You will need the Full Write Accounting permission to perform this action.
After importing your banking transactions, the next step is to categorize them so they are added to your general ledger. This is done under Accounting > Banking > Transactions (where you imported the data). See How do I import my bank transactions? for more on getting transactions from your bank.
Review and categorize transactions
Choose the account that contains the transactions you need to categorize, either from the Bank Account dropdown or by clicking a card under Linked Accounts. Each account shows a badge with the number of transactions still awaiting review. From this area you can also Resync the feed, Import a file, or click Go to register.
The table lists the transactions in the current view. Each row has a Categorize button, and a ... (more) menu with three actions: Categorize, Match, and Exclude.
Tip: You can create banking rules to categorize imported transactions automatically, so you don't have to review them manually each time. See How do I create banking rules to speed up the review process for imported transactions?
Categorize
Click Categorize to open the Categorize Bank Transaction window and bring the transaction into your general ledger as a register entry. The window has a General tab and a Files tab.
The General tab contains the following:
Register - required. The register account this transaction is recorded in.
Method - the payment method (for example, ACH, Cash, Check, or Credit Card).
Date - required. The date of the transaction.
Reference - an optional reference number, such as a check number.
Payee - the person or vendor for this transaction. Use the Single / Split toggle to record one payee or split across several.
Memo - a note for the transaction. This defaults to the description from the bank.
Bank Transaction - a read-only summary of the original bank item (date, account, and amount).
Rule Applied - the banking rule that matched this transaction, or None. Click Create Rule to build a rule from this transaction so future matching transactions are handled automatically. See How do I create banking rules to speed up the review process for imported transactions?
Line Items - one or more lines that make up the register entry. Each line has an Account/Fund (required), a Description, and an Amount. Add lines to split the transaction across multiple accounts or funds; the Total at the bottom must equal the transaction amount.
Files - on the Files tab, upload any files to store with this transaction. They appear on both the banking transaction and the register entry it creates.
When everything looks correct, click Post to save the entry to your general ledger, or Cancel to close without saving.
Categorizing a transaction creates a register entry in your general ledger. You can label its income or expense line with accounting tags for reporting (for example, a department, ministry, or campus) — open the resulting register entry and use the line-item tag panel to add tags. See How do I use accounting tags?
Match
Choose Match from the row's 3-dots menu (...) to match the bank item to an entry that already exists in the register, instead of creating a new one. A window opens listing the unmatched entries for the current register account. Locate the entry you want to match. Because you are matching to an existing record, no new entry is created. The entry date of the existing transaction is changed to match the banking transaction if they differ.
You can choose multiple existing entries from the list, but the selected total must match the amount on the bank transaction. The selected total and remaining amount appear near the bottom as you make selections.
If there is an unaccounted-for difference, check the Resolve? checkbox near the bottom and create one or more register entries for the missing amount.
Exclude
Choose Exclude from the row's 3-dots menu (...) to remove the transaction from the review list without adding it to your general ledger. You can undo this later from the Excluded list.
Switch between Pending, Posted, and Excluded
Use the View toggle in the upper area of the table to switch between three lists:
Pending - transactions that are yet to be reviewed.
Posted - transactions that have been categorized and added to the general ledger.
Excluded - transactions that were excluded and are not in the general ledger.
To undo a categorized transaction and return it to the review list, open the Posted list and click the Undo button at the end of the row. This also reverses any register entries created by the categorization.
To return an excluded transaction to the review list, open the Excluded list and click the Undo button at the end of the row.
If you have our Accounting add-on, see this article on how to close and post batches to Accounting.