Bring in your bank's file and sort it

Instead of typing every bank transaction, bring in the file your bank lets you download. Core1440 matches what's already in the books, helps you enter the rest, and ticks it all off when you reconcile.

Steps

In short: download the file from online banking, bring it in, sort each transaction, then reconcile. Each step is below.

Download the file from your bank

1. Sign in to online banking and open the account.
2. Look for Download transactions (some banks call it Export).
3. Choose the dates, usually last month.
4. Choose the format: QuickBooks, Quicken, OFX or QFX if the bank offers one, otherwise CSV or Spreadsheet.
5. Save the file where you can find it, for example Downloads.

Bring it in

1. Open Books, then the books, then press Bank files.
2. Under Bring in a statement file, choose the Account it's from.
3. Under Statement file, choose the file you downloaded.
4. Press Read the file.

The account's transactions open, ready to sort. Bringing the same file in again only adds what's new, so overlapping dates are fine.

If the bank only gives PDF statements

Choose the PDF statement under Statement file instead, and press Read the file. Core1440 reads it and shows what it found before anything is added.

1. Check the Opening balance and Closing balance match the statement.
2. If it says It agrees with the statement, look down What was read for anything read wrongly, then press Bring these in.
3. If it says This statement can't be brought in, nothing was added. Press Choose another file, and bring in the bank's CSV or OFX file if it has one, or enter the transactions yourself.

A PDF only comes in when its transactions take the opening balance to the closing balance exactly, so a line read wrongly can't slip in.

A scanned statement has no text for Core1440 to read. If your owner has turned on AI help with the books, press Have AI read it: Claude reads the PDF, and what it read is checked and shown the same way, marked Read by AI. Otherwise, download the statement from online banking instead. See AI help with the books.

Sort each transaction

Each transaction from the bank needs one of three things:

1. It's already in the books. If Core1440 finds an entry for the same amount close in date, it says This looks like that entry. Check it and press It's this one. When several are found, Match all matches them in one go.
2. It isn't in the books yet, like a bank fee or an automatic payment. Under Make an entry for it, choose the account it was for (or where it came from) and the Fund, check What it's for, and press Make the entry. Next time the same payee comes in, the same account is chosen for you.
3. It shouldn't be in the books, for example something already entered another way. Press Leave it out.

Gifts deposited at the bank are usually already in the books from Record gifts, so their deposits match. See Record gifts from the offering or the mail.

Then reconcile

When everything is sorted, press Reconcile, or Reconcile to this statement beside a file that has a closing balance. Everything matched or entered from the bank file is ticked for you. See Reconcile the bank account each month.

Fix a mistake

• Matched to the wrong entry: find it under Sorted lately and press Undo, then sort it again.
• Made the wrong entry: press Undo, then open the entry and reverse it (see Correct a mistake in an entry), and sort the transaction again.
• Left out by mistake: press Put it back.
• Brought in for the wrong account: under Files, open Fix this file and press Remove this file, then bring it in again for the right account. This works until any of its transactions are matched.
• Charges show as payments on a credit card file: open Fix this file and press Swap money in and money out.

Good to know

• Bank files only bring in transactions. Nothing goes into the books until you match it or make an entry for it.
• A deposit that covers several funds, or a bill split between accounts, needs an entry made the usual way with all its parts (see Make an entry in the books). Then come back and match it.
• To skip downloading files, an owner or treasurer can connect the bank with a bank feed. See Connect the bank with a bank feed.
• If the file can't be read, download it again in another format. OFX or QFX is the most reliable.
• A transaction ticked off in a finished reconciliation stays matched. Reopen the reconciliation first if it's wrong.