Bank & Statement Import

Connect your bank for automatic sync, or import statements from CSV, Excel, and PDF files. Smart transaction matching categorizes everything automatically.

Overview

BizBooks Pro offers three powerful ways to get your bank transactions into your books: automatic bank feeds, PDF statement import, and CSV/Excel import. Choose the method that works best for you - or use them all!

The smart transaction matching system automatically categorizes transactions based on your rules and patterns, so you spend less time on data entry and more time running your business.

Bank Feed (Automatic Sync)

Connect your bank accounts directly to BizBooks Pro for automatic transaction syncing. This is the easiest and most efficient way to import transactions.

How to Connect Your Bank

1. Navigate to Bank Import in the sidebar
2. Click 🏦 Connect New Bank
3. Search for your bank and select it
4. Log in with your bank credentials (secure, encrypted connection)
5. Select which accounts to connect
6. Your accounts appear in the "Manage Bank Connections" section

Mapping Bank Accounts

After connecting, you need to map your bank accounts to your local Chart of Accounts:

1. Find your account in the Unmapped Bank Accounts section
2. Click Map Account
3. Select the matching account from your Chart of Accounts (e.g., "Business Checking")
4. The account moves to Mapped Bank Accounts and is ready to sync

Syncing Transactions

1. Click ⚙️ Initialize to set the start date for your first sync
2. Click 🔄 Sync to fetch new transactions
3. Transactions flow into the Transaction Matching workflow
4. Use 🔄 Sync All to sync all mapped accounts at once

Resetting Sync

Need to re-sync transactions from a different date? Click ↺ Reset on any mapped account to choose a new start date.

Backup Bank Connection (Stripe Financial Connections)

Not every bank works with every aggregator. To make sure you can always get your transactions in, BizBooks Pro now ships with a second bank connection option powered by Stripe Financial Connections. If your institution can't be reached through the primary network, the alternate route almost always succeeds. Both networks are bundled into your BizBooks Pro subscription -- there is nothing extra to buy.

When Should You Use the Backup Connection?

• Your bank doesn't show up when you search the primary aggregator
• You can find your bank but the credentials handshake keeps failing
• You see a "this institution is not supported" message
• An older connection has gone permanently stale and reconnecting won't take

How to Connect a Bank Through the Backup Path

1. Open the Bank Sync screen from the main sidebar
2. Scroll past your existing connections to the Backup Bank Connection panel
3. Click 🔁 Connect via Stripe
4. Find your bank in the secure Stripe popup and select it
5. Sign in with your bank credentials inside the Stripe widget -- they never reach BizBooks Pro
6. Choose which accounts to link and close the widget
7. Map the accounts to your Chart of Accounts the same way you would any other connection

Account & Refresh Limits by Plan

The backup connection includes monthly refresh quotas and a cap on linked accounts. Limits scale with your subscription tier:

If you ever hit a limit, BizBooks Pro tells you which one and exactly when it resets.

Multi-Client Workflow (For Bookkeepers & Accountants)

If you keep books for several clients on the same BizBooks Pro install, your bank connections list can grow long quickly -- and many clients may share the same institution (think four different "Wells Fargo" entries). To make this manageable, every connection accepts a custom name, and the mapping dropdown includes a live search filter.

Naming Bank Connections

A connection name is a short label you attach to a bank link. By default BizBooks Pro fills this in using the active company name when the connection is first mapped, but you can change it whenever you want.

1. Open the Manage Bank Connections panel inside Bank Sync
2. Find the connection you want to rename
3. Click the ✏️ pencil icon next to the institution name
4. Enter the new name (the client's business name is the most common choice)
5. Click Save -- the new name shows up everywhere immediately

Searching the Mapping Dropdown

When you open the bank account mapping dropdown, there's a search bar at the top. As you type, the list narrows in real time. The filter checks all of these fields:

• The connection name (typically the client's business name)
• The institution name (e.g. "Wells Fargo")
• The account name returned by the bank
• The last four digits of the account number

Empty institution groups disappear automatically as you narrow the search, so the list stays clean.

Adding More Bank Connections

You'll find a ➕ Connect Another Bank button right inside the Manage Bank Connections panel. This makes it quick to chain together multiple client connections without leaving the screen.

Remote Client Bank Connection

Accounting firms that keep books for clients without their own BizBooks Pro installation can use the Bank Link Invitation feature. You email a secure link to the client, they authenticate with their bank on their own device, and the connected account is added to your installation. At no point does your firm handle the client's banking credentials.

Sending an Invitation

1. Navigate to Bank & Statement Import and expand Manage Bank Connections.
2. Click the Request Client Bank Link button.
3. Fill in the client's email. You may also add their name and a short note explaining why you need the connection.
4. Press Send Invitation. BizBooks Pro dispatches a branded email containing the one-time link.

