Bank Feed FAQs

What is a Bank Feed?

A Bank Feed is a connection between a bank, or in our case, a corporate card provider and your accounting software.

Right now, we support bank feeds with Xero. By setting up a bank feed between Xero and Cape, any transactions you make on your Cape charge card (including those made by your employees) will automatically be sent to Xero to your chosen bank account.

How can it help my business?

You might manually import your Cape transactions to Xero via a CSV upload if you're already a Xero user.

Once your bank feed is connected, any time you make a transaction, we'll send it directly to Xero for you, cutting out the time spent importing your CSV file.  

How do I set up the bank feed?

Setting up your bank feed is easy; all you need is your Xero login details and a few minutes to spare. There are two ways to do this: Connecting via Cape or Connecting via Xero.

Connecting via Cape

1. Step 1Login to Cape and navigate to the Settings page

   Important: To set up the connection, you'll need to be the Account Owner (i.e. the person who set up your company's Cape account).

2. Step 2Select ‘Connections’

   You'll be taken to a new screen to see the available bank feeds you can connect. This only includes Xero for now.

   Select the 'Connect' button, and you'll be redirected to Xero to authenticate and authorise the connection.

3. Step 3Authenticate and Authorise

   Once in Xero, you'll be asked to login to your account and grant Cape access to your organisation and the information we need to create your bank feed.

   Note: Xero will ask you to re-confirm your organisation before proceeding - it's essential we have the right organisation before you complete the next step.

   Once confirmed, you’ll be directed back to Cape. You should see an ‘Authentication Successful’ screen that will close automatically, allowing you to pick up where you left off on the connections page.

4. Step 4Choose your bank account

   You have two options for the next step.‍

   • If you already have a bank account in Xero that you use for Cape transactions:
     
     1. Choose the first option on the screen, and you will be shown a list of bank accounts in your Xero organisation.
     2. Select the correct bank account and confirm.
   • If you don’t have a bank account in Xero for Cape:
     1. Select the option to create a new account.
     2. Enter a name for the account and hit confirm - we’ll create a new bank account in Xero for you.

   Important: If you're selecting an existing bank account in Xero, please note you will only see accounts with the type 'Credit Card'. As Cape is a credit product, we can only connect your bank feed to a valid credit card account in Xero. This also ensures Cape appears on your balance sheet as a liability, not an asset.

   That's it! Once you've hit confirm, the bank feed will be created. You should now see the name of the connected bank account, your organisation name, and a connected date.

Connecting via Xero

1. Step 1Login to Xero

2. Step 2Select the correct organisation and find your bank accounts

   Once logged in, make sure you’re viewing the right organisation. Navigate to ‘Bank accounts’ (under the accounting tab).

3. Step 3Select the bank account you’re using for Cape

   If you don’t have one set up already, you’ll need to create one first.

   Important: If you're selecting an existing bank account in Xero, please ensure the account type is Credit Card. If you don't do this, the connection will fail, as Cape is a credit product. Selecting a bank account with the type Credit Card will ensure the Cape Card appears on your balance sheet as a liability, not an asset.

How can it help my business?

You might manually import your Cape transactions to Xero via a CSV upload if you're already a Xero user.

Once your bank feed is connected, any time you make a transaction, we'll send it directly to Xero for you, cutting out the time spent importing your CSV file.  

How do I set up the bank feed?

Setting up your bank feed is easy; all you need is your Xero login details and a few minutes to spare. There are two ways to do this: Connecting via Cape or Connecting via Xero.

Other bank feed FAQs

When will my transactions appear in Xero?

Once connected, we will start syncing your transactions to Xero several times a day at the following times: 3am, 9am, 3pm, and 9pm AEST.

For example, any transactions made after the 9am sync and before the 3pm sync will be sent to Xero at 3pm.

Any time we send a transaction, the time and date stamp will be updated automatically in Cape.

If there are no new transactions to send to Xero, no sync will happen, and the time and date stamp will not change.

Will my historical transactions be sent to Xero?

We will only send your future transactions to Xero. No historical transaction data will be sent. We do this to avoid creating duplicate transactions in Xero for customers doing a manual CSV import.

Can I get transactions sent to Xero more frequently?

You can manually sync transactions anytime using the 'Sync now' option on the connections page. This will only work if there are new transactions to send to Xero.

Reconnecting is simple, too - just select Connect again and follow the prompts.

How do I disconnect the bank feed?

Only Account Owners can manage the bank feed connection through the Cape platform. This includes creating and disconnecting the feed and manually syncing your company transactions.

Reconnecting is simple too - just select Connect again and follow the prompts.

Who can manage the bank feed?

Only Account Owners can manage the connection through the Cape platform. This includes creating and disconnecting the feed and manually syncing your company transactions.

Users with access to your organisation in Xero can also disconnect the bank feed from within Xero.

What information is sent to Xero?

Each transaction that's sent to Xero will include the following information:

1. Transaction date: The date the transaction was cleared on your Cape card (sometimes, this may be a day or two after the initial purchase).
2. Payee: To whom the transaction was made (e.g. Facebook or Coles).
3. Description: This will include the merchant category code (MCC) description (e.g. Grocery Stores, Supermarkets) and whether it was a foreign exchange transaction.
4. Amount: The amount the transaction was for.
5. Reference: This will include the card's last four digits plus the cardholder's name.
6. Transaction type: Debit or Credit.

How do I find the transactions in Xero?

On the Bank Accounts Page in Xero, find the account you connected to Cape. You should see a button saying 'Reconcile XX items' if transactions have been sent from Cape.

Selecting this will take you to a list of transactions ready for reconciling.

What if my company has multiple cards/cardholders?

No problem. When we send your transactions to Xero, we'll include the last four digits of the card used and the name of the cardholder who made the transaction.

Bank Feed troubleshooting

If you see an error when trying to set up your bank feed or sync your transactions, there are a few things we suggest you check.

• Ensure the Xero bank account you're trying to connect to doesn't already have a bank feed connected.
  
  1. Each bank account in Xero can only have a single bank feed connected to it. This is a restriction on Xero's side.
  2. We suggest creating a single bank account in Xero for each corresponding bank account or credit card you use for your business.
• Only connect the bank feed to a Xero Bank Account that has been created with the type ‘Credit Card’.
  1. If you create a new bank account directly in Xero, you will be asked to choose an account type: Credit Card or Bank Account. As Cape is a credit product, the type needs to be ‘Credit Card’.
  2. If you create a new Xero Account from within Cape, the type will automatically be set to Credit Card.
• Check that your Xero account is eligible for bank feeds
  
  1. Your account could be ineligible if your subscription or trial has expired or your account is inactive.
• If you see an alert in Cape that says your transactions can’t be sent to Xero, it could appear for several reasons:
  1. The bank feed was disconnected in Xero.
  2. The connected bank account was removed in Xero.
  3. The organisation has become ineligible (see point 3 above).
  4. There’s been an error within Xero that’s preventing the connection. Xero has a bank feed status page on their website her: Disruptions to bank feeds – Xero Central.

We'd suggest checking the status of the bank feed in Xero first. If that looks fine, you can try manually syncing your transactions via the 'sync now' option or disconnecting the feed and reconnecting in Cape.

If you're still having trouble, don't hesitate to contact our support team via email, support@getcape.io, or phone at 1300 062 273.