Lets be honest, it is very easy to import data into QuickBooks. Its so easy that you can click a few buttons and be done with it. Once you are done with the import, you can move on to your next task and have piece of mind that your books are dialed and the financials are wrapped up, right? Hopefully you are laughing because this couldn't be further from the truth.
When you are a 'do-it-yourself' type of business owner sometimes too much automation can come back to haunt you later on. QuickBooks imports are streamlined and very efficient if used properly and are initially set up correctly.
If the transactions link to a certain account on your chart of accounts, the automation matches that account with each future import. For instance, if a deposit hits your bank account and the import brings it in to Quickbooks, it needs to tie to a current transaction (or combination of transactions) or it needs to be booked to the proper income, asset, equity, or even liability account. But lets say you set up a new income account called 'Deposits.' Going forward, this account can balloon out of control and lead to a disaster because there is a good chance you are double booking income.
If you are one of those people that thinks QuickBooks doesn't often upgrade their software so there isn't any point in you upgrading your Quickbooks edition, then you might be in for a surprise. Quickbooks 2008 was the experimental edition with Online Banking. Since the 2008 edition the improvements to the Online Banking are pretty remarkable. With 2008, once you set up the link to you account, transactions might be automatically downloading to this day without you knowing. Again, it goes back to the initial setup. I sometimes have a hard time knowing where my car keys are, let alone a step in my set up process for Quickbooks Online Banking over 3 years ago. Once these transactions are brought in with 2008, you cannot not delete them, you have to import them into your books. This project can takes hours, if not days to properly fix. If you choose to ignore it, it will only continue to grow and your books with no longer be accurate.
There are a few spots that need to be checked to make sure you have your online banking set up correctly. If you don't know where to look, or don't have the time, let me know and I would love to help. Having an outside party look over something like this can save a lot of time down the road and a big headache.