Why this matters
Manual transaction entry is where bookkeeping habits go to die — typos, gaps, and a backlog you will dread. Bank feeds import every transaction automatically, so your books reflect reality daily. This one step makes everything after it — rules, receipts, reconciliation — work.
What "done" looks like
- Every business bank account and credit card is connected and importing
- The imported history reaches your books' start date, or you uploaded the gap
- New transactions appear in For Review within a day or so
- No personal accounts are mixed into the connection
How to do it
- Open Transactions → Bank transactions → Link account and sign in to your bank through the secure connection.
- Connect every business account — checking, savings, and each business credit card.
- Check the imported date range. Feeds typically pull only the recent past (around 90 days at many banks); if your books start earlier, upload older transactions via CSV.
- Verify the opening balance matches the real bank balance on your start date so reconciliation works.
- Review the feed weekly: accept, categorize, or match items in For Review rather than letting them stack up.
Common mistakes
- Connecting the bank but never processing For Review — imported is not booked
- Linking a personal card "temporarily" and polluting the books with commingled spending
- Ignoring a broken feed; reconnect and backfill the moment it fails
Real-world examples
- QuickBooks matches imported transactions against invoices and receipts you already entered — the documented match flow that prevents duplicates.
- Because banks limit initial feed history (commonly around 90 days), QuickBooks supports CSV upload for older transactions — the standard fix for mid-year setups.
From a founder's point of view
The feed turns bookkeeping from a chore you do into a stream you review. Fifteen minutes a week clearing For Review beats a quarterly archaeology dig — and it is what makes the P&L trustworthy enough to run the business from.
Rule of thumb
If money moved and it is not in QuickBooks by the end of the week, your feeds are not done.