Banks to Books questions, answered
Banks to Books is where fiscal50 turns your bank feed into your books. You link bank and credit card accounts through Plaid, or add them by hand and upload files, and each transaction waits as Pending on the Deposits or Withdrawals tab with an AI recommendation already selected. Nothing posts until you click Post. These questions cover linking accounts, recording deposits and withdrawals, recommendations, correcting or deleting recorded transactions, reconciliation and the Register.
Banks to Books · Bank reconciliation · Register
- Sync Bank Accounts
- Banks to Books basics
- Recording deposits
- Recording withdrawals
- Recorded to fiscal50
- Modifying a recorded transaction
- Deleting a recorded transaction
- Deleting from the bank feed
- Pending transactions
- AI recommendations
- Bank, credit card and liability reconciliation
- The Register
Updated
Sync Bank Accounts
Can I add a bank account without Plaid?
Yes. You can add a bank or credit card account manually with its bank, the last 4 digits of the account number, a new or existing chart of accounts entry and, if there is one, its opening balance.
Which files can I upload for a manually added account?
The bank's Web Connect file, the bank's Excel export, a QuickBooks IIF transactions export, or a CSV in the fiscal50 format. The uploaded transactions appear as pending deposits and withdrawals, ready to record like synced ones.
Can I link a manually added account to Plaid later?
Yes, with Link with Plaid next to the bank name, and you can link several accounts at the same bank at once. Uploads stay available for any period the sync doesn't cover.
What does fiscal50 create in my chart of accounts when I link an account?
A chart of accounts entry for each linked bank and credit card account, using system default settings. You can change its name and number right after linking, or later from the bank account's details.
Banks to Books basics
What is Banks to Books?
It's where fiscal50 turns your bank feed into your books. You connect bank and credit card accounts, review incoming and outgoing transactions, accept or adjust the AI's recommendations, post them, and correct anything later, all from the Banks tab.
What does Manually Logged mean?
It marks a bank transaction that was already recorded elsewhere in fiscal50, not from the bank feed, so it isn't recorded twice. fiscal50 never recommends it automatically.
What does Default Transaction Entry Mode do?
It sets the recording type that is pre-selected in the Add Transaction As column for new transactions, such as Income Entry or Expense Entry. You can still change the type on any single transaction.
Can I assign a location and special category to bank transactions?
Yes. The location applies to the whole transaction and the special category to individual line items. Apply Location and Category in the three-dot menu sets both for every selected transaction in one step.
Recording deposits
Which options can I use to record a deposit?
Five: Income Entry, Payment for an Already Created Invoice, Reconcile Check / ACH, Other Deposits and Manually Logged. fiscal50 can recommend every one of them except Manually Logged.
When should I use Reconcile Check / ACH for a deposit?
Only when the payment was first recorded through the fiscal50 payment screen as an outstanding incoming payment and is now clearing. If it wasn't recorded in fiscal50 first, use Other Deposits instead.
Can I split one deposit across several accounts?
Yes. Record it as Other Deposits and open the split modal with the multiple button, giving each row an account and an amount. The rows must add up to the bank transaction.
What if a deposit doesn't match the invoice amount?
When you record it as Payment for an Already Created Invoice, you decide how to handle the difference, for example as a partial payment, an advance or a discount.
Recording withdrawals
When should I use Reconcile Check / ACH for a withdrawal?
When the check was written through fiscal50 check printing, or otherwise recorded first as an outstanding check, and has now cleared the bank. If it wasn't recorded in fiscal50 first, use Other Withdrawals instead.
What does Auto-recommend Expense Category by Vendor do?
When it's on, fiscal50 looks at how you categorized earlier payments to the same vendor and pre-fills the expense category for new withdrawals from that vendor. Turn it off to choose the category yourself every time.
Can I split a withdrawal across several expense categories?
Yes. Record it as an Expense Entry and use the multiple button to divide the amount across expense categories. The rows must add up to the bank transaction.
Why is a credit card payment marked Auto Record?
The payment is already recorded on the bank side, where the money left your checking account. Auto Record means nothing more is needed on the card, and recording it again would count the same payment twice.
Recorded to fiscal50
Which recorded transactions can I edit or bulk-modify?
Only transactions recorded as Income Entry, Expense Entry, Other Deposits, or Other Withdrawals. Payments for already created invoices or bills and reconciled check / ACH payments cannot be modified — delete them so they return to Pending, then re-record them correctly.
When should I edit a transaction versus deleting and re-recording it?
Edit when the transaction is one of the modifiable types and you're correcting its classification, split, type, or date — the original stays intact and the books update in place. Delete and re-record when the transaction is a non-editable type, or when it was recorded so incorrectly that starting over from Pending is cleaner.
Can I change a transaction's type while editing it?
Yes. In the Edit Transaction modal you can move a transaction from one recording type to another — for example, an Income Entry can be re-recorded as an Other Deposit, or an Expense Entry as an Other Withdrawal. The modal updates to show the fields for the new type.
