Bank Feeds
Bank Feeds Are Not a Filing Cabinet: How to Review Transactions Without Destroying Your Books
Bank feeds are powerful when used correctly. They are also the fastest way to wreck a QuickBooks file when they are not. Accuracy starts with understanding what to add, what to match, and what never belongs in the feed at all.
The bank feed is not a place to guess. It is not a shortcut. It is a workflow that requires judgment, pattern recognition, and structure. When you treat the feed like a simple to do list, you create duplicates, mismatches, uncategorized activity, and financials that cannot be trusted. Most cleanup projects start with months or years of bank feed misuse.
The goal is simple. Add what belongs. Match what already exists. Exclude what is not part of the financial picture. Every correct action in the feed supports clean reconciliations and accurate reporting. Every incorrect action creates distortion that travels through the entire file.
Structural Review
The patterns that show the bank feed is being used incorrectly
When the bank feed is not reviewed with intention, the same problems show up repeatedly. These are the indicators that the structure behind your QuickBooks file is already drifting.
What Was Broken
Transactions were added instead of matched. Vendor names were missing. Income was duplicated. Expenses were dumped into broad categories. The bank feed was treated like data entry instead of a review tool, which created inconsistencies in every major report.
Why It Broke
The feed was used without understanding how QuickBooks connects bank activity to actual accounting records. Items were added because they appeared in the feed, not because they belonged there. Matching was ignored. Reconciliations fell apart because the underlying activity was never aligned with reality.
How the Pattern Showed Up
Duplicates appeared across income and expense accounts. Unmatched payments sat open for months. Transfers were misclassified as income. The For Review tab filled up with uncategorized activity. Each attempt to fix the issue made the next period harder to reconcile.
What Needed Reconstruction
The feed had to be cleaned out. Transactions already recorded in QuickBooks were matched instead of added. Incorrect entries were removed or reclassified. Transfers were corrected. Only then could reconciliations be completed and the file begin to report accurate numbers again.
Why bank feed mistakes cause problems everywhere
When bank feed activity is added incorrectly, nothing downstream works. Income is inflated. Expenses are distorted. Reports stop reflecting reality. Reconciliations become impossible because the activity in QuickBooks no longer matches the bank. These are not small errors. They are structural failures that spread across the file.
When you review the feed correctly, the entire system stabilizes. Matching replaces guessing. Categorization becomes consistent. Reconciliations lock in cleanly because the details support the structure. Accuracy returns because the workflow finally supports the numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should I review my bank feed?
Review it consistently. Daily or weekly for active businesses. The longer you wait, the harder it becomes to identify what belongs, what matches, and what was already recorded.
What happens if I add instead of match?
You create duplicates. The system loses track of what was actually paid or received. This leads to incorrect income, distorted expenses, and reconciliations that will never tie out cleanly.
What is the purpose of the Excluded tab?
The Excluded tab is for transactions that do not belong in your books. This includes duplicate data, or anything that does not affect the financial records. Excluding prevents contamination of your reports.
How do I know if the bank feed is set up correctly?
If the reconciliations complete cleanly, if your income and expenses match the actual activity, and if there are no duplicates or negative balances, the feed is being handled correctly. If not, the structure needs review.
Ready for reports that finally make sense?
If you're unsure whether your file needs a rebuild or a cleanup, the Complete Check diagnoses the structure, the COA, and the patterns creating the confusion. It is the fastest way to see what your QuickBooks file is actually doing.
Start Your Cleanup