How to import checks into QuickBooks Online

First decide what you are importing

Checks you wrote and checks that cleared are different data. A check you wrote has a payee, a date written, a number and an expense account. A cleared check from the bank has an amount, a clearing date, a number and often little else. Bank imports bring in the second kind. If you need the first kind in QuickBooks, for example to see outstanding checks, enter or import them as Check transactions before the bank data arrives, then match.

The order matters. If bank data arrives first and is added, then checks are entered later from the checkbook, every check exists twice. If checks are entered first and the bank data is matched to them, each check exists once, with the payee and date written from your records and the cleared status from the bank.

Option 1: connect the bank feed

QuickBooks tries to update connected accounts automatically about every 24 hours and does not download pending transactions. How far back the first download goes depends on your bank, so older checks may need a file upload instead.

1. Go to Bank transactions (under Accounting in the current layout, reached through All apps).
2. Select Link account and follow the prompts to connect your bank.
3. Choose the account and how far back to download.
4. Review downloaded items on the For review tab (Pending in the newer layout). Match each check you already recorded; add only the ones you did not.

Option 2: upload a transaction file

1. Download transactions from your bank in QBO (Web Connect), QFX, OFX or CSV format. QBO and QFX files usually carry more detail, such as check numbers.
2. In Bank transactions, open the Link account menu and select Upload from file. If the account is not connected, the option may read Upload transactions manually.
3. Select the file and choose the QuickBooks bank account it belongs to.
4. For a CSV, map the columns. Intuit accepts three columns (Date, Description, Amount) or four (Date, Description, Credit, Debit), with one date format throughout.
5. Select the transactions to import and finish. They land in Bank transactions for review, the same as feed items.

• Files must be in English and 350 KB or less, with up to 1,000 lines per upload. Split large files by date range.
• Start the file at least a day before your oldest QuickBooks transaction in that account, and do not overlap a previous upload, or you will get duplicates.

Option 3: upload a statement

Intuit's US help now describes uploading an account statement as a PDF or image instead of a transaction list. QuickBooks reads the transactions, shows them side by side with the statement for review, and adds them to Bank transactions. Some statements need a review by Intuit before they are ready. This option may not be available in every region or account, so check your Upload from file screen.

Like a file upload, a statement upload creates bank transactions for review. It does not create Check transactions with your payees, and it does not mark anything as reconciled. Review the extracted lines against the statement before you save, particularly check numbers and amounts, then match the checks you already recorded.

Option 4: enter checks on the Check form

For a few checks, select + New, then Check, and enter the payee, bank account, date, check number and expense account. Leave Print later off for checks already written. This is the only native route that records the payee, number and account exactly as written, and it is slow at volume.

To speed it up, add payees before you start, so you are not stopping to create vendors mid-entry, and enter checks in number order straight from the checkbook stubs. If you pay the same vendor the same amount every month, a recurring transaction template saves retyping, but still check the number on each one.

Option 5: third-party import apps

Apps listed in the QuickBooks App Store, such as SaasAnt Transactions and Transaction Pro, import spreadsheets as specific transaction types, including checks, and some can update or delete in bulk. They are useful when you have check registers from another system. Before you buy, check:

• Whether it creates Check transactions or Expenses, and whether it keeps the check number.
• How it handles payees that do not exist yet.
• Whether it can undo an import if a mapping was wrong.
• What access it asks for, and that it uses the official QuickBooks connection.

Avoid duplicates after any import

• If you import Check transactions and also have a bank feed, match the feed items to the imported checks. Do not add them.
• Never upload the same date range from a file and a live feed.
• After importing, open the register and search a few check numbers to confirm each appears once.
• Run a quick total: the sum of imported checks for a month should equal the checks total on your records for that month.
• Reconcile the account against the bank statement once the import is matched. A 0.00 difference is the proof the import was clean.

Clearing hundreds of checks at once

Importing gets the checks in; clearing them is the second half. Kyriq starts from the bank statement PDF you upload, or check images in PDF, JPG or PNG, and extracts each check, including handwritten ones, with a confidence score. It does not create new checks in QuickBooks; it compares the extracted checks with the ones already in your QuickBooks Online register.

Exact matches are grouped for bulk approval, and duplicates and discrepancies, including checks missing from the register, go to Needs Attention. After an authorized user approves, Kyriq clears the approved matches in the reconciliation, with an audit trail. The trial covers 14 days or 250 checks, no card needed.