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How do I categorize imported bank transactions?
How do I categorize imported bank transactions?

Describes how to categorize bank transactions that were imported into the system.

Updated over 8 months ago

You must have the Full Write Accounting permission to perform this action.

After importing your banking transactions, the next step is to categorize them to add them to your general ledger. This is done under Accounting > Banking > Transactions (where you imported the data). See this article for more information on how to import transactions from your bank.

Choose the register account that contains transactions that need to be categorized. You'll see the total number of uncategorized transactions in the dropdown.

The table below will contain a list of all transactions that are yet to be categorized. To get started, click on the "Review" button at the end of the row to get more details on the transaction along with multiple options on how to resolve this.

Tip: you can create banking rules to automatically categorize imported transactions so you don't have to manually review them each time. See this article to learn more.

A pop up will appear with the following options:

Date

This is the date of the transaction in your bank account.

Account

This is the register account where the transaction was imported into.

Amount

This is the transaction amount.

Action

Required. Choose the action you would like to perform on this transaction. Possible actions are:

Categorize

This will bring in this transaction into your general ledger thus creating a new entry. If chosen, two fields will appear:

  • Category - Required. Choose the income or expense account this transaction should be associated with. Click on the "split?" link underneath the dropdown to split the transaction between multiple accounts.

  • Vendor/Payee - if you want to link this transaction to a person or vendor, search for them by entering the name here. If they are not in the list, an option will appear where you can add it.

Match existing

Choosing this action will open up a pop up listing all unmatched entries for the register account you are currently working in. Locate the existing transaction you want to match this bank item to. Since you are matching it to an existing record, this will not cause a new entry to be created. Also, the entry date of the existing transaction will be changed to match the banking transaction (if different).

You can choose multiple existing entries from the list. However, the total amount must match the amount on the bank transaction. The selected total and missing amount will appear near the bottom as you select transactions.

If needed, you can resolve any unaccounted for difference by checking the "Resolve?" checkbox near the bottom and creating one or more register entries for the missing amount.


Memo

A memo field for this transaction. This will default to the description from the bank transaction.

Bank Detail

This is the description as shown on the bank statement. This is the value that is used by default for the memo field above.

Rule Applied

If a banking rule triggered for this transaction, the name will appear here. You can also click on the "create new rule" button to create a new rule based on the details of this transaction so that other imported transactions matching that rule (current or future) will be reviewed automatically. See this article for more details on creating rules.

Files

If you need to upload files to store with this transaction, you can do so here. These files will appear both on the banking transaction itself as well as the register entry this item will be connected to.


At the bottom of the pop up, you'll notice a few different buttons.

  • Exclude - this will remove the transaction from the review list and it will NOT be added to your general ledger. This action can be undone if needed later.

  • Confirm - this will save your changes and add the transaction to your general ledger.

  • Save - this will save you changes but keep the transaction in the review list thereby not adding it to the general ledger yet.

  • Cancel - closes the pop up without saving any changes.

Continue reviewing all your transactions until the review list is empty.

Toggling between different lists

Transactions on this screen are in one of three different lists:

  • For Review - this contains those transactions that are yet to be reviewed

  • Categorized - this contains those that have been categorized and are in the general ledger

  • Excluded - this contains those that have been excluded and are not in the general ledger

To switch between the different lists, use the buttons in the upper right.

To undo a previously categorized transaction and return it to the review list, go to the "Categorized" list and click on the Undo button at the end of the row. Please note, this will undo any register entries that were created as a result of the categorization.

To return an excluded transaction to the review list, go to the "Excluded" list and click on the Undo button at the end of the row.

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