The New QuickBooks Online Banking Center: A Practitioner’s View

Having led a breakout session at Scaling New Heights 2026 on the new QuickBooks Online Banking Experience, I was asked to write this article for Insightful Accountant.

After having worked within the new interface for over a year, my overall impressions of the changes are positive. The overhaul is much more than a cosmetic redesign: it streamlines how users review, categorize, match, document, and eventually reconcile transactions. Having said that, there are some areas that still “need improvement.” I will share what is working well, what does not, and what can be changed to make it better. I will also discuss some added improvements that are underway.

What is working well

Improvements are focused on these key areas:

• Faster navigation and fewer clicks. There were key improvements including faster page loading and tab refreshing. Other time-saving updates include the addition of the account search, particularly for files containing numerous bank accounts or credit card sub accounts. The addition of new keyboard shortcuts will help us navigate much more quickly within the platform. And a much-needed improvement focuses on the ability for inline editing and to view the full bank description without repeatedly opening the transaction!

• Better customization. Several key additions enhancing customization include reordering and resizing columns, choosing which information appears in the table, alternate row colors, the in-line match/ categorize toggle, page size of up to 300 transactions (which can help with cleanups and batch work), and one of my favorites: warn if missing vendor/ customer (though it is not a firm guardrail… more thoughts on this point later).

• More transparent AI assistance. The addition of the Accounting AI Agents has vastly improved the performance of categorization suggestions: Not only does it provide more accurate recommendations, but it also explains why and how it came about its suggestions. The addition of the color-coded Review Signals help users better distinguish between stronger vs weaker suggestions. It is important to note that AI can accelerate the review process, but it does not replace professional judgment. “Trust but Verify” remains the key approach.

                                                        (Image Source: Kathy Grosskurth)

• Improved supporting document workflows. Key features include the ability to drag and drop attachments inline, requests for information and files can be initiated directly from a transaction, and another one of my favorites: the ability to upload bank and credit card statements from a PDF or other picture-type file formats and the ability to review extracted information before importing it (though the tool is currently limited to statements with single accounts).

What still needs improvement

With all the positive changes, there are a handful of areas that I feel still need work:

• Performance needs to be consistent. Although I have noticed vast improvements in page load speed across many of my client files, it has not been consistent across every file. In fact, my “your books” company file takes quite a while to load when updating the bank feed page – often to the point where I need to duplicate the tab to load the current refreshed page. A system described as “faster” should work consistently across all types of files – especially when the users have customizations set to load 200+ transactions per page.

• AI behavior limitations. One glaring limitation – at least in the beginning – centers around the fact that the new AI agent starts from “ground zero;” i.e., prior learning does not carry over from the previous banking experience. I will note that this limitation is temporary: In my own file, the AI suggestions became accurate approximately 90% of the time after about two months of consistent, everyday use.

• Several workflow limitations remain. One of the key features that needs improvement is the “warn if missing vendor/ customer” setting. Currently it is only a soft warning which cannot be locked by the accountant or administrator. Another issue is that paired transfers may not immediately update in the opposite account until the screen refreshes. And one that is minor but can be frustrating is that settings are not global, but rather individualized by user. This customization by user can make it difficult for accountants and their clients to maintain the same working views in coaching or advisory sessions.

Listed below are several suggestions for improvement based on assistance by AI tools of the materials provided from my course, Ping notes, and student feedback:

• Carry forward more historical learning when users transition to the new experience. If that is not possible, then at least provide clearer advance notice to users about the new Accounting AI Agent needing to be retrained from scratch.

• Allow accountant users to set and lock important guardrails in client files, including the “warn if missing vendor/ customer” setting.

• Provide a way to copy preferred Banking Center settings across multiple client files.

• Refresh both sides of paired transfers immediately.

• Refine upload and review support for bank and credit card statements containing multiple accounts.

Added improvements underway