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How AI suggestions help match and categorise bank transactions

by Intuit•6• Updated 2 weeks ago

QuickBooks Online uses AI to suggest how to handle each bank transaction, matching it to a record you already have, or categorising 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.

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 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 categorise 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 supplier name in the bank description for a transaction. QuickBooks will suggest the categories you usually use for that supplier 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 categorised 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 supplier 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.

Supplier and customer suggestions

If QuickBooks suggests a customer/supplier that is already one you've added to your customer list or supplier 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/supplier 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 supplier or customer. QuickBooks will include a link to their website if it can find one.

Identifying a potential customer/supplier 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 categorise 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 categorise. 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 categorising is truly the right action, you can still categorise the transaction. The warning is guidance, not a lock.

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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