Resolve duplicate transactions

When you import transactions into Wave (through a bank connection, statement upload, or Wave Connect), and also manually record payments on invoices and bills, you will see duplicate transactions. Wave detects these duplicate transactions and automatically merges them. Learn more about Automated bookkeeping with auto-updates.

Bank imports

Bank imports and Wave Payments

Bank imports

If your bank account is connected to Wave for importing transactions, and there are duplicate transactions on your Transactions page, this can be due to two reasons:

1. The bank account was disconnected and then reconnected, but the transaction import date was either set to As far back as possible or an incorrect date was selected.

   If you have duplicate bank connections on your Connected Accounts page, take a look at the article How to fix duplicate bank connections.

2. In rare situations, your bank may change the transaction ID (an identifier your bank uses). While the date, amount, and description of your transaction remain unchanged, a change to the transaction ID can result in the same transaction(s) importing multiple times.

   If this happens frequently with an account, you can choose to turn off imports under Banking > Connected Accounts by clicking the toggle for the specific account. Learn how to upload statements or use Wave connect to import transactions into Wave.

Merge transactions

To get rid of duplicate transactions, you can merge them.

1. Log in to your Wave account at waveapps.com.
2. In the left navigation menu, select Accounting > Transactions.
3. Select the checkboxes to the left of a pair of duplicate transactions.
4. Click the merge icon at the top of the transactions list.
5. Repeat this for all duplicate transactions.

Alternatively, you can also delete the duplicates. To delete, select the checkboxes next to all of the transactions you want to remove, and then click the delete icon at the top of the page.

Whether your bank connection is duplicating transactions because of an issue on the bank’s end, or there was an import overlap, the duplicates will need to be manually merged on your Wave account as per the steps outlined above. This is because once the duplicates are in your account, Wave cannot undo this from the back end - you will need to manually merge or delete them.

Bank imports and Wave Payments

If the bank account you have set to receive Wave Payments deposits is also set to import transactions, or if you are uploading bank statements for that account, you will see what appear to be duplicate transactions:

• As soon as your customer makes a payment, a transaction record for the invoice payment is automatically created in Wave.
• When the payment is deposited into your bank account, the transaction is once again imported into Wave (through your bank connection or statement upload), creating a similar transaction.

Wave usually handles bookkeeping automatically (Learn more about Automated bookkeeping for Wave Payments). In the situation above where the bookkeeping isn’t done automatically, you will need to categorize the imported transaction as a transfer from the Wave Payments holding account. To categorize it as a transfer:

1. In the left navigation menu, select Accounting > Transactions.
2. Select the account from the dropdown menu at the top of the screen.
3. Locate the imported transaction requiring recategorization and click the arrow to the right of it, then select Edit more details.
4. Select the Category dropdown menu and select Transfer from Bank, Credit Card, or Loan > Wave Payments.
5. Click Save.