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actualbudget#490 Improve bank sync instructions
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- Moved relevant information from gocardless.md to bank-syn.md and rewrote this to be general.
- Fixed header level from 3 to 2 in gocardless.md and simplefin.md.
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RubenOlsen committed Jan 6, 2025
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25 changes: 23 additions & 2 deletions docs/advanced/bank-sync.md
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# Connecting Your Bank

We are excited to offer optional bank integration in Actual.

## Considerations
Here are a couple of considerations to know about before making the decision to use bank sync in your installation of Actual Budget.

- This integration relies on you providing your own API credentials that you will need to get by signing up with the service provider and Generate Keys and Secrets that will be used in Actual.
Expand All @@ -11,7 +13,26 @@ Here are a couple of considerations to know about before making the decision to

- You will need to add a config file to your installation.


## Supported Providers

* GoCardless (European Banks)
* SimpleFIN Bridge (North American Banks)
* [GoCardless (European Banks)](/docs/bank-sync/gocardless)
* [SimpleFIN Bridge (North American Banks)](/docs/bank-syc/simplefin)


## Does Actual Sync Automatically With Your Bank?

At this moment, it is not yet possible for Actual to automatically sync with your bank. You need to do this manually by going to "All Accounts" and pressing "Sync".

![Image showing where in the GUI you can sync your bank accounts](/static/img/connecting-your-bank/syncing-with-your-bank.png)


## A Small Tips on Starting From Scratch With Bank Sync in Actual

If you are setting up Actual for the first time, it is much easier not to try to pull in historic data. This has caused some users a lot of headaches with subsequent reconciliation.

The following process may be more helpful:

1. Set up your account in Actual specifying a correct opening account balance at a recent date.
2. Link the account one of the supported providers (GoCardLess or SimpleFIN).
3. Sync the account with the chosen provider. You should find that only transactions subsequent to the opening account balance entry are imported, making reconciliation easy.
20 changes: 3 additions & 17 deletions docs/advanced/bank-sync/gocardless.md
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Expand Up @@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ Client Version 23.7.0 and
Server Version 23.7.0 or higher are required for this feature.
:::

### Create SECRET and KEY for Actual
## Create SECRET and KEY for Actual

1. Create an account with GoCardless - https://bankaccountdata.gocardless.com/overview/.
2. Log into your account dashboard at the same URL and select **Developers->User secrets** from the left side menu.
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ Server Version 23.7.0 or higher are required for this feature.
![Set-up GoCardless dialoag](/static/img/connecting-your-bank/connecting-your-bank-gocardless-06.png)


### Link Accounts with GoCardless
## Link Accounts with GoCardless

1. Add the link to your accounts in actual (Existing or New).

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -91,21 +91,7 @@ Server Version 23.7.0 or higher are required for this feature.

![Dialog for linking accounts you want to sync](/static/img/connecting-your-bank/connecting-your-bank-10.png)

### Frequently Asked Questions

**Does Actual sync automatically with your Bank?**

At this moment, it is not yet possible for Actual to automatically sync with your bank. You need to do this manually by going to "All Accounts" and pressing "Sync".

![Image showing where in the GUI you can sync your bank accounts](/static/img/connecting-your-bank/syncing-with-your-bank.png)

**The best way to start from scratch in Actual with GoCardless?**

If you are setting up Actual for the first time, it is much easier not to try to pull in historic data. This has caused some users a lot of headaches with subsequent reconciliation. The following process may be more helpful:
1. Set up your account in Actual specifying a correct opening account balance at a recent date.
2. Link the account to GoCardless as above
3. Sync the account with GoCardless. You should find that only transactions subsequent to the opening account balance entry are imported, making reconciliation easy.

## Frequently Asked Questions

**How many times can I sync with GoCardless?**
In the free tier, you can sync 50 times per month. If you sync to two different banks (with three accounts in each bank), that is counted as two connections.
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10 changes: 5 additions & 5 deletions docs/advanced/bank-sync/simplefin.md
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Expand Up @@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ Client Version 24.10.0 and
Server Version 24.10.0 or higher are required for this feature.
:::

### Generate Setup Token for Actual
## Generate Setup Token for Actual

1. Create an account with SimpleFIN Bridge - https://beta-bridge.simplefin.org/ , by clicking "Get Started" and entering your email address.

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ Server Version 24.10.0 or higher are required for this feature.

![](/static/img/connecting-your-bank/connecting-your-bank-simplefin-06.png)

### Link Accounts with SimpleFIN
## Link Accounts with SimpleFIN

1. Add the link to your accounts in actual (Existing or New).

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ Server Version 24.10.0 or higher are required for this feature.

5. When you've mapped all your accounts that you wish to, click the "Link Account" button.

### Retrieve Transactions
## Retrieve Transactions

Actual does not automatically perform syncs.
You will need to manually request a sync to pull new transactions from SimpleFIN.
Expand All @@ -83,13 +83,13 @@ If you wish to only sync one account, view the desired account and click the syn

![](/static/img/connecting-your-bank/connecting-your-bank-simplefin-10.png)

### SimpleFIN Considerations
## SimpleFIN Considerations

1. Currently, the sync pulls at most 90 days of data from each linked account. The amount of data SimpleFIN can get from each account may vary, so not all accounts may have 90 days of historical transactions that can be imported.

2. SimpleFIN's data updates one time / day, roughly every 24 hours, for each linked account. The time of day that each bank updates in SimpleFIN may vary, even from day to day (based on the bank and upstream provider, MX).

### Resetting the Setup Token
## Resetting the Setup Token

To reset your SimpleFIN setup token:

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