To review and reconcile your bank transactions, you can head to the Transactions tab in the Ember app.

Please make sure you have linked your bank account in Ember via Settings > Manage Connections before you start, as this will allow your transactions to automatically feed into Ember from your bank account.

Navigate to the Transactions tab and you will be able to see if there are any unreviewed transactions under the To review button, as below.

Once you click on To review, you will find the transactions that have not yet been reviewed.

If you select an individual transaction, then you you will be shown some additional information for this transaction. This is where you'll be able to check or change the assigned transaction category, as well as attach any receipts or invoices, in the attachments section.

Selecting a Transaction Category

Our system will try to automatically categorise each transaction. However, please go ahead and click on each transaction to open it up and check the assigned category.

If the category is correct, then you can approve it. If it's not correct and you'd like to assign a different category, then simply click Choose a category - this will take you to a screen where you'll be able to view all the different category options we have in Ember.

If you need more information on what each category means, you can click on the "information" icon next to the category - this will give you a jargon-free description of what that category means, what it does and doesn't include, as well as useful tax information and tax tips.

If you are still unsure about how to categorise a certain transaction, you can also check our detailed guide on each category here.

Alternatively, if you are on one of our paid plans then feel free to reach out to our talented team of qualified accountants via the chat and we will be able to advise you.

Splitting Transactions

You will notice that if you click on an individual transaction, you are given the option to Split category which allows you to split the transaction. If you'd like more information on how and when to do this, then please check our more detailed article on this topic here.

Bulk Categorisation

If you have quite a few transactions to categorise and catch up on (very common if you are new to Ember), you will benefit from our bulk categorisation tool. This is particularly useful in examples such as travel charges, software subscriptions or recurring payments from clients.

To start bulk categorising, you can use our multi select tool or the search bar in order to categorise similar transactions in one go.

From there, you can just choose the correct category, approve and you're good to go! 🚀

If you'd like more information on how to use Ember's bulk categorisation tool, then please check out this article.

Other Useful Resources

Video Tutorial

We've also prepared a quick video tutorial on everything you need to know about how to review and categorise bank transactions in Ember.

FAQ

How should I categorise refunds?
Refunds should be categorised in the same way as the original expense, so that these net off against each other.
How should I categorise travel expenses?
This should be categorised under the Travel category, assuming the travel is wholly business related. This would cover all forms of transport regardless of whether client has travelled by car, train, plane etc. Would also cover accommodation.
How should I categorise larger expenses (ie. laptops)?
This is a common expense for newly incorporated businesses particularly, and any large expenses like expensive electronic equipment should be categorised under computer hardware.
How do transfers between accounts work in Ember?
Ember acts as a balancing account for the transfer with one side of the transfer allocating to “Money Business owes to Director” and the other side allocating to “Money Director owes to Business”. The net result of this is nil, so you can rest assured no money is actually owed here.