You will need the Full Write Accounting permission to perform this action. If your account has more than one organization, you work in one organization's books at a time, chosen in the Accounting for: strip, and a bank transaction lands in its register's organization.
After your bank transactions import, categorize each one so it is added to your general ledger as a register entry. Imported transactions wait on the Banking page until you do. To bring transactions in, see How do I connect my bank with Plaid? or How do I import bank transactions from a CSV file?.
Categorize a transaction
Go to Accounting > Banking. Choose the account in the Bank Account drop-down, or click its card under Linked Accounts.
Each card shows a badge with the number of transactions waiting for review.
Make sure View is set to Pending.
Click Categorize on the transaction's row. It is also in the row's 3-dots menu.
In the Categorize Bank Transaction window, check the fields described below and fill in the line items.
Click Post to add the entry to your general ledger, or Cancel to close without saving.
Categorize Bank Transaction fields
Register - the register account the transaction is recorded in. This field is required.
Method - the payment method, such as ACH, Cash, Check, or Credit Card.
Date - the date of the transaction. This field is required.
Reference - an optional reference number, such as a check number.
Payee - the person or vendor. Use Single for one payee or Split to set a payee on each line.
Memo - a note for the transaction. It starts with the description from the bank.
Bank Transaction - a read-only summary of the original bank item.
Rule Applied - the bank rule that matched this transaction, or None. Click Create Rule to build a rule from this transaction so future ones are handled for you.
Line Items - the account and fund for the money, with an optional description and the amount. Add lines to split the transaction across accounts or funds. The Total must equal the bank transaction amount. If your account has more than one organization, every account and fund must belong to the register's organization.
Files tab - upload files to keep with the transaction. They appear on both the bank transaction and the register entry it creates.
Tip: Bank rules can categorize transactions for you, so you don't have to review the same kinds of transactions every time. See How do I create banking rules to speed up the review process for imported transactions?.
Other actions on a transaction
If you already entered the transaction in a register, click Match instead. See How do I match a bank transaction to an existing entry?.
To leave a transaction out of your general ledger, or to undo one, see How do I exclude or undo a bank transaction?.
To add a department or ministry tag to the income or expense line, see How do I tag a transaction?.