How to match checks to the bank feed in QuickBooks Online

Match, Add and Categorize: what each does

For checks you already wrote in QuickBooks, Match is almost always the right action. Add is right only for checks nobody entered, for example a check written from the checkbook while the bookkeeper was away. In that case, add it with the correct payee, expense account and check number rather than accepting a generic suggested category, so the register still reads like a check register.

• Match links the downloaded item to a transaction already in QuickBooks. Nothing new is created. Your recorded check gets a C status in the register.
• Add (shown as Post in the newer layout when QuickBooks has a suggested category) creates a new transaction from the downloaded item. Use it for things you never recorded, such as bank fees.
• Categorize lets you choose the account before adding. It still creates a new transaction.
• Exclude removes the downloaded item from review without recording anything. Use it for true duplicates the bank sent twice.

How to match a check

1. Go to Bank transactions. In the current layout it is under Accounting (use All apps if it is not pinned). Older layouts put it under Banking or Transactions.
2. Select the bank account tile at the top.
3. Open the For review tab (called Pending in the newer layout).
4. Find the check. Many banks include the check number in the description; sort by amount if not.
5. If QuickBooks shows a match to your recorded check, confirm the payee, number and amount, then select Match.
6. If it shows Add or Post instead, do not accept it yet. Expand the row and use the option to find a match, then search by amount, date range or payee and select your check.
7. Confirm. The item moves to the Categorized tab (Posted in the newer layout) and your check shows C in the register.

When QuickBooks suggests the wrong match, or none

• Several checks have the same amount. Recurring checks, such as rent or a retainer, look identical to QuickBooks apart from the number and date. A suggested match can pick the wrong month. Always compare the check number in the bank description with the number on the suggested check before you confirm.
• The amount is different. A transposed digit means no suggestion. Correct the check if your entry was wrong, then match.
• The check is dated well before it cleared. Old checks may fall outside the range QuickBooks looks at for suggestions. Search for it manually by amount.
• The check was recorded in another bank account. It will not be offered for this feed. Fix the account on the check first.
• The check is already matched or cleared. If it was matched to something else, undo that match first.
• The check was never recorded. Then Add is correct: create it with the right payee, account and check number.

Fixing checks that were added instead of matched

If the added copy was already reconciled, QuickBooks warns that undoing it may affect your next reconciliation. Talk to your accountant before changing transactions in a reconciled period.

1. Open the Categorized tab (Posted in the newer layout) and find the added copy.
2. Select Undo. The item returns to For review (Pending).
3. Match it to your original check.
4. Check the register: the original should show C and there should be one check with that number, not two.

Watch your bank rules

Bank rules categorize downloaded items automatically, and a rule set to auto-confirm adds them without review. A broad rule, such as any description containing CHECK, can add every cleared check as a new expense, duplicating the checks you already wrote. Review your rules and turn off auto-confirm on any rule that could catch checks, so those items wait for you to match them.

Rules are listed on the Rules page, found alongside Bank transactions (its exact place in the menu depends on your layout). Sort by the description condition and look for anything containing CHECK, CHK, a check number pattern, or the name of a payee you usually pay by check. Narrow those rules to the exact transactions they were written for, or delete them if the payee is always paid by check you record yourself.

Matching is not reconciling

A matched check is cleared (C), not reconciled (R). Reconciling against the bank statement is still the step that proves your balance. At month-end, open Reconcile, enter the statement ending date and ending balance, confirm the pre-ticked items, tick anything that cleared but never came through the feed, and finish when the difference is 0.00.

Bank feeds are not a complete record. Connections drop, banks change their download formats, and accounts are sometimes reconnected with a gap or an overlap in dates. Any of these can mean a cleared check never arrives for matching, or arrives twice. The statement is the record that counts, so treat the feed as a shortcut for most of the work and the reconciliation as the check on it.

If you find a gap, you can fill it by uploading a transaction file for the missing dates from Upload from file in Bank transactions. Pick a date range that does not overlap what the feed already downloaded.

Clearing hundreds of checks at once

Matching works one item at a time, and it depends on the bank feed sending clean data. Kyriq works from the statement itself. Upload the bank statement PDF and Kyriq extracts each check, including handwritten ones, with a confidence score, then compares it with your QuickBooks Online register.

Exact matches are grouped for bulk approval, and possible duplicates, such as a check that was added rather than matched, are flagged in Needs Attention. Once an authorized user approves, Kyriq clears the approved matches in the QuickBooks Online reconciliation, with an audit trail. Kyriq supports unlimited companies and users, which suits firms working across many client files.