# How to Categorize Imported Bank Transactions in QuickBooks _Canonical: https://qbomaker.com/blog/categorize-imported-transactions-quickbooks.html_ Once your bank file is imported, the transactions land in the For Review tab. From there you either Match each one to something already in your books or Add it with a category (account) and a payee. Bank rules let QuickBooks do most of that categorizing for you on the next import. ## Where imported transactions go first Importing a file does not post anything to your books. Whether you brought transactions in through a bank feed or by uploading a .QBO file you built with QBO Maker, they all collect in one place: Transactions > Bank transactions (older menus call it Banking), under the For Review tab.Nothing in For Review affects your reports yet. These are proposed entries waiting for you to confirm the account they belong to. You move them out of For Review one of two ways: by matching them to an entry that is already in QuickBooks, or by adding them as new entries with a category. Until you do, they sit in limbo, which is exactly where you want them while you check the work.If you converted a CSV or Excel export to QBO first, see how to import a CSV into QuickBooks Online for the upload step. This page picks up after the file is in. ## Match vs Add: which to use QuickBooks looks at each imported line and tries to find a record you already created. The choice it offers tells you what to do.Match appears when the imported transaction lines up with something already in your books (an invoice payment, a bill you paid, an expense you entered manually, a transfer). Click Match so the bank line is linked to the existing record instead of creating a duplicate.Add appears when there is no existing record. You pick a Category (the account, like Office Supplies or Merchant Fees), assign a Payee, and click Add. QuickBooks creates the expense or deposit and posts it.The single biggest mistake is clicking Add on a transaction that already exists, which double-counts it. If you entered an invoice and the customer paid you, the deposit should Match, not Add. When in doubt, expand the row and read what QuickBooks suggests before you confirm. ## Categorizing one transaction at a time For each line in For Review:Click the row to expand it.Confirm or set the Payee (the vendor or customer).Choose the Category, which is the account from your chart of accounts.Add a Memo or attach a receipt if you want the detail later.Click Add (or Match if a match is offered).You can edit the payee and category inline in the list without opening each row, which is faster when you have a long batch. Recent QuickBooks versions also suggest a payee and category based on the description and your past choices. Treat those suggestions as a starting point, not gospel. The software guesses from the bank's raw text, and a guess is only as good as that text.To handle several similar lines at once, tick the checkboxes on the left, set the category once, and use the batch action to add them together. ## Set up bank rules to categorize automatically If you import from the same accounts every month, bank rules are where the time savings come from. A rule says: when a transaction matches these conditions, assign this payee and this category automatically.To create one, go to Transactions > Rules (in newer layouts, All apps > Accounting > Rules), then select New rule. Then:Name the rule something you will recognize later.Choose whether it applies to Money in or Money out, and to one bank account or all of them.Set the conditions. A single rule can hold up to five conditions on the Description, Bank text, or Amount, using contains, is exactly, or doesn't contain.Set what the rule does: the transaction type, the Payee, and the Category. You can split across categories if needed.For example, a rule that says "Description contains STRIPE" assigns the payee Stripe and the category Merchant Fees. From then on, every Stripe line is categorized for you on import. QuickBooks supports a large number of rules (up to 2,000), so build them as patterns emerge rather than all at once. ## Auto-confirm and the order rules run By default, when a rule matches a transaction, QuickBooks moves it straight to the Categorized list and you never see it in For Review. That is Auto-confirm. It is convenient, but it means the entry posts without a second look.If you would rather check the software's work, turn Auto-confirm off on the rule. QuickBooks still applies the category, but the transaction stays in For Review with a green tag showing which rule touched it, so you confirm it yourself. New bookkeepers, or anyone setting up rules for the first time, should leave Auto-confirm off until they trust the pattern.Rules run top to bottom, and the first matching rule wins. If two rules could catch the same transaction, order them so the more specific one sits above the general one. You can reorder rules from the Rules screen. ## Clean source data means cleaner categories Categorization is only as good as what the bank sends. If descriptions arrive as raw payment-processor codes, rules and suggestions both struggle to match. The fix is upstream, in the file you import.When you build your QBO file with QBO Maker, you map your CSV or Excel columns so the date, amount, and a clean description land in the right OFX fields. A readable memo ("Office Depot" instead of "SQ *OFC DPT 0099") makes both QuickBooks suggestions and your own bank rules far more reliable. Saved per-bank templates on Pro mean you map once and reuse the same clean layout every month.If your accountant works in desktop software instead, the same principle applies to CSV to QFX and CSV to OFX conversions. Good input, good categories. Convert your file now and import a clean batch. **Why do imported transactions not show up in my reports?** Transactions in the For Review tab have not been posted yet. They only hit your reports after you Match or Add each one. Until then they are proposals, not entries. **What is the difference between Match and Add?** Match links the imported line to a record you already created in QuickBooks, which avoids a duplicate. Add creates a brand new entry with the category and payee you choose. Use Add only when no existing record matches. **Will a bank rule change transactions I already categorized?** No. Rules apply to transactions in the For Review tab going forward. They do not reach back and re-categorize entries you have already added or matched. To fix older entries, edit them in the Categorized list. **Should I leave Auto-confirm on for my bank rules?** Leave it off while you are still building and testing rules, so categorized transactions wait in For Review for you to confirm. Once a rule is reliable, turning Auto-confirm on lets it post automatically and saves clicks. **Can I categorize many transactions at once?** Yes. In the For Review tab, tick the checkboxes for several similar transactions, set the category, and use the batch action to add them together. A bank rule does the same job automatically on future imports. --- Convert free at https://qbomaker.com/#tool, runs entirely in your browser.