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Categorise online bank transactions in QuickBooks Online

by Intuit•13• Updated a day ago

QuickBooks Online helps you review categories for automatically downloaded transactions and suggests categories based on how you’ve categorised similar transactions in the past.

Note: QuickBooks Online won’t download pending transactions.

Step 1: Download the latest bank and credit card transactions

QuickBooks tries to update your bank transactions automatically every 24 hours, but you can manually update them.

  1. Go to All apps A bunch of numbers and letters on a tile wall., select Accounting, then select Bank transactions (Take me there).
  2. Select Update. This updates the transactions on all of your accounts.
    Tip: If you see a message about additional authentication, follow the prompts to continue the update.
  3. QuickBooks recognises common suppliers from your bank transactions, and will automatically add new suppliers into your account.
  4. Turn off this option if you don’t want new suppliers added. In Bank transactions page, select the settings icon ⚙ and turn off Add new suppliers.

If you have trouble downloading your transactions, you can try other options.

Step 2: Review and categorise downloaded transactions

QuickBooks now uses AI to categorise your bank transactions automatically and explain why it picked that category, so it's easier to spot anything that needs a second look. This works the same way in the QuickBooks mobile app as it does on the web, with a refreshed look for reviewing transactions on your phone.

  1. Go to All apps A bunch of numbers and letters on a tile wall., select Accounting, then select Bank transactions (Take me there).
  2. Select the account you want to review.
  3. Select the Pending tab.
  4. QuickBooks sends downloaded transactions to the Pending tab, and suggests categories for each transaction. Review each transaction and do one of the following:
    1. If the transaction says Post:
      1. Select Post from the Action column if the suggested category is correct.
      2. Or select a category from the Match/Categorise column ▼ dropdown or select + Add new account to adding a new one.
        Note: If your company has VAT enabled, select the appropriate VAT from the Tax column ▼ dropdown if it is not already selected.
      3. Select Post from the Action column.
    2. The transaction already exists in QuickBooks, you may have the option to match or view multiple matches.

Note: You can create a bank rule that automatically categorises transactions for you. You can also turn suggestions off if you want to manually categorise your transactions.

Step 3: Choose the right category

Categorise income

Money paid to you. For example, this could be from:

  • Sales
  • Customer payments
  • Refunds
  • Fixed assets sold
  • Bank loans received
  • Money invested

Categorise expenses

Money paid to others. For example, money spent on:

  • Office Supplies
  • Meals
  • Taxes
  • Fixed assets

Step 4: Other categorisation actions

In QuickBooks Online Plus and QuickBooks Online Advanced, you can track your expenses by item. You can use it if you keep track of your stock or need item tracking for your job costing reports. Here’s how to turn it on:

  1. Go to Settings Settings gear icon. and select Account and settings.
  2. Select the Expenses tab.
  3. From the Expenses section, select Edit, then turn on Show Items table on expense and purchase forms.
  4. Select Save.

Note: To use the Quotes vs. actuals report in QuickBooks Online Advanced, you need to track your expenses by item. If you're not sure whether you need to use item tracking, talk to your accountant.

You can record an expense in your bank feed using an account from your chart of accounts, using a product or service, or both. 

Note: If you want to record it with both, you need to split the transaction.

  1. Go to All apps A bunch of numbers and letters on a tile wall., select Accounting, then select Bank transactions (Take me there).
  2. In the Pending tab, search and select the required expense transaction.
  3. In the Product/Service ▼ dropdown, select the product or item from the items list.
    Note: You need to split the transaction if you want to use both the Product/Service and Account dropdown on the same transaction.
  4. Select Post.

You can split transactions between multiple categories for better tracking.

  1. Go to All apps A bunch of numbers and letters on a tile wall., select Accounting, then select Bank transactions (Take me there).
  2. In the Pending tab, select the transaction you want to split.
    Note: If the option is Match, change it to Categorise.
  3. Select Split.
  4. From the Category ▼ dropdown, select the categories you want to split the transaction into.
  5. Enter an Amount for each split so the Difference shows R0.
  6. Fill out all the necessary information.
    Note: The field name may vary depending on the transaction.
  7. Select Split and post.

Result

After completing these steps, your bank transactions will be categorised correctly in QuickBooks Online. This helps maintain accurate financial records and ensures your reports reflect real activity.

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