CBT

CheckBook Tracker

GPL (C) 2003 Anthony Maro
Contents

Balancing from an OFX file

Many banks now offer download of OFX (Open Financial Exchange) files.   If your bank offers this feature on their website, you can download OFX files and have the data within them matched up against the information already in CheckBook Tracker.   CBT attempts to intelligently match up transactions using a complex set of rules.

Balancing from OFX files takes much of the headache out of balancing your checkbook.  You can even balance your checkbook weekly or even daily, rather than waiting for the monthly statement from your bank.  I commonly use a debit card and use the OFX balancing to automatically enter those transactions into CBT.

To use balancing from OFX, download the latest OFX file from your bank.  Some banks will even keep up with what transactions you have already downloaded and give you the option to only download new transactions.  This will reduce the possibility of mismatched transactions.

Once the OFX file has been downloaded from your bank, open CBT and select "Balance from OFX" in the "Tools" menu.  Select the OFX file.

Any transactions that it thinks may have been keyed into CBT incorrectly, or that may have some other error will pop up a confirmation box before a match is made.  Once the file has been imported, a summary appears showing how many transactions were found and how many new transactions were entered into the register.  The checkbook register is then placed into balancing mode, allowing you to double-check the information before completing the balancing process.

If you find that a transaction has not matched correctly, you can make adjustments before clicking "Done."

Here's a quick list of basic rules that CBT uses when matching transactions: