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Author
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Topic: Assigning and Remembering Payees in BankLink
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FN_User
Member
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posted 08-09-2007 07:15 PM
 
My question is in regard to matching payees when inside BankLink. I imported transactions from a new bank account, so no other entries existed for that account. In many of the entries, the memo field said “Check.” I felt like if I entered a payee for the first item with that memo field, then the system would populate the payee field with the same payee whenever it saw the same memo. I thought I could outsmart the system by editing the memo field. So, I edited the memo field, entering the name of the payee. When I was done, I entered in the first payee into the payee field. The system apparently outsmarted me, as it used that payee in all the entries that originally had “Check” in the memo field. Matching works differently than I thought. What should I have done in this scenario? After seeing my first payee populating all of the “Check” memo lines, I saved the unposted transactions so I could deal with it this morning. When I re-opened the file, the original memo fields reappeared as if they had not been changed, and the payees were all the same–not the original payee I used but the last one I used as I was correcting the payees on entries lines after the first one. Now I’m really at a loss on how this is supposed to work. [This message has been edited by FN_User (edited 08-09-2007).]
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David
Administrator
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posted 08-09-2007 07:18 PM
BankLink give you many choices about how it assigns Payees.
BankLink works best when you enter checks in Navigator as you write them. If you use Navigator to print most of your checks, then you are already doing this.
You are correct, it doesn't matter what is in the Navigator Memo field. BankLink normally looks at the Memo (and maybe Comments) in the downloaded data (not the Navigator data) to assign a Payee. You can see the Memo and other fields from the download in the grey Bank Statement area of the BankLink Transactions screen.
The download from your bank includes the field "Name" with each transaction. By default, BankLink uses the information in that field to populate the Navigator Memo field. You can change that behavior by checking or unchecking the boxes next to Memo from comments and Memo from Name on the BankLink Transaction Options screen (Tools | BankLink Transaction Options). But what appears in the Navigator Memo field has no effect on how BankLink operates.
BankLink normally looks at the same two fields in the downloaded data to assign a Payee automatically. You can tell BankLink which field to use on the Remember Payee tab on the BankLink Transaction Options screen. This is independent of which one BankLink uses to populate the Navigator Memo field.
You can tell BankLink not to assign Payees at all. Remove the check mark next to Remember Payee by Name on the BankLink Transaction Options screen. This setting affects all transactions for the account, so you would normally leave it checked.
If Remember Payee by Name is checked, BankLink will always fill in the same Payee all the transactions with the same Name (and/or Memo, depending on the other BankLink option settings). You can change the Payee for each name three ways:- Change the Payee on a transaction. If Remember Payee by Name is checked, the new Payee will be used for future sessions.
- Uncheck Remember Payee by Name, change the Payee on a transaction, then check Remember Payee by Name. The payee change will affect only that transaction.
- Select the transaction type on the Assign Payee tab of the BankLink Transaction Options screen. Then select the desired Payee in the box on the right. Or select Clear to tell BankLink not to assign any payee. Selecting Clear for Check transaction types is probably the best choice if you don't enter checks directly in Navigator.
When you reopen a downloaded file or an unposted transaction file, BankLink starts from scratch. It does not remember any changes you made earlier in unposted transaction. It reassigns Payees based on the options you have chosen.See also BankLink assigns the same payees to all checks for information specific to checks.
Hope this helps. Try different options to find the settings that work best for your situation.
- David
Financial Navigator Technical Support
[This message has been edited by David (edited 11-09-2007).]
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David
Administrator
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posted 11-09-2007 08:16 AM
Because there is not enough information in the downloaded data from the bank, you need to manually enter Payee and Account for each check. To prevent BankLink from auto filling with the wrong Payee, you have to uncheck Remember Payee by Name off every time you enter a Payee for a check, then turn it back on for a transaction that you do want remembered. Of course, this is awkward. There are a couple of solutions:- Use Remember Payee and a Payee "Check" for checks. BankLink will auto fill all checks with that Payee. When you see that Payee you know you have to manually enter the real Payee and Account. (Or you could leave the Payee as Check if appropriate). Normally Navigator (and BankLink) auto fill the Account associated with a Payee. To turn this feature off, select Transactions | Automatic Entries in Navigator and change the first line to End Entries.
- Enter your checks in Navigator before running BankLink. BankLink will match the transactions and use the Payee already in Navigator. This is the most efficient method because you can also print the checks using Navigator or CheckForm, eliminating the extra step of handwriting the checks.
- David
Financial Navigator Technical Support[This message has been edited by David (edited 11-09-2007).]
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