QuickBooks Online – Setting Up Bank Feeds

Many small business owners dread the monthly process of entering transactions and reconciling their bank accounts. Are you one of them?

Fortunately, QuickBooks Online has an awesome tool to streamline this process. QBO offers Bank Feeds, which allows you to connect your bank accounts and credit cards to your QuickBooks Online subscription to easily import and categorize transactions. There are a number of benefits to utilizing this service, including simplifying the bank reconciliation process and saving you time when compared to manual data entry.

The setup process for QBO Bank Feeds is relatively straightforward:

1. Select the “Banking” tab in your QuickBooks Online subscription. If you have not set up Bank Feeds before, this page should prompt you to connect your bank account. If you already have a bank or credit card connected, select the “Link Account” button in the top right corner.
2. Once you select the option to connect an account, QBO will prompt you to search for your bank.
3. In the search bar, you can either type in the name of the bank, or directly copy and paste the URL that you utilize when you log into your bank account. ProAdvisor Tip: copying and pasting the URL guarantees that the website is linked properly, as banks can have similar names and different log ins sites for the same bank (for example, a personal and a business banking log in).
4. After you select your bank, based upon the name or website, QBO will prompt you to log into your bank utilizing the same credentials as if you were logging into the account on the bank’s website.
5. Follow the necessary prompts on these screens, as they vary depending on your bank. If you have any issues at this point, bank representatives may be helpful with troubleshooting. ProAdvisor Tip: try clearing your browser cache if you have trouble connecting, as this may resolve the issue
6. Upon completing the log in process, QuickBooks Online will prompt you to select the date range of transactions to be imported. If you are not sure what data should be imported, please ask your accountant.
7. Once the data range is selected, QuickBooks Online will import transactions directly from your bank account onto the Bank Feeds screen in QBO.

Both bank accounts and credit card accounts can be linked in QBO, and QuickBooks will automatically import and update the transactions from the bank for you to review and enter into your QBO with a click of a button. For more information on categorizing transactions, see our article regarding “Tips and Tricks in QBO Bank Feeds”.

QuickBooks Online Bank Feeds serves as a vital tool for many small business owners. If you have any questions on this or anything else QuickBooks related, please give us a call at 419-289-7007 and our team of QuickBooks ProAdvisors would be happy to assist you.