What is a bank feed?
Published
A bank feed is a connection that brings your bank account's movements into your accounting system automatically - each transaction arrives as a line ready for processing instead of being keyed from the statement. Its direction is read-only: it sees movements; it moves no money.
What it saves, and what stays yours
| The feed saves | Your decision remains |
|---|---|
| Manual entry and transcription errors | Classification: which account, which tax, which document |
| Seeing movements as they happen, not at month-end | Approving suggested matches - suggestion is intelligence, approval is responsibility |
| Match suggestions (a 6,900 movement ↔ a 6,900 invoice) | Ambiguous movements - see "unmatched transaction" |
The common error: treating a movement's arrival via the feed as "recorded." An imported line is a draft transaction; it becomes accounting when classified and tied to its document. A feed without classification discipline is just chaos arriving faster.
Frequently asked questions
Is a feed safe?
Its sanctioned channels run on read-only authorisation through an approved connection - the accounting system holds no executive banking credentials. Know the connection mechanism at your provider and bank before enabling.
My bank isn't supported?
Importing the periodic statement file (in its standard formats) delivers most of the benefit - the difference is immediacy, not substance.
Does it replace monthly reconciliation?
It leaves reconciliation nearly done daily; the documented month-end reconciliation remains the seal - see its page.