Reclassifying Multiple Transactions at Once in QuickBooks

Once you record transactions, QuickBooks posts to accounts at the time it was recorded, but sometimes you may realize that it was posted to the wrong way. How do you update multiple transactions at once? Fortunately there are several ways to do that, but there are some important nuances to be aware when choosing the correct method. 

Reclassify Tool

There is an Accountant only tool that allows you to batch reclassify transactions all at once. It’s very powerful, but it has its limits. It is available in both QB Online and Desktop. 

The Fine Print

It is designed for changing the target accounts or categorization of a transaction, so it does have its limitations, and the different platforms work a little differently, but if you need to modify multiple transactions at once, it is a great tool. QB Desktop does allow you to reclassify source accounts (i.e. The bank account on a check)

Editing Accounts on Items

The biggest limitation of the reclassify tool is that it cannot modify accounts on item-based transactions. Since that information flows from the item setup, you need to modify the account on the item itself. 

The Fine Print

Once you edit the account on the item, QB Desktop will ask you to update historical transactions and allow you to choose the date. Online will only do all historical transactions, or from that moment on.

Merging accounts

If you have transactions that should be combined into one account, you can merge them. By editing the account name to match the source account, QB will combine all of the transactions into that one account.

The Fine Print

You cannot undo a merge. Make sure you have a damage control plan if something goes wrong. Also Bank and Credit Cards accounts will lose their reconciliation reports

Using Bank Feeds

Using Bank feeds is a great way to automate your work. By using the Bank rules you can automatically categorize downloaded transactions without your interaction.

The Fine Print

QBO allows you to mass undo transactions that were added incorrectly through the bank feeds, Desktop does not. QBO also allows you to export your rules so that you can import them into another company file.

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