Bank feeds and reconciliation: match, add, rule, reconcile

How bank feeds work in AcboBooks

Nothing connects to your bank through us. Lines come in one of two ways, both directly between your PC and your bank, and land in a review list. From there you match each line to a transaction you already entered, add it if you did not, or ignore it. Matched and added lines are marked cleared, which is what makes reconciliation a formality.

Import an OFX / QFX statement

1. In your online banking, download the statement period as OFX, QFX (Quicken) or QBO (QuickBooks) format. All three are the same OFX standard inside. CSV also works, with a column-mapping step.
2. Banking → Bank Feeds, pick the bank account in AcboBooks, click Import file and choose the download.
3. AcboBooks skips any line it has already imported (by the bank's own transaction ID), so importing overlapping date ranges is safe.

Direct Connect

Many US and Canadian banks offer OFX Direct Connect, which lets the software download statements itself. In Banking → Bank Feeds → Set up Direct Connect, enter the bank's OFX server details, your online-banking user ID and the account number. Click Download whenever you want new lines. Your password is asked for each download and is not stored. Some banks charge a small monthly fee for Direct Connect; the file import is always free.

Review downloaded lines

Each line in the review list shows the bank's date, description and amount, and AcboBooks' suggestion:

• Match. It found a transaction with the same amount within a few days: a bill payment, a deposit, a cheque. Click Accept, or Accept all matches once you have skimmed them.
• Add. No transaction exists. Pick the account it belongs to (an expense, income, or a transfer to another bank account) and a name, and click Add. A rule can do this for you next time.
• Ignore. For lines that are not yours to record, such as a reversed duplicate charge.

The most common source of duplicates: adding a line from the feed when the bill payment or invoice payment was already entered. If an amount looks familiar, use Match, not Add. If you already added it by mistake, open the added transaction from Activities → Transactions and delete it, then match the feed line properly.

Rules for the regulars

A rule says: when the description contains this text, post it to this account with this name. Create one from any feed line with Make rule, or manage them all under Banking → Bank Feeds → Rules. Good candidates: bank fees, fuel, software subscriptions, payroll clearing, loan payments. Once rules cover the regulars, a month of feed review takes minutes, and the Add all suggested button posts everything the rules recognised in one step.

Reconcile

1. Banking → Reconcile. Pick the account, enter the statement end date and the statement ending balance exactly as printed.
2. Lines already cleared through the bank feed are pre-ticked. Tick anything else that appears on the statement.
3. Watch the Difference at the bottom. When it reads 0.00, click Reconcile. The reconciliation is recorded and the ticked lines are locked as reconciled.

Do this every month. A reconciled month is the point at which your books become trustworthy, and it is the first thing an accountant asks for.

When the difference is not zero

• Difference equals one transaction amount. A line on the statement is not in your books (add it), or something in your books never reached the bank (leave it unticked; it will appear next month, or needs voiding).
• Difference is small and odd. A typo in an amount. Compare each ticked line with the statement; the Account Register report shows the entered amounts.
• Difference is double a transaction. It was entered as a deposit instead of a payment, or vice versa.
• Difference equals last month's difference. The opening balance is wrong. Check the previous reconciliation, or the opening balance entry if this is the first.

Resist the temptation to post an adjustment to make it zero. Find it; it is always one of the four above.

Undo a reconciliation

If you reconciled with the wrong ending balance or date, Banking → Reconcile → Undo last reconciliation unlocks that month's ticks so you can redo it. Only the most recent reconciliation for the account can be undone; to go back further, undo them one at a time.