QuickBooks 2011: The Missing Manual

An Intro to Exchanging Data with Your Bank

Your financial institution takes the lead in controlling how QuickBooks can communicate with it. Your bank can set up this pipeline in two ways:

• Direct connection uses a secure Internet connection that links directly to your bank’s computers. With this type of connection, you can download your bank statements and transactions, transfer funds between accounts, pay bills online, and email your bank (assuming, of course, that your financial institution provides all these services). When your bank uses a direct connection, you set up your fund transfers, requests for downloads, online bill payments, and emails before you connect.

• WebConnect uses a secure connection to your bank’s website to download your statement info. With WebConnect, you then have to import the downloaded information into QuickBooks.

Note

Regardless of the method you use, the online balance usually isn’t a true picture of your cash balance, because it doesn’t show all transactions, such as checks you’ve written that the bank hasn’t received.

The first step in QuickBooks’ online banking is exchanging data with your bank. You send any online banking items you’ve created, like online bill payments or transactions that have cleared at your financial institution. Connecting to your financial institution begins in the Online Banking Center (choose Banking→Online Banking→Online Banking Center), regardless of which type of connection you use.

Once you’ve exchanged data, QuickBooks tries ...