Anybody who reads this would agree that bookkeeping is an unusually complicated task, but our business can run smoothly only if we get past such complex obstacles. Fortunately for you, Quickbooks has a way to provide you with the easiest way of getting your bank statements in order. Quickbooks services range from distributing funds across the various assets of your organization to importing the real-time transactions into the database, and it is the latter part of the statement that we are going to focus on in this article.
Why are bank statements important?
Well, it goes without saying that everyone should keep an eye on how much the expenditure is whether it is on a weekly or monthly basis. It is as important to check on the outflow of money as it is to check on the inflow of funds. It is the only thing that’ll help you see the full picture and plan your next steps wisely. So, importing your bank statements into Quickbooks might help you make a more informed decision whether it is your personal finance or your business expenditure.
And now, let’s get into the process of doing so.
Step 1: Download the copy of your bank statements
Obviously, the first step is that you should sign-in on your bank’s online portal, get a copy of the bank statement and download it. From this file, you’ll get all the information that you need to feed into Quickbooks.
Step 2: Know where to start
Look at the starting date in your bank statement, make sure that you keep that as the first transaction, and then move down in the right manner. Not doing so and importing transactions at random might create a few duplicate expenses and could certainly mess with your overall budget. This first transaction is known as ‘Opening balance.’
Step 3: Check the file before importing
The bank statement that you downloaded from your bank’s website, which must be in the CSV format, must be imported. Yes, it is that simple. Just make sure the details in the file are in the correct format. There are three things that should be imported in Quickbooks, which are date, description, and amount.
Step 4: Make small changes in your CSV file
No, your file isn’t yet ready to be imported. There are a few things that you should note before importing all the information into Quickbooks. Make sure that there are no symbols (even the ‘$’ symbol should be removed), make sure that there aren’t any blank fields in any mandatory columns, you can use the ‘-‘ symbol to depict any expense. Also remove any amount that is non-transactional, e.g. your account name and bank balance.
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Step 5: Import the file
Return back to Quickbooks, go to the ‘Banking’ page, and on the right side you’ll see a button that says ‘File Upload’. On the ‘File Upload’ page you’ll have to click ‘Browse,’ and from there you can select the CSV file that you have just modified.
After that, you’ll have to select the Quickbooks account for that bank file, which can be yours, your employee’s, or your businesses’. Now, when it comes to mapping the data from your CSV file, most of it will be automatically mapped by the tool. However, when it comes to the date, the format for the date on Quickbooks should be the same as the format in the CSV file, so make sure that you change it as per your need.
Once the steps are complete, just click on next and review the transactions. And without saying much more, you have successfully uploaded your bank statement into Quickbooks online.
You can also quite easily upload your bank statements manually. Here are the steps that you need to follow for that:
- Again go to the ‘Banking’ tab.
- Click on the blue-colored tile at the side of the account for which you want to upload the statements. Again, it can be yours, your employee’s or your businesses’.
- On the option ‘Link Account’ click the dropdown menu and then click on ‘Upload the file’.
- Just like before, click on browse and select the correct CSV file.
- Repeat the steps like before and map the columns.
- Make sure that the format for the date is similar to the date in the file.
- Click on next and review the transaction.
Whether you end up doing it manually or not, both of these steps will lead you to the same place. Once you have reviewed the transaction and looked at all the dates and expense details, click on ‘Let’s go,’ and viola, your bank statements are imported into the database. This is why the digital space is an ever-growing landscape, it is so easy for you and your business to go digital. Just a few simple steps and you don’t have to look anyplace else except for Quickbooks for your transaction details.
