Lesson 6.4: Making Deposits and Bank Integration

In the previous lesson, you learned that all cash receipts are initially posted to a holding account called Undeposited Funds. This lesson covers the crucial second step: grouping those individual receipts into a Bank Deposit that matches exactly what your bank sees. We will also cover how to automate your data entry using Bank Integration to download transactions directly from your financial institution.

The Deposit Workflow

The “Make Deposits” function moves funds from the Undeposited Funds asset account to your specific Bank asset account (e.g., Operating Checking).

Why this step is critical: If you record ten $100 checks individually in FastFund, but bring them to the bank as a single $1,000 deposit, your bank statement will show one line item for $1,000. If you do not group them in FastFund, your bank reconciliation screen will show ten separate $100 items, making it difficult to match against the bank statement. By using the Deposit function, you ensure your FastFund ledger matches your bank statement line-for-line.

To Make a Deposit:

1. Navigate to Transactions > Cash > Deposits.

2. Select Receipts: You will see a list of all undeposited funds (receipts previously entered). Check the boxes next to the specific items you are taking to the bank today.

3. Prepare: As you select items, the Deposit Total calculates in the bottom right. Click PREPARE DEPOSIT.

4. Deposit Details:

    ◦ To Bank Account: Select the specific bank account receiving the funds.

    ◦ Date: Enter the date the deposit was actually made at the bank.

    ◦ Reference: Enter a reference (e.g., “Dep 10/15” or the bank slip number).

5. Print/Save: You can print a Deposit Report to attach to your physical deposit slip. Click SAVE to post the transaction.

Managing Deposits

• Editing: You can edit the date, reference, or bank account of a deposit. However, you generally cannot change the amount of the deposit directly because it is the sum of linked receipts.

• Deleting: If a specific receipt within a deposit was entered incorrectly (e.g., wrong donor or amount), you must Delete the deposit first. This returns all the receipts back to the “Undeposited Funds” list. You can then correct the individual receipt in the Cash Receipts window and re-do the deposit.

Bank Integration (Plaid)

FastFund Online can connect directly to your bank and credit card accounts using Plaid. This feature automatically downloads cleared transactions every night, saving you from manual data entry.

Setting Up Integration:

1. Navigate to Administration > Integrations (APIs) and select Plaid.

2. Click New Bank Account (+) and follow the prompts to log in to your bank’s secure portal.

3. Map your bank account to the corresponding FastFund General Ledger Cash Account.

4. Check Enabled to start the feed. The first download will bring in the last 30 days of activity.

Processing Downloaded Transactions: Transactions do not post automatically to your books; they go to Batch Processing for your review to ensure proper coding.

1. Navigate to Transactions > Activities > Batch Processing.

2. Bank Debits: Appear as Cash Disbursement batches.

3. Bank Credits: Appear as Cash Receipt batches.

4. Review: Open a batch. Transactions will appear in red if FastFund does not recognize the vendor/payee or the expense account. You must assign the correct Name and GL Account for each line.

5. Post: Once verified, select the transactions and click Post Selected.