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L
lawrenanne1
May 16, 2026
Question

How do you get QBO to recognize cheque numbers when matching the bank feed?

  • May 16, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 13 views

If I have 5 cheques of the same amount to John Doe in the bank feed, QBO doesn't seem to be able to "see" the cheque information to match properly, in spite of the supposed benefits of AI. This is very clear identifying information; how do I improve this matching issue?

1 reply

K
KenoLee_PQuickBooks Team
QuickBooks Team
May 16, 2026

QuickBooks Online (QBO) does not typically use cheque numbers as a primary matching criterion in bank feeds. Instead, automatic matching relies primarily on the transaction date and amount.

 

To help QBO recognize cheque numbers, manually enter them in the Cheque no. field when recording a payment. Always ensure the payee name and currency amount match your bank feed exactly.

 

You can then link your bank feed to the correct record using the Find match feature. Here’s how:

 

  1. Go to All apps > Accounting > Bank transactions.
  2. Find and select the transaction you want to match.
  3. Click the Find match button.
  4. Filter the Date range and select Cheques in the Record type dropdown.
  5. Choose the record from the list and click Match.

 

If you have any questions or need more help matching your transactions, just comment below.

L
lawrenanne1Author
May 16, 2026

It is a given in my books that a transaction is enter when it takes place, accurately and completely; that includes cheque numbers on cheques.

I understand *how* matching works; what I don't understand is why QBO, based on your answer, does not read basic data fields like reference numbers, or have the ability to create a rule that correlates bank feed name to company name. Regardless of your advice to make sure the names are the same, I cannot put "Britishcol" on an invoice for BC Asset Group LLC even if that's what the bank deposit shows. And that wouldn't solve the problem with cheques, anyway, as the bank identifies the cheque-- logically-- by the number.

Reconciling a bank statement in QBO the old manual way, without using a bank feed, is a one-step process, with both the bank statement and the "reconcile account" page in date order. Reconciling a bank feed with manual matching is a multi-step process with nonsensical choices of potential matches in a list that is not ordered by date, name, or reference number. Matching automatically would be a chaotic nightmare, and all QBO bookkeepers I've talked to turn this function off because it does not work.

As a customer *and* a business consultant I am baffled by QBO's market technology choices. QBO is hated across the board by anyone who has used another software, including QBO which was the best small-business package on the market.

L
lawrenanne1Author
May 16, 2026

*including QB Desktop which I loved...

typo

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