How a bookkeeping firm sets bank rules, recurring transactions and receipt capture in QuickBooks Online

Bank rules categorize downloaded bank and card transactions. Recurring templates create invoices, expenses and other entries on a schedule you set. Receipt capture reads an image and offers a transaction for you to match or create. None of those steps is a close. None of them is a tax position.

• A RULE badge is a suggestion on the For review tab. You still confirm it.
• An AUTO badge already hit the books. That is why auto add is a separate decision later in this page.
• A receipt in Reviewed is an expense you accepted. It is not proof you reconciled the account.

If you are still picking which repeating work to touch first at the firm, start with accounting firm automation. Coding known vendors is a good second move. It is a poor first move if statements still arrive in a personal inbox.

Intuit's steps: All apps, then Accounting, then Rules, then New rule. Name the rule. Choose Money in or Money out. Pick one bank or card, or all bank accounts. Add conditions on Description, Bank text, or Amount, using Contains, Doesn't contain, or Is exactly. You can set up to five conditions on one rule. Set transaction type, category, tags and payee. Save. You can create up to 2,000 bank rules. QuickBooks applies one rule per transaction, in the order of the rules list. Drag to reorder. You can export rules from one company and import them into another. (Set up bank rules)

If transactions are already sitting in For review, Intuit documents a Test rule action so you can see whether the conditions hit anything waiting. Use it. A rule that matches nothing you currently have is either too tight, or you pointed it at the wrong field. Bank text is what the bank sent. Description is not always the same string.

From For review you can open a transaction and use Create a rule, which Intuit documents as a shortcut. Fine for the third time you see the same payee. Not fine the first time you see a $4,800 charge at a name you do not recognize.

Auto add (Intuit also calls this auto post) posts matching transactions immediately, without a review step. Intuit tells you to use it with caution, and to start with simple repeating items such as rent or fuel. Auto add rules run when you sign in, upload a file, or create or change an auto add rule. After a rule is applied, a RULE badge appears in the category field. For auto post rules, an AUTO badge appears. (Set up bank rules)

A workable policy for a bookkeeping file:

• Leave auto add off until you have watched that vendor for two closes.
• Never auto add transfers, owner draws, loan proceeds, payroll, or anything that might be personal.
• If you import rules into a new client file, walk the chart of accounts first. An imported rule that points at the wrong account is a quiet error.
• Review AUTO items in the first weeks, not never. The badge means it already posted.

Intuit documents three template types under All apps, then Accounting, then Recurring transactions. Scheduled transactions other than invoices can be created automatically. Intuit's examples are rent payments, loan payments and depreciation. Reminder templates are created on a schedule, but you edit and send them yourself. Intuit's example is a utility bill that changes each month. Unscheduled templates are a copy you use when you need that shape of transaction. (Create recurring transactions)

Intuit also notes that each recurring invoice is saved as a draft you review and finalize yourself. Do not treat a scheduled invoice as something that already went to the customer.

Intuit documents Duplicate under the Edit menu in the Action column. Every setting copies except the title, which you have to change. While you are editing a transaction, Intuit documents Make recurring for a receipt, bank deposit, credit memo or credit statement. Invoices use Manage, then Scheduling. Intuit says you cannot turn an existing estimate into a recurring estimate. Create that one from scratch.

Intuit documents three ways a receipt gets into QuickBooks Online. Snap receipt in the mobile app. Upload from the computer or Google Drive on All apps, then Accounting, then Receipts. Or forward an image to a custom address that ends in @assist.intuit.com. QuickBooks extracts info and creates a transaction for you to review. You then edit it, add it to an account, or match it to an existing transaction. Files must be PDF, JPEG, JPG, GIF or PNG. Strip card numbers and government identifiers before you upload. Intuit notes this feature is limited on QuickBooks Online Free and Lite, so check the client plan before you tell the owner to forward everything. (Upload your receipts)

An administrator creates the forwarding address from the Receipts screen. Users you authorize must send from the email they use to sign into QuickBooks. You can attach more than one receipt to an email if each receipt is a separate image. Intuit says the attachment size must be between 46KB and 20 MB. QuickBooks pulls dates, amounts, vendor, and the last four digits of the card from the image. (Email receipts and bills)

For a bookkeeping client, the useful setup is one forwarding address, a short instruction in the onboarding email, and a bookkeeper who lives in the For review tab of Receipts, not in the client's camera roll. Matching a receipt to a bank line is the win. Creating a second expense from a receipt that already hit the bank is how you double the cost.

• New client: no auto add. Rules only after you have seen the payee twice.
• Chart of accounts is the firm's, not the client's nickname for 'stuff'.
• Receipts are matched to bank lines. They are not a second books.
• Recurring scheduled items are reviewed on the Recurring Template List report before you delete an account they point at.
• If the bank text says AMZN and the receipt says office chairs, the receipt wins, and the rule is not a reason to keep coding Amazon to supplies.

Intuit documents a Recurring Template List report under Reports, then Standard reports, so you can see which accounts your templates use. Unlink a template before you delete the account. (Review recurring transactions)

Illustrative. One S corp, cash basis, operating account and a practice card. The firm does books. It does not pay bills or run payroll.

That last $4,800 is not a rule. It is a question for the reviewer: supplies or equipment. The software did its part when it left the item sitting there.

If the For review pile is what eats the week, an AI assistant for small teams can draft the exception list and the questions to the owner, with you approving anything that leaves the firm.