Hi Mark,

I see this feature is now live but am somewhat in the dark about what it does and how it does it!
Seeing as how online doesn't allow me to create a dummy file to experiment with could you shed some light on the process and intended result?

I assume that during the import there is a process that gathers data to allocate bank account entries to a transaction type and that where the bank account description is the repeated it will default to previous choices?
How does it deal with allocating (expense or asset) accounts?

One of your excellant help topics urgently required!

VAT treatment?
Bank account credits made up of multiple cheques or cash ammounts?

Hi Simon,

Actually it's very easy to set up a dummy business - click menu File > New > Business. When you are finished experimenting, click menu File > Close, then select the dummy business and click 'Remove'. (Our billing system doesn't charge you for the extra business until the end of your monthly billing period. If you forget to delete the dummy business and are charged for it, just email support@solaraccounts.co.uk and we will refund the payment).

When importing a bank statement, you must specify the transaction type and the account for each line of the imported file. You can select the VAT Treatment from the menu next to the VAT rate. When depositing cheques and cash, select the 'Bank Deposit' type. The first bank statement you import will require a bit of time enter details for each line, but subsequent bank statements will be much faster because Solar Accounts will remember your preferred transaction type and account for each line description. Try it and let us know what you think!

Good idea about the help topic - I'll suggest it to our development team.

Regards,

Hi Mark,

Had a play with the new feature, a couple of comments:

You have obviously spent some care getting the recognition of repeat entries to work well and business' with routine, regular, payments will get the most out of this!
The list of available transaction types would be more useful if they reflected the types recorded in Solar - it is far from clear what the system is going to do with any particular selection from the list provided.

I was not able to decide what to choose for a VAT payment to HMRC or for salary payments for instance.

Annoying to have to click 'next' after selecting 'skip this row'
Would like to see double click open the drop down lists

90% of our posted transactions are purchase invoices related to merchant credit accounts settled at the EOM, if our suppliers were to offer suitable file formats could we import against a supplier?

Hi Simon,

Thanks for your feedback - that is very useful! I have added three feature requests to our development system: (1) To make it more clear what underlying transaction types are being created in the bank import window; (2) Add a 'Payment to HMRC' transaction type (3) Perform useful action when user double-clicks on a transaction type. We may be able to add these improvements soon.

You can use the CSV import feature to create transactions like purchase invoices which do not appear on the bank statement. However, when you import the bank statement file Solar Accounts will only allow you to allocate the payment to one purchase invoice - I think the best approach would be to pick any of the supplier's purchase invoices, then after you finish the bank import process edit the payment and allocate the money to the remaining purchase invoices.

Regards,

Hi Simon,

OK we've just released a new version of Solar Accounts with changes to the bank import window based on your feedback:

1. The list of types on the left side now has icons (blue, red and green) which match the underlying type being created

2. The title on on the right side now describes the underlying type that will be created (Money Received, Money Paid Out, or General Transaction)

3. You can double-click on 'Skip This Row' to go the next row. Double-clicking on other items in the type list will also go to the next row if all fields on the right are populated

4. We've added 'HMRC Payment' and 'Other Payment' types to the list on the left side