Bank feeds are an automatic import of your bank and credit card transactions straight into Xero. Today’s transactions are imported into Xero overnight, ready for reconciling tomorrow.
The benefits of bank feeds are:
- You will save a lot of time on manual data entry. It also makes bank reconciliations much faster.
- Reduce mistakes as bank transactions are imported directly from your bank.
- Get an almost real time view of your cash inflows and cash outflows. This assists with making better business decisions.
- Your bank feed data is transferred via secure, encrypted connection.
Here is how to set up bank feeds:
Firstly, you need to be registered for online banking with your bank.
In Xero, select the accounting menu
- In Xero, select Accounting > Bank Accounts
- Click Add Bank Account
- Type in the name of your bank (e.g. CBA)
- Click Login & Connect Accounts
- You will be taken to your bank to log in.
- Select the accounts you want to share with Xero. Complete the sharing steps. You will be re-directed back to Xero.
- Check the correct bank accounts have been selected. Each account should have a green tick before you click continue.
- Confirm the date you would like to start from. You can import upto 12 months of transactions.
- Click Finish
FAQs
How much time will bank feeds save me? A survey of over 180 Xero users report saving 5.5 hours per week using bank feeds and bank rules.
How much does Xero bank feeds cost? Bank feeds are included in your Xero subscription. You can have unlimited bank and credit card feeds. There is also no cost per bank transaction.
Can I import historical bank transactions? Yes, you can import up to 12 months of prior transaction if your bank allows this. You can only import historical transactions when establishing your bank feed. If you have already established your bank feed, you will need to manually import the bank transactions. See below, What happens if bank or credit card transactions are missed and are not imported into Xero? What should I do?
I use Stripe. Can I set up a Stripe bank feed? Yes, you can set up a Stripe bank feed, so all your stripe transactions are automatically imported into Xero.
I have a credit card that I use partly for my business and partly for my personal expenses. Should I set up a bank feed for this?
It depends on whether the card is a company credit card or a personal credit card. If it is a company credit card, you should set up the bank feed.
If it is a personal credit card and your business is either a company or trust you should not set up the bank feed.
If it is a personal credit card and your business is either a sole trader or a partnership your decision will be based on the number of personal transactions. The more personal transactions the less likely you would want to set up a bank feed for this account. The reason is you will need to code all the personal transactions.
What happens if bank or credit card transactions are missed and are not imported into Xero? What should I do? This does happen occasionally. This can happen due to the timing of when your bank changes a transaction from pending to cleared and processed.
Here are the steps:
- Identify the missing transactions
- Login to your online banking account
- Export the missing transactions to a CSV file
In Xero, select Accounting > Bank Accounts
Click the overflow menu (three dots)
Under the reconcile menu, select import a statement
Click the download Xero CSV template
Format the exported transactions into the CSV template.
Pro tip: both income and expenses must be in the same column. Show income as positive amounts and expenses as negative amounts. For the negative amounts use either a negative sign or brackets.
Once you saved the CSV file, either drag and drop or find the CSV file manually.
My Xero bank feed has stopped working
In Xero, select Accounting > Bank Accounts
Click the overflow menu (three dots)
Under Direct Connect, ensure bank fees are activated
- Check for a disruption to bank feeds from Xero central.
Under Direct Connect, click the view status updates or this link will take you there.
- Fix issues with your bank connection
Renew your bank feeds, if they have stopped working
Re-enter your login details
Check your browser
Here is a link with more detailed steps in Xero Central
- Check for any missing bank transactions. If there are missing bank transactions you will need to import these into Xero.