Bank Feed Not Importing: Fill the Gap Without Duplicates

Bank transactions not importing: how do I find the missing dates?

The gap runs from the first statement line missing in your books to the last missing line before transactions started arriving again. Find the start by working forward from the last statement that reconciled. Publication 583 says to reconcile the checking account each month: compare the statement with the checkbook and the books, note every difference and correct any errors (Publication 583). To tie a later statement, the books' balance on the statement's date should equal its ending balance once outstanding items are allowed for: checks and deposits already in your books that the bank has not yet shown.

Compare every statement line after that reconciliation with the books to find the first missing one. A statement that does not tie, with no outstanding item to explain it, points to a missing or wrong entry. One that ties can still hide a gap: a missing deposit and a missing withdrawal of the same amount cancel out. If whole lines are missing and nothing else is wrong, the statement balance minus the books balance, after outstanding items, equals the missing deposits minus the missing withdrawals. If not, something else differs; see the table. The gap ends where every statement line is again in the books.

Some gaps are more than a routine import:

If any of these applies, see when a gap needs professional help, below, and bookkeeping help before you start.

Gather before you start:

• The bank's statements for every month in the gap, plus the month before and the month after.
• The last reconciliation that tied, with its date.
• A list of every entry made by hand since the feed stopped.
• The feed's status: which accounts are connected and the date it last delivered lines.

Should I wait for the bank feed to reconnect or fill the gap from statements?

Fill the gap from statements when a return, a month-end close or a lender request depends on the books. A stopped feed does not change the advice to reconcile each month. How far back a reconnected feed reaches varies by bank and software, so check what it delivered against the statement.

Waiting is reasonable only when nothing is due and the reconnected history clearly reaches back to the first missing date. Whether you wait or fill, the statement is the starting point: whatever the feed delivers has to agree with it. A statement line you do not recognize, or one you think the bank got wrong, is raised with the bank before it is booked. Entering the gap by hand while the feed also refills it is how duplicates start.

How do I import the missing statement lines without creating duplicates?

Add only statement lines dated inside the gap, check each one against what the books already hold, and add only the lines with no match. Duplicates come from overlap: a statement file that reaches back over dates already entered, and hand-typed lines that the import then adds a second time.

1. Save a backup of the accounting file; a bad import is easier to restore than to pick apart.
2. Write down the gap as two dates, first missing day and last missing day.
3. Check each import file against its statement: the file's deposit and withdrawal totals should match the totals the statement prints, or the file is short or doubled. Prefer the bank's own transaction download to retyping from a PDF.
4. Cut the data to the gap using the date each line carries on the statement. Statement cycles rarely start or end on your gap dates, so trim both ends.
5. List the entries that could match a statement line: hand-entered lines, a few feed lines, transfers entered from the other account's side, and checks or deposits entered before the gap that cleared inside it.
6. Match each statement line to an existing entry by amount and payee or description, and by check number or reference where there is one. Dates can differ by days or weeks, so a line with no match inside the range may match an entry from before it. A matched line is done; mark it cleared and do not enter it again.
7. Enter only the unmatched lines, at the statement's amount, oldest month first, and tie each month to its statement's ending balance before the next. Date a new entry from its supporting record (invoice, check stub or receipt) and the business's accounting method, with the statement date as the fallback. Leave out pending items: statements generally show posted lines, and a pending item can change before it posts.
8. Sort the range by amount and look at identical amounts on nearby dates. Two identical charges can be genuine, so check the statement before removing either.

A transfer between your own accounts is a common trap: it is imported from one account and typed in again for the other. File-import tools differ by product; the matching above comes first, whichever tool you use.

The bank's date is not always the right book date. For a cash-method business, a valid check received by the end of the tax year is that year's income even if it is deposited the next year (Publication 334), so a December check posted in January keeps its December date.

What if the bank feed later backfills transactions I already entered?

When a backfilled line matches an entry you typed (same amount, same payee, a date that fits), it is a second copy: keep one and do not accept it as new.

Counts and totals can flag duplicates, but only matching every statement line, as under "How do I check the gap is filled correctly?", confirms which entries belong. For income that is counted twice through invoices, payments and deposits together, see income counted twice in your books.

How do I check the gap is filled correctly?

Match every statement line to one book entry, then check the count and totals and tie each statement's ending balance. Do the match even when the balances agree: offsetting errors cancel out. The checks build on the IRS reconciliation steps: compare deposits, compare each check, list the differences, update the books for unrecorded items, and confirm the adjusted balances agree (Publication 583).

Tie each statement to the books on that statement's dates; a balance from a different date makes a correct fill look wrong. Do not force the balance with an unexplained adjustment entry, which hides a missing or duplicate line. The IRS says computerized records must reconcile with the books and the return and give enough detail to identify the underlying source documents (Publication 583).

A statement line shows that money moved. It does not show what the payment was for. The IRS says proof of payment alone does not establish a deduction, so keep the invoice or receipt as well (Publication 583).

What about credit card and payment-app accounts that stopped importing too?

Fill each account that stopped from its own statement, tie it to its own ending balance, and then check the transfers between accounts. A bank statement shows only the net transfer from a payment app and only the payment to a card, not what sits behind them.