The Client's Experience

1. They receive an email showing your firm's name and any message you included.
2. Clicking the link opens a clean, branded page that explains exactly what will happen and confirms their credentials stay private.
3. They press "Connect My Bank Securely", which launches Stripe's bank verification widget.
4. After choosing their bank and signing in, they see a success screen and can close the tab.

Receiving the Linked Accounts

After the client finishes, their bank account is persisted against your installation and the invitation switches to Redeemed status. The next time you open the Bank & Statement Import screen, BizBooks Pro automatically pulls the new account into your local connections list and notifies you of the addition.

Tracking Your Invitations

All sent invitations appear in the Client Bank Link Invitations panel below the Stripe Financial Connections section. You can:

• Cancel any pending invitation before the client acts on it.
• View which invitations were redeemed along with the number of accounts linked.
• See which invitations expired unused.

Manual Import Methods

BizBooks Pro supports three ways to import bank transactions:

How to Import CSV/Excel Files

1. Navigate to Bank Import in the sidebar
2. Click 📁 Import Transactions
3. Select your CSV or Excel file
4. Choose the Bank Account these transactions belong to
5. Select the correct Date Format
6. Review the preview and click 🎯 Smart Matching

Statement Bucket (PDF Import)

The Statement Bucket is a powerful feature that lets you import PDF bank statements directly - no need to convert to CSV first.

How to Use Statement Bucket

1. Click 🪣 Statement Bucket
2. Drag and drop your PDF statement (or click to browse)
3. Select which bank the statement is from
4. Click Process Statement
5. Review extracted transactions and import

Supported Banks

Statement Bucket works with most major US banks including:

• Chase
• Bank of America
• Wells Fargo
• Capital One
• Citi
• US Bank
• PNC
• And many more...

Transaction Matching

After importing, transactions go through the Transaction Matching workflow. This is where you categorize transactions and prepare them for posting to your books.

How to Access Transaction Matching

1. Click 🎯 Transaction Matching from the Bank Import page
2. Review transactions organized by match stage
3. Accept auto-matched transactions or manually categorize others
4. Post accepted transactions to your books

Match Stages

Transactions are organized into six stages based on how they were matched:

Creating Mapping Rules

Mapping rules automatically categorize transactions based on conditions you define. Once set up, recurring transactions are handled automatically.

How to Create a Rule

1. Click ⚙️ Mapping Rules
2. Click ➕ New Rule
3. Set conditions (description contains, amount equals, etc.)
4. Choose the account to assign
5. Optionally assign a vendor or customer
6. Save the rule

Example Rules

Matches Existing Feature

Sometimes you may have already entered a transaction manually (like writing a check) before it clears the bank. The "Matches Existing" feature detects these potential duplicates.

How It Works

• System checks imported transactions against existing entries
• Matches based on amount, date (±14 days), and description
• Shows confidence score (70-100%)

What to Do

• Yes, Same Transaction: Removes from import (already in books)
• No, Different Transaction: Moves to Review for categorization

Tips & Best Practices

Before Importing

• Make sure the bank account exists in your Chart of Accounts
• Use consistent date formats to avoid errors
• Import one month at a time for easier review

Creating Effective Rules

• Use partial matches ("ELECTRIC" catches variations)
• Combine conditions for precision (description + amount)
• Set rule priority to control which rule fires first

Efficient Workflow

• Process Auto/Rule matches first (quick accepts)
• Review Smart matches next (confirm or adjust)
• Handle Review items last (need more attention)
• Check Matches Existing before posting to avoid duplicates

Troubleshooting

Transactions not importing?

• Check file format - must be CSV, Excel, or PDF
• Verify date format matches your selection
• Ensure file has required columns (date, description, amount)

Duplicate transactions appearing?

• Check the "Matches Existing" tab before accepting
• Use smaller date ranges to avoid overlapping imports
• Review import history to avoid re-importing same file

Rules not matching?

• Check rule priority - higher priority rules run first
• Verify exact text match (case-insensitive but must match)
• Test the rule with the "Test Rule" feature

PDF not extracting correctly?

• Ensure PDF is text-based (not scanned image)
• Try selecting a different bank format
• Contact support if your bank isn't supported

Bank feed not connecting?

• Verify your bank credentials are correct
• Check if your bank requires multi-factor authentication
• Some banks may temporarily block connections - try again later
• If your bank isn't listed, use PDF or CSV import instead

Bank feed showing "Disconnected"?

• Banks may require periodic re-authentication
• Click Reconnect and log in again
• Check if you changed your bank password recently