Bank Accounts¶
Set up a record for each of your real bank accounts and credit cards, so you can import statements and reconcile them against your invoices, bills and expenses.
How bank accounts work in FairBooks¶
A bank account in FairBooks is a manual record. There is no live bank feed, so FairBooks never connects to your bank or pulls transactions automatically. Instead, you export a statement from your internet banking and import it yourself. See Importing statements.
Each bank account you add also appears automatically in your chart of accounts as an asset. You do not need to create anything there yourself, and it is kept out of your BAS.
The three account types¶
When you add an account you choose one of three types:
| Type | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Bank account | An everyday transaction or savings account |
| Credit card | A business credit card |
| Other | Anything else you want to reconcile, such as a loan or a payment account |
The type is used for the icon and label only. All three work the same way for importing and reconciling.
Adding a bank account¶
- Go to Bank Accounts in the sidebar
- Click Add Account
- Fill in the details:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Account name | A name you will recognise, for example "Everyday Account" |
| Type | Bank account, Credit card or Other |
| Opening balance | The balance of the account on your chosen start date |
| As at date | The date that opening balance applies from |
- Click Add Account to save
Tip
Set the opening balance to match your bank statement on the day before your first import. Your statement balance in FairBooks then stays in step with your real balance as you import.
Reading the account card¶
Each account is shown as a card on the Bank Accounts page. Open a card to see its detail page, which shows four figures:
| Figure | What it means |
|---|---|
| Statement balance | Opening balance plus every transaction you have imported |
| Reconciled balance | Opening balance plus only the transactions you have reconciled |
| Transactions | How many imported transactions the account holds |
| To reconcile | How many imported transactions are still waiting to be reconciled |
As you reconcile, the reconciled balance moves towards the statement balance. When the two match, everything is reconciled. See Reconciling transactions.
The card also shows a badge (to reconcile, All reconciled, or No transactions) and the date of your Last import.
Editing and deleting an account¶
Use the menu on a card to Edit the name, type or opening balance, or to Delete the account.
Warning
Deleting is a soft delete. It removes the account and its imported transactions from view, but any records you already reconciled (expenses, matched invoices and bills, transfers) are left intact. The background chart of accounts entry is deactivated rather than removed.