here’s what to do if QuickBooks can't find a match

There are times when QuickBooks can't match a transaction.

• You may not have put it into QuickBooks yet. Doing so should change the status to Matched.
• The transaction could have a different transaction number, amount, date, or name. Find the transaction in QuickBooks and make edits based on your bank records. Doing this will change the status of the downloaded transaction to Matched. Important: Only do this if you know you've found the exact match in QuickBooks.
• If a downloaded transaction matches an already reconciled transaction, QuickBooks won't match them. The reconciled transaction has a checkmark in the CLR column.
• Although rare, QuickBooks might download duplicate statements or transactions. If transactions have a lightning bolt ⚡ in the CLR column, they won't match again, even if all the info is the same.

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Classic Mode

Match categories are:

Match downloaded transactions: The transaction in the electronic statement matches the one you’ve entered in QuickBooks.

1. If you agree with the match, there’s nothing you need to do.
2. If you don’t agree with the match, unmatch the transaction.

Unmatched transactions: The transaction in the electronic statement doesn’t match any transaction in the account for QuickBooks. A few reasons this can happen:

• You may not have put it into QuickBooks yet. Doing so should change the status to Matched.
• The transaction in QuickBooks has a typo or is in the wrong account.
  • Correct the transaction in QuickBooks so it matches the one in the electronic statement.
  • If there’s no match because of the name, create an alias in the electronic statement to a name in QuickBooks.
  • You can manually match the transaction.
• The financial institution made a mistake and the transaction in the statement is wrong.

With all transactions matched or added to QuickBooks, the Items Received section removes the statement from the Bank Feeds Center.

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Advanced Mode

• Recognized transactions
• Partially recognized transactions
• Unrecognized transactions

Recognized transactions

1. In the Recognized tab, your transactions have a Match Status of:
   1. Auto-matched transactions: Transactions in QuickBooks that match with your bank transactions.
   2. Rules applied: Transactions matched by rules. When you review the transactions, you can see the rule.
   3. Auto-recognized rule: QuickBooks matched because the Description or Downloaded As had an exact match with the name and you had an account assigned for this vendor.
2. Review each transaction, then from the Action column, select either:
   1. Approve: If the transactions match, this will add it to your register.
   2. View Details: display additional info about the transaction. 
   3. Not a match: This tells QuickBooks the transactions don’t match. If no other possible matches exist, the unmatched transactions will return to the “Need your review” section.

For multiple transactions, you can select Batch Actions to quickly match them to transactions. If you’re not sure about a transaction, you can select it to view the details in QuickBooks.

Partially recognized transactions

These may match more than one transaction in your account. QuickBooks has you select the best match from an existing list of transactions.

1. From the Partially recognized tab, select a transaction, then QuickBooks will show you a possible match.
2. Select the best match, then select Confirm match. You can also select:
   • Ignore: This deletes the transaction from your list. If you have multiple transactions to ignore, choose them then select the Batch Actions dropdown and Ignore transactions.
   • Add more details: This lets you add a new transaction instead of using those in QuickBooks.
   • Match to other transactions: This lets you manually select a transaction to match with.

Unrecognized transactions

Are transactions that don’t match to any transactions in your books or no rules could be applied.

1. From the Unrecognized tab, choose a transaction then update the transaction details or select one of these options in the Action column:
   • Add: This adds it to your register if you don’t need to add any transaction details or monetary splits between accounts or jobs. 
   • Add More Details: You can add more details to split a deposit across accounts or a vendor payment across multiple customer:job/accounts.
   • Match to Existing Transactions: Find and match it to a transaction already in your books. 
   • Ignore: This deletes the transaction from the list.

If you have multiple transactions, you can select Batch Actions to make several changes at once and add Name, Class, Account, Memo or Customer:Job.

Record credit card transfers

For credit card accounts, you’ll have an option to record transfers. You can use this to record a payment transfer from your checking or savings account to your credit card.

1. From the Recognized, Partially recognized, or Unrecognized tab, select the transaction, then select Record Transfer from the dropdown. 
2. Select the account you used for the transfer.
3. Enter the transfer details, then select Save and add to register.

View transactions in your register

Once you’ve added transactions to register, they’ll start appearing in Added to register.

View transactions in your register:

1. Go to Banking, select Bank Feeds and then Bank Feeds Center.
2. Select the Added to register tab.
3. Double-click any transaction to open it.
4. Add attachments or make any edits to this transaction.
5. Select Save and close.

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Manually match transactions

Sometimes QuickBooks doesn’t match a transaction in an electronic statement with the transaction in QuickBooks. If this happens, you can manually match it to open or posted transactions.

Advanced Mode

In the Unrecognized tab, you can manually match your transactions to what’s in your books.

1. From the transaction, select Match to existing transactions from the dropdown in the Action column.
2. Find and select the matching transaction, then select Save and add to register.
   • If the amount doesn’t match, select Resolve to split entries to balance the remaining amount. You can also add resolving split entries in an existing posted transaction for deposits and payments.
   • If you’re matching a money-out transaction to a bill, edit the amount under the To Pay column to indicate a full or partial payment.
3. When you’re ready, select Save and add to register to add the transaction to your books.

Note: You’re  unable to add split entries using Resolve for these transactions since they’re either posted or linked to your bank already:

• Open Bills
• Bill Payments
• Multiple posted transactions
• Transfers
• General Journal Entries
• Sales Tax Payments
• Paychecks
• Liability Checks
• Sales Receipts/Bill payments directly deposited to bank and not in Undeposited funds

Classic/Express mode

1. Go to Banking, select Bank Feeds and then Bank Feeds Center.
2. Open the Match Transactions window and from the Financial Institution dropdown, make sure the correct bank account is showing.
   1. Select View.
   2. Download and view the electronic statement.
   3. In the Match Transactions window, make sure the Show Register checkbox is selected.
3. Select the transaction in the statement that you need to match to a transaction in the register.
4. Then select the transaction in the register to match to. Make sure the amounts match.
5. Select Match.

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Learn how to create rules to categorize transactions to help QuickBooks match your transactions.

Manually match transactions in electronic statements to ones in QuickBooks