Why would banks offer business checking accounts that do not have compatibliity with Quickbooks so that users can download banking information? It’s outrageous that it is not available since the account data should be easily downloaded. Some banks have the download ability for Quicken, but Quicken is more often used for personal finance. By the way, Quicken and Quickbooks are both products of Intuit so it seems to me that if a bank has a file that is downloadable to Quicken, then it also should provide one for Quickbooks. Citibank and Bank of America provides for easy downloads, so keep that in mind if you want to get your banking information on a “as it happens” basis.

Why is this important? If there is a high volume of cash inflows and outflows during the month, then it’s better to manage your cash flow by downloading bank account data on a daily or weekly basis to keep your bookkeeping up to date. This also makes it easier to do monthly bank reconciliations. If a business does not know what is going on with their finances, then they cannot make critical decisions about their operating budget.