Transfers and cash

Not every statement is income or an expense. When you move $2,000 from checking to savings, you haven’t earned or spent anything. The money has only changed accounts. The same goes for taking cash out of an ATM or paying cash into the bank.

Bokapsys recognises these statements and keeps them out of your income and expenses, so your Income Statement shows only real business activity.

Internal transfers go to Transit

A transfer between two of your accounts shows up twice: once as money leaving the first account, and once as money arriving in the second. Bokapsys calls these the two legs of the transfer.

When Bokapsys sees a transfer that names another account number, for example “Online transfer to CHK …1234”, it files that leg to a holding account called Transit, instead of guessing an expense or income account. It also sets the statement’s Type to Transfer.

When the other leg arrives, from the other account’s feed or statement file, it goes to Transit too, in the opposite direction. The two legs cancel each other out, so Transit returns to zero and nothing reaches your income or expenses.

Transfers are routed this way before any other mapping is attempted, so they are handled the same way every time.

ATM withdrawals and cash deposits go to Cash on Hand

Cash you take out of an ATM is still your money. It has moved from the bank into your pocket or till. Bokapsys files ATM withdrawals and cash deposits to an account called Cash on Hand, with a Type such as ATM or Deposit.

If cash you withdrew was later spent on something for the business, record that spending against Cash on Hand, for example with a journal entry.

Matching the two legs

Bokapsys pairs transfer legs automatically in the background. Two legs are paired when they:

are for the same amount, one in and one out,
are dated within a few days of each other,
are in two different bank accounts, and
point at each other’s account number.

Pairing doesn’t change any numbers in your books, because both legs are already in Transit. It only marks the transfer as complete. Pairing keeps checking as new data arrives, so if you upload the second account’s statement months later, its legs still pair up.

The Transfers panel

When there are transfers to look at, open the Completed tab on Mapping Statements and click Transfers. The count on the button is the number of transfers waiting.

Likely transfers

Likely transfers - confirm to pair lists pairs of statements that look like the two legs of one transfer but weren’t paired automatically. Each shows both legs, with the account, date and amount. If it is the same transfer, click Confirm transfer.

Waiting for their other half

Waiting for their other half lists transfer legs whose matching leg hasn’t arrived yet, grouped by the account they were sent to or received from. Each group shows how many transfers are waiting and their total.

Usually the fix is to bring in that other account, by uploading its statement or connecting it through a live bank feed. The waiting legs then pair on their own.

If the other statement will never arrive, for example because the money went to an account you don’t track in Bokapsys, settle the transfer instead:

In the group, open Set an account instead and choose the account the money really belongs to. For example, a loan account, an owner’s account, or the expense it paid for.
Click Settle.

Every waiting leg in that group moves out of Transit into the account you chose, and any ledger entries already posted are updated to match. You can’t settle to a cash account.