Modifying a recorded transaction
Does modifying a recorded transaction delete and re-record it?
No. Modifying corrects the category or account while keeping the original transaction intact. Your books, bank balances and reports then reflect the corrected classification.
When should I use Editable Mode instead of Edit Transaction?
Use Editable Mode to reclassify many transactions to one category or account at once. Use Edit Transaction to correct one transaction in detail, including its entry type, split lines, location, special category or date.
Can I change the split of a recorded transaction?
Yes. When you edit a split transaction on its own, you can adjust each line item and the amount allocated to each account before saving.
Which filters help me find transactions to reclassify?
In Editable Mode you can filter by Transaction Type and by Category / Account, then assign the new category or account to the transactions you select.
Deleting a recorded transaction
What happens when I delete a recorded transaction?
The entry is removed from your books and the transaction reappears as Pending: in the Deposits tab if it was incoming, or the Withdrawals tab if it was outgoing.
Does deleting a recorded transaction remove it from the bank feed?
No. The transaction stays in the bank feed and goes back to Pending, ready to be recorded again.
What happens to the original posting when I delete a recorded transaction?
It's reversed, and nothing is recorded for that bank transaction until you post it again.
Why would I delete a recorded transaction?
When it was recorded incorrectly, with the wrong category, account or option, or when you need to record it again using a different method.
Deleting from the bank feed
When should I use Delete From Bank Feed?
For a duplicate of a transaction already in the feed, a test entry, or an item that doesn't belong in your books. If you might want to record it later, use Delete Transaction instead.
Can I remove several transactions from the bank feed at once?
Yes. On the Deposits or Withdrawals tab, select the transactions and choose Delete From Bank Feed in the three-dot menu; they're all removed in one step.
Does Delete From Bank Feed change my books?
Only if the transaction was already recorded: then its entry is removed from the books too. A transaction that was never recorded simply leaves the feed.
Will a transaction deleted from the bank feed come back as Pending?
No. It doesn't reappear in the Deposits or Withdrawals tabs and can't be recorded again.
Pending transactions
What is a pending transaction?
A transaction that has arrived from the bank feed but isn't recorded in your books yet. Pending deposits wait in the Deposits tab and pending withdrawals in the Withdrawals tab until you post them.
Can I see pending transactions for the whole year?
Yes. All Months in the Pending Transactions dropdown shows the entire fiscal year, and a specific month narrows the list to that month.
What does the calendar button show?
A month-by-month summary. From it you can record pending deposits and withdrawals, view transactions already recorded, or open the All Months view.
Does the month I select apply to every tab?
Yes. The selected month applies to the Deposits, Withdrawals and Recorded to fiscal50 tabs alike.
AI recommendations
Does the AI learn from my corrections?
Yes. Every transaction you record and every recommendation you change becomes a new signal that improves future suggestions. The learning happens in the background.
Why doesn't a correction show up on similar transactions right away?
Recommendations already on screen aren't refreshed automatically. The Refresh button next to the search box re-runs the AI against your latest activity and updates the recommendations for the remaining transactions.
What does the AI look at to match an invoice or a bill?
The bank transaction's date, description and amount, which it uses to recommend the best matching open invoice or pending bill.
Does Refresh change transactions I've already recorded?
No. Refresh only updates the recommendations for pending transactions.
Bank, credit card and liability reconciliation
What does the Difference mean on the reconciliation screen?
It's the bank ending balance minus the fiscal50 cleared balance: the amount still to be cleared. You can complete the reconciliation only when it reaches 0.
What do Cleared, Uncleared and Pending mean during reconciliation?
Cleared means recorded in fiscal50 and matched to the bank. Uncleared means recorded in fiscal50 but not yet at the bank, or sitting in a clearing account. Pending means in the bank feed but not yet recorded in fiscal50.
Why won't the Difference reach zero?
Common causes are a pending item not yet recorded, an uncleared item on the statement that isn't ticked, a transaction recorded twice, a mistyped ending balance, an unrecorded bank fee or interest, or a statement date that doesn't match the calendar month.
Can I stop a reconciliation and finish it later?
Yes. Your changes are saved automatically, and the button changes to Resume Reconciliation so you can continue the month at any time.
Why is the Register empty when I open it?
It stays empty until you choose an account. Once you pick one from the account dropdown, its transactions load straight away.
Which periods can I filter the Register by?
By Date, with a ready-made range such as Last month or your own custom dates; by Month, for a single month of your financial year; or by Fiscal Year.
Can I undo a delete in the Register?
No. Deleting is permanent, and you're asked to confirm first. A bank-feed transaction you delete goes back to the Banks tab to be recorded again.
Do my filters stay when I switch accounts?
Yes. You can switch to another account from the account dropdown at any time, and the filters you set stay in place.
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