We doubt you went into business because of your love of doing the accounts and managing your cash flow (but perhaps you did…).
At Sage, we’re committed to freeing you from the manual drudgery of maintaining your business admin so you can focus on the things you’re passionate about.
In our Sage Delivers series we highlight some of the ways Sage Accounting can help you run your business efficiently.
Today, we’re talking about bank feeds.
Here’s what we cover in the article:
Do you have a clear view of how your business is doing? Who still owes you money?
What are bank feeds and how will they benefit me?
Does my bank support bank feeds?
Can my accountant do my bank feeds on my behalf?
Take it a step further and automate your banking transactions
Do you have a clear view of how your business is doing? Who still owes you money?
Having this information readily available allows you (and your accountant, if you have one) to make informed decisions with confidence.
By using cloud accounting software, you can have a clear understanding of how your business is doing – all from one central place, and on any device.
And if you’ve got bank feeds set up in Sage Accounting, you can quickly and easily keep track of the money going in and out of your business bank account – and who owes you money.
“I can easily access my accounts and I know what’s going on. I can check whether a customer has actually paid me because it’s connected to my bank account. This allows me to focus more on my business because all those other things that Sage Accounting solution is doing for you.” – Janice B. Gordon, founder, Scale Your Sales
What are bank feeds and how will they benefit me?
A bank feed is a secure online connection between Sage Accounting and your bank.
It’s the quickest and easiest way to create bank transactions in your cloud accounting software and removes the complexities (such as rules/clearing transactions).
Once set up, Sage Accounting can automatically import transaction details from your bank account.
That means you can say goodbye to the drudgery of manual entry of transactions or importing transactions from a downloaded file.
Not only will you reduce the chance of errors creeping in when you’re managing your business finances, you’ll also gain precious time back in your day.
Check out our in-depth guide to bank feeds.
“Sage Accounting automatically processes bank statements and invoices. It’s all done for you. I can look at my accounts whenever I want on my mobile. The beauty of automation is that we can focus on what makes the business tick.” – Dan Shardlow, Owner, Sky Spa Wellness Centre
Simple and secure setup
It’s quick and easy to connect to your bank. Simply follow these four steps (and watch the video below too):
- Select and connect your bank account and, depending on your bank, you’ll either be asked to sign in – like you would on your online banking app – or you may need to fill in a short form.
- Authorise the feed by reading and accepting the terms and conditions, giving Sage permission to securely retrieve your transaction date.
- Answer some security questions to finalise the connection to the bank feed.
- Voila – you can now say goodbye to the hours spent updating your transactions manually.
It goes without saying that security is of extreme importance. For security purposes, you’ll be asked to update your login details to your bank accounts every 90 days.
Does my bank support bank feeds?
We have connections with the majority of major high street banks, but there will be some banks that are not currently supported.
- Check our list of supported banks to check if a bank feed is available for your account. The banks are updating their connections all the time, so keep checking to see when new feeds are available.
- If a bank feed is not currently available for your bank, you can easily import transactions from your bank matching the transactions once the information is uploaded.
Can my accountant do my bank feeds on my behalf?
Once you’ve connected your bank account to Sage Accounting, your accountant can import transactions on your behalf.
If your online banking service uses multi-factor authentication, you’ll need to enter the requested security details each time before transactions are retrieved and downloaded.
Take it a step further and automate your banking transactions
You can easily reconcile your accounts with just a few clicks.
Save additional time by setting up bank rules – this allows you to create rules that automatically categorise your imported online banking transactions in Accounting.
Want to learn more about bank rules and how they can make life easier for you? Check out our article: What are bank rules and how do they work?
“Sage Accounting and Revolut work together perfectly. I save over 10 hours a week as Accounting automatically imports and sorts my transactions.” – Roisin Culligan, founder, Brew Box Coffee Ltd
Changes to your bank accounts
If you’ve changed or no longer use one of your bank accounts anymore, you can quickly change that account to an inactive account to hide them from your banking list.
This ensures you don’t process a transaction to the wrong account. Inactive accounts will however still show in reports and completed transactions for audit purposes.
Final thoughts on bank feeds
Business admin is an important part of running a business – but it shouldn’t dominate your time.
By using Sage Accounting and bank feeds, tackling manual bank imports can become a thing of the past.
Instead of dedicating time to deal with data entry, use your accounting software to automatically import transactions and streamline your bank reconciliation process.
And the outcome?
Less time on admin, greater visibility and control over your cash flow, and more time to focus on tasks that add value to your business.
Editor’s note: This article was first published in April 2021 and has been updated for relevance.
How to boss your small business banking
From choosing a business bank account to managing bank reconciliation and using bank feeds, this guide will help you to stay on top of your finances.
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