Process bank transactions from bank feeds or an imported file

Each transaction shows the date, amount, and a reference. For money out of the account, the amount is in red.

Decide how to process each transaction. Use the Match, Create, or Transfer buttons in the middle of the transaction.

Consider setting up bank rules to process them based on your predefined criteria. Read more about bank rules.

Match to existing transactions or pay invoices

TIP: Journals can also appear here but only if the transaction and journal have the same value.

Match existing transactions >

Use this to confirm that the transaction from the bank is the same as the transaction in Accounting Start. This could be for a transaction you already recorded in Accounting Start. Or it may be for a bank transfer already imported from another bank.

Select Match in the middle of the transaction. This will show you a list of existing payments and receipts as well as outstanding invoices. Select Search to narrow down the list.
Select the matching payments or receipts.
We show the selected transactions in the bottom section. When the Left to match is zero, select Match from here.

Pay outstanding invoices >

Create a new customer receipt or supplier payment and use it to pay an outstanding invoice.

If we find any outstanding invoices that may match the payment, we show these with a Match button on the right. We use the reference and amount to suggest these matches.

If we don't a find a matching invoice, or you want to pay a different one

Select Match in the middle of the transaction to see a list of all outstanding invoices. Use the Search to narrow down the list.
Select the invoices you want to pay.
We show the selected invoices in the bottom section. When the Left to match is zero, select Match from here.

Partial payments

If you want part pay an invoice

Enter the amount of the partial payment in the Payment field.
When the Left to match is zero, select Match

NOTE: You may have more than one payment to allocate to an invoice. Use this partial payment process for each of the transactions you match.

Add bank fees and interest >

Sometimes a bank payment or receipt may include charges. For example, if it's converted from another currency.

To include the bank fees or interest

Select Make Adjustment.
Enter the details for the bank charges and select Add.
When the Left to match is zero, select Match.

Create new transactions

Money Out >

This is for payments or expenses for both general purchases and to pay a regular supplier. Select the correct category and VAT rate.

Select Create in the middle of the transaction.
Select the supplier from the Who drop-down list, if required.
Select the relevant category from the What drop-down list.
Check the VAT rate and amount is correct where applicable.
Select Create.

Money In >

Use this for received money not allocated to sales invoices. This can be cash from till receipts or grant income. Also, for customer contacts when they've paid, and you need no sales invoice. For example, point-of-sale payments.

For money used to pay sales invoices, select Match to pay an existing invoice.

To create the transaction, select the correct category and VAT rate.

Select Create in the middle of the transaction.
Select the customer from the Who drop-down list, if required.
Select the relevant category from the What drop-down list.
Check the VAT rate and amount is correct where applicable.
Select Create.

Add more than one category >

To split a single transaction over several categories or VAT rates select Split. For example, you might have a single expense payment that covers petrol and office sundries.

Select Split
Create a new line for each category or VAT rate.
Make sure all the lines add up and then select Create.

Transfer between bank accounts

Use this when transferring money between bank accounts. This creates a transaction in both bank accounts. Do both bank accounts use bank feeds? Then you need to match the imported transaction with the account you transfer to or from.

Select Transfer.
Choose the bank account to Transfer to or Transfer from.
Select Transfer.

Delete transactions

If you have transactions you don't want, you can delete them. For example, you have bank transfers or transactions you've already imported or processed.

Select the transaction (or transactions) you want to delete and then select Delete.

Fix problems with your incoming transactions

Missing transactions >

You may have transactions in your online bank that don't yet appear in Accounting Start. This is because they haven't downloaded yet. For connected banks, we usually download once a day, but this varies between banks. We show the date and time of the latest update from the bank at the top of the Incoming Transactions page.

If this is up to date

Check to see if you need to re-authorise your bank feed. For security reasons you must re-authorise with your bank every 90 days. When this happens, we display a message at the top of the page. Choose Enter Credentials to re-authorise the bank feed
Check your bank feed is working properly. We update our website with known problems. Check the bank feed status page (opens in new tab)

Duplicate transactions >

This can happen when your bank has made an error in providing transactions to us. Another reason could be an issue with the bank feed. We update our website with known problems. This will tell you if there is a reported incident. Check the bank feed status page (opens in new tab).

How you delete duplicate transactions depends on when you notice them.

If you have:

Only imported from your bank feed. You discard the duplicated transactions from the bank feed
Created the duplicate transactions in Accounting Start. You delete any transactions from the bank account (Activity tab). Where possible, we recommend that you delete transactions before reconciling your bank account
Reconciled your bank account. You delete the transactions from your bank activity in the same way. We update the starting balance of your next bank reconciliation to reflect the deleted transaction
Read more about how to delete bank transactions
Included them on a submitted VAT return. You create a reverse transaction to clear the value from the bank account
Read Correct transactions included on a VAT return