Bank-Led Receipt
Turn imported bank transactions into posted receipts. Start from the bank statement, not the sales module — the bank feed drives the entry.
In a bank-led workflow, receipts originate from imported bank statement data rather than being entered manually. You import the bank statement first, then classify each incoming line — either straight to an income category, or as a receipt for a customer. This approach keeps your bank balance and your books in sync — you cannot post a receipt for money that does not appear in the bank.
When to Use Bank-Led Receipts
| Scenario | Recommended Approach |
|---|---|
| High transaction volume with many customer payments daily | Bank-led — process once per day from the statement import rather than entering each payment manually |
| Finance team is separate from the operations team that raised invoices | Bank-led — finance processes from the bank, operations does not touch receipts |
| Reconciliation accuracy is a priority | Bank-led — every receipt is backed by an actual bank transaction |
| Low transaction volume with immediate payment confirmation | Manual receipt — record it as it happens without waiting for the bank statement |
The Process
Open the bank account under Finance → Banking and import the statement file. Supported formats are Excel (.xlsx, .xls), CSV, and PDF (a PDF statement is converted and column-mapped before import). Every line that is not already in your books lands as uncategorised money.
The account page has four tabs: Details, Reconciliation, Classification, and Rules. Classification is titled "Classify uncategorised money" and splits the lines into two cards — Money out · expenses and Money in · income — each with its count and total.
Switch to Money in · income. Each line shows its date, description and amount. Bank rules can suggest an income category (Apply N suggestions); a customer payment should become a receipt instead, so tick those lines.
Click Convert N to receipts. The dialog asks for one customer (search covers every customer, not just the loaded page) and an optional Center / location. Every selected line becomes its own numbered receipt for that customer, dated from the bank line, with the amount taken from the ledger — never from the browser.
The receipts post in the background and start as Unmatched — a bank-led receipt carries no allocation rows. Cash application then applies them to the customer's open invoices automatically (opening balances first, then oldest invoice by invoice date). To choose the invoices yourself, open the receipt and click Match Invoices.
You can also start from Sales → Payment receipts → New, set Payment Source to Uncategorized, and pick the bank line under Select Transaction. The amount is fixed from the bank transaction; allocate it to invoices on the same form.
What Happens in the Ledger
| Account | Debit | Credit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank Account | 12,000 | — | Transaction drawn directly from the imported bank statement |
| Accounts Receivable | — | 12,000 | Customer balance reduced — invoices settle as the receipt is matched |
The journal entry is identical to a manual receipt. The difference is the origin: bank-led receipts are anchored to a real bank transaction from day one, whereas manual receipts are entered at the point of payment notification and reconciled against the bank separately.
Suggestions
| Suggestion | Where It Comes From | What To Do |
|---|---|---|
| Income category | Bank rules you set up on the Rules tab | Apply N suggestions sets the category on the matching lines; Post N categorised moves them to the ledger |
| "Looks like INV-000067 · Acme Corp" | A reference or amount that resembles an open document | A hint only — the line is still converted to a receipt and matched by cash application or by you |
| No suggestion | Nothing in the description or amount resembles a document | Pick the customer in the Convert dialog, or set an income category if it is not a customer payment |
A deposit with no suggestion may be an advance payment (no invoice exists yet), income from a source with no customer record, or a payment for an invoice posted after the statement was imported. Review every uncategorised income line before closing the period.
After Classifying
Once a line is converted or categorised it leaves the Classification tab. A receipt created from a bank line is locked to the bank-feed ledger — to correct it, void it and re-classify the original line. The bank statement balance and the Trabalance bank account balance agree once every line is classified.
Related
- Recording a payment without the bank feed: Manual receipt.
- Deciding what the created receipt pays: Matching a receipt to invoices.
- Importing the statement in the first place: Importing statements.
- Why a bank-led receipt cannot be edited: Editing, voiding and restoring.