Bank Feed FAQ

Short answers, each with a link to the full explanation. For the ideas behind the feed, see How Bank Feeds Work. For the steps, see Reconciling, Start to Finish.

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The Feed

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Why are there rows under Excluded after I reconnected?

When a bank connection is made again, the bank sends its history again, including lines Arcus already holds. Arcus sets those copies aside so no money is counted twice:

• Lines replaced when this bank login was renewed: the re-sent line was identical to one you had already worked. Arcus moved your match, category and note onto the line from the current connection and retired the old copy. Nothing was lost, and there is nothing to restore.
• Re-downloaded by a new connection to this bank: the re-sent line was very close to one you already had (same date, amount and description), so Arcus kept your original and set the copy aside. If it really is a separate transaction, click Restore and it returns to For Review.

These rows never post and never count in a balance. See Connecting the Same Bank Again.

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Why do I only see 90 days of history?

The bank decides how much history it sends. Arcus asks for up to two years on a new connection, and some banks send only 90 days. Other reasons:

• The older lines have not arrived yet. Banks often send recent weeks first and older history later. Arcus collects it on its daily check, or click Sync now.
• The connection was repaired, not made new. Reconnect keeps the history window the connection was first made with.
• The same bank sign-in is connected somewhere else too. A bank can give a second connection to the same sign-in a shorter history.

Arcus cannot ask the bank for more history on an existing connection. Talk to support before removing a login only to get more history: a removed login cannot be restored, and the bank may still send 90 days.

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What does Sync now do?

It asks the bank right away for anything new on that account and tells you the result. It cannot make the bank post a line sooner. Arcus also syncs on its own when the bank sends a notice, and once a day.

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A line says Pending at the bank. What do I do?

Nothing yet. The bank has not finished posting it, so you cannot approve, match or exclude it, and it is left out of every balance. When the bank posts it, the posted line takes its place.

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Why will Arcus not let me exclude this line?

Exclude is for a second copy of a line or for bank noise. If the line is the only copy of a real bank event, excluding it would take real money out of the account, so Arcus refuses and offers Match it instead or Keep it open. Give the line its record instead.

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Matching

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A line matches nothing in Arcus

That usually means the record was never entered. Create it from the line, which posts it and clears the line in one step:

• Money in from a customer: Record customer payment.
• Money out for bills already entered: Record vendor payment.
• Money out for a bill not entered yet: Create bill + payment.
• A fee, interest, or another item with no document: Create expense (money out) or Record income (money in) in the For Review tray. The match workbench names the money-out action Record expense, as does a line’s Details window.
• Money between your own accounts: Record transfer.

Before you create anything, check that the record is not already in Arcus under another bank account or another date: creating it twice doubles it in your books. See Bank Transactions.

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I matched the wrong record

Open the Categorized tab on Bank Transactions and click Undo (or Unmatch) on the line. The dialog says exactly what will happen first: a plain match is simply removed; a record the line created is reversed or voided. The line goes back to For Review. Inside an open reconciliation session, Unmatch on the Matched lane does the same for matches made there. Two cases are corrected elsewhere: a customer receipt already applied to invoices is voided from Payments, and an entry in a closed accounting period needs the period reopened first.

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The Baseline

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The baseline shows a variance. What do I do?

The variance means your ledger and the bank disagreed on the baseline day. Fix the books rather than accepting it:

1. Look for checks or deposits dated before the day that the bank had not cleared yet, and tick them under Keep GL lines open.
2. Look for bank charges, fees or transfers before the day that were never recorded. Record them, dated on or before the day.
3. Check the balance you typed against the statement.

Then apply again. Accept the variance only when you know exactly what it is: it stays in your books, and the baseline cannot be redone from the screen. See Stage 1: Set the Start Point.

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The suggested balance differs from my statement

Use the statement. The suggested balance is worked out from the bank’s current balance minus the activity after your chosen day, so it is a cross-check, not the statement. It can differ when a pending item sits after the day (Arcus shows both readings; pick the one that matches your statement), or when some activity after the day has not reached Arcus yet.

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Can I reconcile months before the baseline?

No. The baseline closed everything on or before its day as already reconciled, and Arcus does not ask about those months again. Reconciliation starts with the first month after the baseline.

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Month End

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What does Complete anyway record?

It finishes the month with the difference stamped on that month as unreconciled. It posts nothing. The difference does not carry forward: the next month opens from the statement balance, so the gap will never resolve itself. The month appears under With differences in Completed periods, and the next session warns about it. Use it only as a last resort, then find the cause or post an adjusting journal entry for the amount.

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Do I need the paper statement?

You need the statement’s figures, and the bank’s monthly statement PDF from online banking is enough. The feed’s lines come from the bank itself, so when every line for the month is in Arcus, the feed and the statement agree. The statement’s ending balance is what confirms it: type it into Start reconciliation. For any statement date the feed can work out, the dialog also shows Balance on that date from your bank feed, with Use this to copy it in; it is a cross-check, and the statement’s figure wins if the two differ. Pull latest balance appears only when the statement date is today.

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The difference will not reach $0.00

The difference compares the statement with the opening balance plus the cleared bank lines, so it is always about bank lines. Look for, in order: a line in the period still on To match, an ending balance typed wrong (Edit details), or an earlier month that closed with a difference. Check this account on the account card runs a read-only health check that often points to the cause.

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I closed a month and found a mistake

A completed month is locked and cannot be reopened from the screen; its figures stay exactly as you agreed them. Correct the books with an adjusting journal entry, and say in its memo which month and line it corrects.

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