One post tagged with "data quality"

Picking a business bank account for a plain-text ledger requires more than chasing headline APYs or flashy card perks. The priority is objective: consistent data feeds, predictable controls, and safety policies that integrate cleanly with a scripted bookkeeping workflow.

This checklist turns the conversation toward verifiable features—what you can export, how fast funds move, and which controls reduce manual review. Use it to short-list providers before you invest time in onboarding or building importers.

---

1. Data Exports: The Non-Negotiable​

A bank only becomes "Beancount-friendly" when it delivers tidy, machine-readable statements.

Requirement	Why it matters	What to confirm
Stable transaction ID (FITID or equivalent)	Enables deterministic deduplication inside Beancount import scripts	Download two CSV/OFX files a month apart and compare IDs
Posted date, payee, memo, amount, currency	Allows accurate postings without guesswork	Review sample exports, not marketing PDFs
Unchanging headers and file structure	Prevents importer regressions after silent format changes	Capture versioned samples in your repository
Access to statement PDFs and check images	Supports attachments in your document workflow	Verify retention windows and per-image fees

Resources: Beancount Importing Guide and the OFX Banking Specification.

---

2. Safety and Deposit Coverage​

Regulatory coverage determines how much cash you can hold without redesigning your account map.

• FDIC-insured banks protect up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category. Multi-bank sweep programs can extend coverage, but request the current list of program banks and how statements document pass-through insurance. Source: FDIC.
• NCUA-insured credit unions offer the same $250,000 limit through the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. Source: NCUA.

Always document the coverage path in your account notes so your internal controls explain why balances exceed base limits when they do.

---

3. Payment Rails, Speed, and Limits​

Payment capabilities dictate whether you can automate vendor, payroll, or customer refunds directly from scripts.

• Same Day ACH now allows up to $1 million per payment across three daily settlement windows—ideal for urgent payouts that do not warrant a wire. Source: Nacha.
• RTP® (Real-Time Payments) from The Clearing House clears 24/7 with final settlement and a $10 million transaction limit as of 2025, subject to bank availability. Source: The Clearing House.
• FedNow® Service participation is growing; verify whether your institution enables both sending and receiving instant payments. Source: Federal Reserve Services.

Ask for outbound and inbound limits, approval workflows, and whether APIs expose these rails before you design automation around them.

---

4. Operational Controls and Automation​

Operational depth separates a usable account from a scalable one.

• Multi-user roles and approvals reduce the chance of accidental or unauthorized transactions.
• Sub-accounts or envelopes (often up to 20 per provider) mirror budgeting categories directly in your chart of accounts. Example capabilities to evaluate: Bluevine Sub-Accounts and Relay account architecture.
• APIs or webhooks accelerate reconciliation and allow near real-time dashboards. Mercury, for example, publishes a payments and data API that can streamline ingestion even if you still archive CSV exports.

Document which controls are available at launch versus those that require higher tiers so you can plan change management.

---

5. The Beancount Banking Scorecard​

Apply a weighted rubric to compare candidates objectively. Give extra weight to data exports and payment capabilities because they drive automation effort.

Dimension	0–2	3–4	5 (Ideal)
Data export	PDF only or ad-hoc CSV	CSV with inconsistent headers	Stable CSV/OFX with durable IDs
Coverage	No statements	Monthly PDFs only	PDFs plus transaction images
Payments	ACH only, slow posting	ACH plus wires	Same Day ACH + instant rails
Controls	Single login	Multi-user, basic roles	Granular permissions and approvals
Sub-accounts	None	2–5	10–20+ with dedicated details
API/integrations	None	Basic accounting sync	Public API, webhooks, sandbox
Fees/limits	Opaque disclosures	Transparent but restrictive	Clear, generous limits and fair FX
Support	Email only	Email + chat/phone	Dedicated business support, documented SLAs

Track scores in your vendor evaluation notes so onboarding decisions stay evidence-based.

---

6. Diligence Steps Before You Sign Up​

1. Request real export samples from existing customers or from your own trial account.
2. Test importer scripts with those samples, including deduplication scenarios.
3. Confirm statement retention and how to retrieve historical data if you switch providers.
4. Review funds availability policies for mobile check deposits, cash deposits, and incoming wires.
5. Capture pricing and limit disclosures (ACH caps, international wire fees) in your internal wiki for future audits.

---

7. Day-One Beancount Setup​

• Store raw exports in a versioned documents/bank/YYYY-MM/ folder alongside generated Beancount entries.
• Add the bank's transaction identifier to each posting as metadata; if none exists, hash the date, amount, and payee.
• Use Fava or another review interface to confirm payee rules before committing entries.
• Schedule monthly reminders to download statements and reconcile balances with balance directives.

This disciplined workflow keeps your ledger reproducible and audit-ready even as payment volume increases.

---

Final Takeaway​

Choosing a business bank account in 2025 is a data-management decision. Prioritize providers that treat exports, instant payments, and role-based controls as first-class features. When those fundamentals are in place, your Beancount automation stays reliable—and your finance team spends more time analyzing results than cleaning feeds.