My family is filled with some amazing entrepreneurs...antique shop owner, motorcycle shop owner, massage therapist, jewelry maker, gun shop owner, clothing designer, restaurant owner, mechanic, seamstress, doll maker...the list goes on and on. Since I am the only QuickBooks bookkeeper and consultant, you would think they keep quite busy. But that's not the case. It's actually rare that I have the opportunity to help. So I was thrilled yesterday when I had the chance to show one of them how QBO bank feeds can eliminate manual data entry. Here's what happened.
My cousin and her husband own a restaurant. I called her yesterday to chat. What was she doing? She was busy ... manually entering all of last month's bank and credit card transactions into QuickBooks. What?! I couldn't believe it. For years, she has been spending hours and hours at the end of each month sorting through receipts and manually them into QuickBooks. I was horrified! (Everyone knows how much I despise manual data entry!) How could I have let this happen? I had to fix this...and fast!
Immediately I accessed her computer remotely (she lives in another town several hours away or I would have gone straight to her in person). I showed her that with the automation available in QBO, she would never have to manually enter another transaction again. She couldn't believe it. She had no idea this was possible. The first step...QBO bank feeds.
Automate Data Entry with QBO Bank Feeds
Using banks feeds in any QuickBooks product, whether it is a desktop version or the online version, is the first and most critical step to automating your bookkeeping processes and eliminating data entry. Here's how it works.
NOTE: This article is about bank feeds in QBO. If you need to information on bank feeds in the desktop version, just let me know.
Step 1 - Connect Your Accounts
The first thing you need to do is connect your bank and credit card accounts to QBO.
On your QBO Dashboard, click "Connect accounts" under Bank accounts.
Enter your bank name or URL. Click your bank in the list below.
Login in to your online banking.
Click "Continue."
Once the connection has been established, up to 90 days of transactions will upload to QBO, and then will automatically upload every day.
Step 2 - Review and Add Imported Transactions
The minute you log in to your QBO account, you can see if new transactions have been been uploaded and, if so, how many.
Click on the account to go the Banking screen. There you will see a list of the new transactions.
NOTE: These transactions are NOT in your QBO bank register until they have been reviewed and added.
Review and Add Matched Transactions:
Verify the match is correct. (Click on the transaction to open the details, if necessary.)
Click "Add."
Review and Add New Transactions:
Review the information to verify it is correct.
If you need to add a Payee and/or Category, click on the transaction to open the details. (This is usually only necessary on the first transaction from a vendor as QBO begins to "learn" and remembers your preferences.)
Click "Add."
Add Multiple Transactions:
Click the box in front of the first transaction to be added.
Click Shift + the box in front of the last transaction to be added.
Click Batch actions.
Click "Accept Selected" to add the selected transactions.
As you add transactions, QBO "learns" and remembers your preferences. Each review takes less and less time. Soon, what used to take hours takes only minutes, leaving you time for the fun stuff...like gardening, traveling, or just hanging out with your sweetie!
Ahhh....