If your bank or financial institution supports online banking and is listed in the Set Up Online Banking wizard, you can set up your bank accounts in Microsoft Office Accounting 2009 so that, depending on your bank's policy, you can pay bills and transfer funds online or download transactions.

Two-way banking vs. one-way banking

Two-way banking   Some banks offer two-way banking (direct connect), which enables you to pay bills and transfer funds from Office Accounting 2009 and to download transactions directly into Accounting 2009.

 Note   As part of the two-way banking setup process, you can link your existing online payees with the bank to Accounting 2009 vendors. This way, you won't need to create new online payees for vendors that you already pay online. For more information, see Sync online payees to Office Accounting vendors.

One-way banking   Some banks offer a one-way relationship (Web connect), which enables you to log on and download bank transactions from the bank's Web site.

The type of relationship that a bank offers determines the pages that open in the Set Up Online Banking wizard.

Before you begin

Before you begin, work with your bank or other financial institution to set up an online account, including a secure user name and password. You can use an existing account or you can add a new account to Accounting 2009.

When you are ready to log on to online banking, make sure that you have an active Internet connection.

 Caution   If you select the Use change log check box in the Preferences dialog box, the Accounting 2009 log file may contain sensitive information from your online banking records. The log file is located on the hard disk of the administrator who set up your company in Accounting 2009, in the following location:

Windows Vista  drive:\Users\user\Documents\Small Business Accounting\Logs

Windows XP  drive:\Documents and Settings\user\My Documents\Small Business Accounting\Logs

It is a good practice to check the log file carefully before you make it available to other users.

To set up online banking

1. On the Banking menu, point to Bank Online, and then click Set Up Online Banking.
2. Follow the instructions in the Set Up Online Banking wizard.
3. When you are finished, click Finish.

 Note   If the bank changes its online banking requirements at any time, Accounting 2009 warns you of any changes when you download transactions, pay bills electronically, or transfer funds online. You can return to this wizard to enter revised information.

You can disable online banking for an account at any time. For more information, see Disable online banking.

Related topics

Disable online banking

Import bank transactions

Set Up Online Banking wizard: options and information