What Are Bank Feeds?

Bank feeds automatically import your business bank transactions directly into your accounting software every day.

• No manual downloads or data entry
• No copy-pasting from bank statements
• No spreadsheet imports that can go wrong

Your accounts update automatically as your bank activity happens.

📌 Tip: Think of bank feeds as a live pipeline from your bank account directly into your bookkeeping — fully encrypted and secure.

How Bank Feeds Save Hours of Admin

Without bank feeds:

• Staff manually capture every transaction
• Directors review and check line items
• Reconciling statements becomes a lengthy task
• Small data entry errors cause cascading reconciliation issues

With bank feeds:

• Transactions flow in automatically, daily
• Matching rules apply known payments to invoices or bills
• Reconciling takes minutes instead of hours
• Fewer errors, faster month-end closing

📌 Tip: SMEs using Xero with bank feeds often reduce their reconciliation time by 70% or more.

Real-Time Cash Flow Visibility

One of the biggest headaches for SME directors is delayed visibility — only seeing financial results after month-end reports.

Bank feeds change that:

• You see today’s bank balance reflected live in your accounts
• Invoices paid today reflect immediately
• Debtor and creditor positions stay accurate daily
• Directors make decisions based on real-time data, not outdated numbers

📌 Tip: Live cash flow visibility helps directors plan payments, salaries, and SARS obligations with confidence.

Automatic Matching of Transactions

Once bank transactions are imported, Xero’s built-in intelligence starts matching payments to:

• Customer invoices
• Supplier bills
• Payroll runs
• VAT payments
• Recurring expenses (rent, insurance, subscriptions)

📌 Tip: The more consistent your transactions, the smarter the system becomes — further reducing time spent reviewing.

Simplified SARS Compliance & Audit Preparation

Because bank feeds ensure daily accuracy:

• VAT submissions are based on fully reconciled data
• PAYE payments match correctly to payroll runs
• Income tax calculations align perfectly with banked revenue
• SARS verifications are faster and lower risk due to complete records

📌 Tip: Clean bank feeds = clean accounts = lower SARS audit stress.

Improved Financial Control for Directors

Because bank feeds ensure daily accuracy:

• VAT submissions are based on fully reconciled data
• PAYE payments match correctly to payroll runs
• Income tax calculations align perfectly with banked revenue
• SARS verifications are faster and lower risk due to complete records

📌 Tip: Clean bank feeds = clean accounts = lower SARS audit stress.

What About Security?

Many directors worry about linking their bank accounts to software.

With Xero and major South African banks:

• Bank feeds are encrypted and read-only — no money can move
• Login credentials aren’t stored inside Xero
• Secure bank APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) are increasingly used for safe data transfers

📌 Tip: Bank feeds are fully secure, and Bletchleys manages all technical setup for you.