• Credit cards: the card statement is the source. The card account's balance in the books should equal the balance owed on the statement.
• Payment apps: if the app is an account in your books, fill it from the app's own activity report for the same dates and tie it to the app's balance.
• Transfers: a payment from the bank to a card appears on both statements; record it once as a transfer between your accounts, not as an expense. A payout from a payment app is a transfer only if the app is an account in your books and the sales and fees were recorded there. Otherwise the payout holds sales, fees and refunds: see reconciling sales and payouts.

For card payments counted twice, see credit card payments in the books.

What if the gap falls in a year already filed or a locked period?

Fill and tie the gap first, then compare the filled year's totals with the filed return. If the gap held income or expenses the return did not include, that return may need correcting. A claim for a refund, such as for expenses the return missed, generally must be filed within 3 years of filing the return or 2 years of paying the tax, whichever is later (26 U.S.C. 6511). A locked period in your software is a setting that limits changes to closed months. It does not tell you whether a return changes; for the lock, and for when a changed year needs an amended return, see the closing date after taxes are filed.

Books changed after a return was filed are worth comparing with it. A missing line that was only a transfer between your accounts may change nothing on the return. Compare the totals instead of assuming.

The order matters when several periods are touched. Tie the cash to the statements, compare the filled months with each filed return, then correct the returns before the next return reuses the same numbers. For a Schedule C filer, see amending for a business expense mistake. For a sales tax payable balance that no longer matches the return, see sales tax payable and the return.

Which statements and records should I keep for the gap?

Keep the bank's statements for every month of the gap, the reconciliation for each month, and a note of what you entered and how.

• Statements: when a canceled check is not available, an account statement can show payment if it is highly legible and shows the amount, the payee and the posted date (plus the check number for a check), or the transaction date for a card (Publication 583).
• The accounting file: in an examination the IRS may ask for the accounting software backup file and the administrator login. A new file made by re-entering transactions is not a copy of the original books (IRS software records FAQ). Fix the gap in the existing file, not in a new one.
• Audit trail: Revenue Procedure 98-25 applies in full to larger taxpayers and to smaller ones in listed cases, such as when required information exists only in electronic records. It describes the link between the electronic records, the books and the return as an audit trail. Keep the notes that show how each filled line got there.

Keep these records for as long as the return they support can be examined: generally 3 years, longer in listed cases, and employment tax records at least four years. The clock and the longer periods are in how long to keep business records.

When does a gap need professional help?

A gap that touches a filed or locked period, spans several accounts, already holds duplicates from an earlier attempt, or will not tie to the statements often takes more time untangling than importing.

If the right-hand column describes your file, the open questions are the order of fixes and which months to reopen; see bookkeeping help. Bring the statements for the whole gap, the last reconciliation that tied, the list of hand entries and the filed returns for the periods involved. For the list a preparer expects, see the bookkeeping cleanup checklist.

Example

These examples are illustrative; all amounts are US dollars.

A small LLC with a two-and-a-half-month gap

The feed stopped on March 3 and was fixed on May 20. The books hold entries through March 2 and from May 20 on, and they tied to the bank on March 2. The March, April and May statements cover the gap, March 3 through May 19.

On the May 31 statement, the bank balance is $35,500 and the books show $31,000. With nothing outstanding on that date and nothing else wrong, the difference, $4,500, should equal the deposits less the withdrawals missing from the gap. The statement lines for March 3 to May 19 show $41,000 of deposits and $36,500 of withdrawals, which nets to $4,500. After the lines are added, the books show $35,500. Tie March 31 and April 30 to their statements too: a mid-month date such as May 19 has a bank balance only if the statement prints a daily balance.

A contractor whose lines import twice

After the feed reconnects, 40 lines from the gap come in a second time because the contractor had typed them in by hand. April expense entries in the books total $24,000 against $12,000 of withdrawals on the April statement, all of them business expenses, with nothing outstanding. The total is exactly double, and the line count is double too. Matching each line by amount, date and payee finds the 40 pairs. The contractor keeps the copy with the receipt attached, removes the other, and April expenses return to $12,000 before the return counts them twice.

A corporation with a gap in a filed quarter

A four-month gap, January through April, covers a first quarter whose payroll return and sales tax return are already filed. The statements for the gap show $9,000 of payroll tax deposits, $4,000 of sales tax payments and $150,000 of customer deposits. The order of fixes: fill the gap from the statements and tie each month; compare the wages and tax withheld in the filled books with the filed Form 941, and sales with the filed sales tax return; correct a quarter only if what its return reported was wrong (Form 941-X, and the state's amended return), since a missing deposit line alone may change nothing; then lock the months again. The corporation's income tax return for the year is not yet filed and takes the corrected figures.

Different for you?

• The gap crosses a filed or locked period: the order of corrections matters. See the closing date after taxes are filed and get bookkeeping help to settle which earlier months need correcting before the return.
• Duplicates are already in the file after an earlier attempt: see income counted twice in your books and bring the list of hand entries to bookkeeping help.
• Several accounts or cards stopped: see credit card payments in the books; tying several accounts and their transfers together usually needs bookkeeping help.
• The numbers will not tie to the statements: see a reconciliation beginning balance that is wrong, and if the difference remains, get bookkeeping help.
• The books are months behind and a return is due: see catching up on overdue books.
• You have only bank statements and no books: see rebuilding books from bank statements.
• Transactions are filled but not categorized: see uncategorized expenses before tax time.
• You wonder whether a connected bank replaces monthly reconciliation: see bank feeds are not reconciliation.