A QuickBooks bank feed that stops working is almost always a connection problem between your bank and the software, not a problem with your books. The fix is usually to update the feed manually, wait for the bank, or reconnect the account. The bookkeeping risk comes afterwards: the gap in transactions and the duplicates a careless reconnect creates.
This guide is for owners who keep their own books in QuickBooks Online or Xero and have just seen the red “connection error” banner. You will learn why feeds break, the exact steps that fix them, how to fill the gap without double-counting, and the signs that the feed is the symptom of a bigger problem. We reconnect feeds for clients every month at Books LA, so this is the routine we follow.
Why a QuickBooks bank feed stops working
Bank feeds are not a direct wire to your bank. They run through a connection that the bank can change or interrupt at any time. The usual causes, in the order we see them:
- The bank changed something. A new login page, a security update, or a maintenance window breaks the handshake. QuickBooks reports this as error 102 or 105, and Intuit’s own advice is to wait 24 to 48 hours before assuming the fault is on your side.
- Your credentials changed. A new password or a new multi-factor prompt at the bank means the stored connection can no longer sign in.
- The connection expired. Many banks now require you to re-authorize the link every few months. The feed stops quietly on the day the consent lapses.
- The bank account itself changed. A closed card, a replacement card number, or a renamed account leaves the feed pointing at nothing.
- The person who set it up left. In Xero especially, a feed tied to a former employee’s bank login dies when their access is removed.
Fixing it in QuickBooks Online
Follow the order below. Each step is cheap, and most feeds come back at step one or two. Intuit’s help article on bank errors 102 and 105 covers the same sequence.
- Update manually. In Bank transactions, select Update. If the bank was briefly down, this alone fixes it.
- Check the bank’s website. Sign in directly. If there is a security alert, a new terms page, or a maintenance notice, clear it there first. QuickBooks cannot get past a page you have not clicked through.
- Wait a day. For errors 102 and 105, give the bank 24 to 48 hours. Retrying every hour does nothing.
- Try a private browser window. Cached logins cause a surprising share of stuck connections.
- Reconnect to the existing account. If nothing else works, disconnect the feed and connect it again. When QuickBooks asks which account to link, choose the account already in your chart of accounts. Creating a new one is the single most common way owners end up with two checking accounts and a year of duplicates.
Fixing it in Xero
Xero’s sequence is similar, per Xero Central’s bank connection guide. If transactions have stopped importing, the in-app banner offers Refresh bank feed; try that first. If the refresh fails, disconnect and reconnect the feed with the bank login of someone who will still be at the company next year. Check credentials, then try another supported browser. If it still fails, Xero support wants the bank name, the account name, and a screenshot.
Filling the gap without double-counting
Once the feed is back, look at the date of the last imported transaction and the date of the first new one. Everything in between is missing, and this is where DIY books go wrong. The safe routine:
- Download the missing period from the bank as a CSV or QBO file and import it into the same account.
- Check the first and last day of the gap against the feed. Overlaps create duplicates; delete or exclude the second copy, never both.
- Reconcile the account to the statement immediately. If the ending balance ties, the gap is closed. If it does not, the difference is usually a duplicate or a transaction the import dropped.
- Review bank rules before accepting the imported batch. Rules built for the feed can mis-categorize a manual import, and a mistaken rule applies to every line at once.
The reconciliation is not optional. A feed that was down for six weeks and then “caught up” is exactly how a business reaches year-end with a bank balance in the books that no statement supports. Our post on the monthly bookkeeping close shows where this check sits, and the free DIY monthly close checklist puts it on one page.
When a broken feed signals a bigger problem
Most of the time the feed is the whole story. Sometimes it is the first visible symptom of something else.
- Two versions of the same account. If a past reconnect created a duplicate, one account has months of transactions and the other has the rest. Merge them with care, then reconcile from the last good statement.
- The feed has been down for months. If nobody noticed, nobody was reconciling. That is a catch-up project, and it is better priced honestly than patched. Our guide to catch up bookkeeping cost explains what that involves.
- Feeds break every month. Some banks simply connect badly. Switching the business account to a bank with a stable feed saves more time than any troubleshooting.
- Balances never tie after a reconnect. Usually an opening balance entry created by the new connection. It needs to be found and removed, not adjusted around.
How Books LA handles this
We check every client’s feeds as part of the weekly routine, so an outage is caught within days rather than discovered at month-end. When a feed breaks we fix it, import the gap, reconcile the account, and note it in the close so nothing slips. If your feed has been down long enough that you are not sure where the books stand, a $495 bookkeeping review will tell you exactly what needs to happen. Our monthly packages include feed monitoring at every level.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my QuickBooks bank feed keep disconnecting?
Usually because the bank changed its login or security process, your password changed, or the authorization between the bank and QuickBooks expired. Some banks require re-authorization every few months. If it happens constantly with one bank, the bank’s connection is the weak link, not QuickBooks.
What do bank errors 102 and 105 mean in QuickBooks Online?
They mean QuickBooks could not reach your bank, usually because the bank’s site is down, under maintenance, or changed. Intuit’s guidance is to update manually, check the bank’s site, and wait 24 to 48 hours before reconnecting.
Will I lose transactions if I disconnect and reconnect my bank in QuickBooks?
No. Transactions already added to the books stay. You may need to import the gap between the last feed and the reconnect, and you must connect to the existing account in the chart of accounts, not a new one, to avoid duplicates.
How do I refresh a bank feed in Xero?
Use the Refresh bank feed prompt on the account. If that fails, disconnect the feed and reconnect it with current bank credentials. Then import any missing period and reconcile to the statement.
How far back can a bank feed pull transactions?
It depends on the bank; many connections bring in 90 days on first connect, some more. Anything older is imported manually from a bank download. Always reconcile the imported period to a statement.
Should I delete duplicate transactions from a reconnect?
Delete or exclude the duplicate copy, but only after confirming which one is already reconciled. Removing a reconciled transaction breaks the reconciliation. When in doubt, exclude the unreconciled copy and re-run the reconciliation.
Can a broken bank feed affect my taxes?
Indirectly. Missing months of transactions understate income or expenses, and a duplicate account overstates cash. Those errors flow into sales tax filings and the year-end package your CPA uses, which is why reconciling after every outage matters.
If a feed outage has left you unsure whether the books tie, book a short call and we will check the account with you.
