Solved

How do I stop QuickBooks Online from autofilling the wrong payee on imported bank transactions?

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
June 20, 2023
31 replies
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A little while back, something changed. What used to happen was that if QBO recognized a bank transaction from a vendor that had been paid and entered into QBO before, it would autofill with that payee name. Otherwise, if it did not recognize the payee info from the bank, it would leave it blank. This was perfect.

Not long ago, QBO started almost always filling in the payee (customer/vendor) line. The trouble is if it was a new payee, QBO seems to take some sort of random guess as to who the payee might be, autofilling incorrect information that I now have to fix. I have to do more work than before.

I use QBO to do the accounting for a dozen different companies, and import transactions from a least as many banks - and it's happened with every company, every bank. So I know it's not a change on the bank's side.

This is driving me nuts. To stop this from happening, is there a way I can disable QBO from auto filling the payee info from imported bank transactions...?

QuickBooks Online

Best answer by sofiamdc-2341

You can stop the guessed payee by turning off Enable suggested categorization on the Bank transactions page, which is the setting that controls the auto-filled payee on downloaded transactions. One thing to know up front: it only changes transactions that download after you turn it off, so any already-downloaded ones keep the wrong payee and need a quick manual fix or a bank rule. Here's how to do both.

Turn off the auto-guessed payee

Go to Transactions, then Bank transactions.
Select Settings (the gear icon) on the Bank transactions page.
Uncheck Enable suggested categorization, then select the gear again to close and save.

The setting is labeled "categorization," but turning it off is also what stops QuickBooks from guessing the payee on newly downloaded transactions.

Clean up the ones already downloaded

In the For review (or Pending) tab, open each transaction that has a wrong payee and clear or correct it.
For payees you see often, set up a bank rule so they're handled automatically going forward: go to Transactions, then Rules, and create a rule that sets the correct payee.

If you also get pre-filled details when you manually enter bills or checks

That's a separate feature called auto-recall, not the bank feed. To turn it off: go to Settings, then Account and settings, then Advanced, select the pencil in the Automation section, turn off "Pre-fill forms with previously entered content," then Save and Done. This one only acts when you pick a customer, vendor, or employee while entering a bill, check, or credit card credit.

A couple of honest notes

There isn't a setting to autofill the payee for only debits or only credits; it's all or nothing right now. If that would help you, send it through Settings, then Feedback, so it reaches the product team. And if you turn off suggested categorization but still see wrong guesses, or the box turns itself back on, contact support so they can look at your account directly.

Official sources drawn from:

DHeraV

Moderator

I appreciate you taking the time to raise your concern here, @bgrebil. Know that we only wish you to experience the best kind of service while using the program.

One of the possible reasons why QuickBooks Online (QBO) autofill the transaction fields is that the Automatically confirm transactions this rule applies to option is enabled in your bank rules.

To ensure that this gets sorted out, I suggest making the feature disabled. Let me guide you through the steps on how:

In your QBO account, go to the Banking tab, then select Rules.
On the Rules page, select a rule, then click on Edit.
At the bottom part of the page, disable the Automatically confirm transactions this rule applies to option.
Once ready, click on Save.

For more details, kindly visit: Set up bank rules to categorize online banking transactions in QuickBooks Online.

Moreover, I'll also share this link where you can browse articles that can guide you manage your bank feeds and reconciling accounts in QBO: Help Articles for Banking in QuickBooks Online.

I'm looking forward to having this sorted out. Feel free to leave a reply if you need further assistance. The Community team always has your back. Have a good one.

B

bgrebilAuthor

Thanks. I appreciate you attempting to address the problem - but I don't think you understand the issue. My issue is with transactions that DON'T have any rules at all. Rules work fine and are not the problem. Even if that were the problem, I don't have that feature turned on for any of my clients or the rules I've created.

Furthermore, I don't WANT to make rules for transactions that are rare (ie when a client buys something from a store that they will likely never buy anything else from. Why have a rule for a one-time or infrequent type of transaction?). I'm fine when QBO takes a guess as to what type of expense category to put the transaction in, it's often correct. But recently it started taking a guess as to who the vendor is, and unless I have previously entered a transaction from that exact vendor, it's almost always wrong.

I've been using QBO for many years, with dozens of clients. I'm pretty familiar with categorizing bank transactions. This wasn't happening before. Now it is. I didn't change any settings, so something changed within QBO. I've scoured your help articles, I haven't found anything that addresses this.

Tori B

QuickBooks Team

I appreciate you taking the time to thoroughly explain your issue, @bgrebil.

It sounds like you have the auto-recall feature turned on. The auto-recall feature is designed to automatically fill in the rest of the transaction (excluding the date) when you select a customer, vendor, or employee while entering bills, writing checks, or entering credit card credit. Auto-recall uses the info from the last saved transaction type for that specific customer, vendor, or employee.

Here is how you can turn the feature off:

Go to the Gear Icon, then select Account and Settings.
Choose Advanced.
In the Automation section, click on the pencil icon.
Uncheck the box to disable the auto-recall feature.
Hit Save at the bottom of the Automation box, then Done to record your changes.

That should do the trick. For additional details about this process, check out How to use auto-recall to pre-fill transactions.

Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I'm always around to lend a hand. Have a good one!

P

probswquib

I'm also having this problem - it started a few months ago and it's driving me crazy and creating extra work for me. Suddenly Quickbooks started to incorrectly autofill the "Payee". The suggested categorization is still useful and mostly good, it's the "Payee" that is unnecessary to auto-fill and always wrong.

B

bgrebilAuthor

@probswquib I marked the issue as solved, because it worked in the end... Disabling the "Enable suggested categorization" option seems to be working for me. QB still fills in categories, but it stopped autofilling the payee. Which doesn't make sense based on the actual setting... but oh well. So far, the frustration has ended.

L

Lorinabc1

I am going crazy too! They made me switch off desk top and this online version is the worst

J

jen3006

We´re having exactly the same issue at our end. QBO keeps on automatically adding Vendors / Customers that double up with EVERY new bank transaction, and then we need to manually delete the added double payments and customers, which you can only deactivate. Please just bring a setting that allows us to deactivate the automations on our own terms and it would also be helpful to have the options in one place. This topic popped up already one year ago!

Its unbelievable, we changed to QB to save time and now we end up with extra unnecessary tasks, and of course when contacted the support was clueless, which means even more time wasted.

J

JamaicaA

QuickBooks Team

Having a way to deactivate the automation on your terms can make your work more efficient, jen3006. Let me share some steps to request this setting from our developers.

I appreciate your effort in manually handling the bank transactions, as time is vital for business. We also recognize that this topic has been around for a while and that you've communicated with our experts already. Rest assured that we hear you and are working on providing a time-saving process.

Additionally, I recommend sharing this idea with our innovators. They will review and may consider implementing it based on users' suggestions. I'll show you how:

Go to the Gear icon at the top.
Under the Profile column, select Feedback.
Share your recommendation with the product, then click Next.

Stay updated on our recent developments by visiting our website or blog.

Here's your guide to matching and putting transactions in the correct accounts: Categorize and match online bank transactions in QuickBooks Online.

Furthermore, I've included this reference to monitor your entries and ensure the correct balance: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online.

My doors are always open to help you with the bank transactions. Just leave a reply, and I'll take it from there.

sofiamdc-2341

Answer

Community Manager