For a long time, bank feeds have just sat in the background.
They work. Until they don’t.
And when they stop working, you feel it straight away. Transactions stop flowing. Reconciliations get delayed. Your team starts chasing data manually. Something that used to feel invisible suddenly becomes a daily frustration.
That’s the context open banking is stepping into.
From our side, this isn’t a feature update. It’s a shift in how financial data moves between banks and accounting platforms. And with legacy feeds being switched off in April 2026, it’s something every firm is going to need to plan for.
The question isn’t whether it’s happening.
It’s how prepared you and your clients are when it does.
What’s actually changing with open banking
At its core, open banking sits under the Consumer Data Right.
What that really means in practice is this: instead of older methods like screen scraping, you’re now working with a direct, secure connection between the bank and QuickBooks.
Once that connection is in place, a few things change straight away:
• transactions come through in real time, rather than in batches
• you can access up to 24 months of historical data
• the connection is more stable because it’s coming directly from the bank
On the surface, the experience feels familiar.
But underneath, the way the data moves is completely different.
Why this matters in your day-to-day work
Bank feeds sit at the centre of how most firms operate.
When they’re working properly, everything flows. When they’re not, you feel it across the entire workflow.
What we’ve seen with open banking is a clear improvement in three areas:
• speed, with transactions appearing almost instantly
• coverage, including more smaller banks and account types
• security, without needing clients to share login details
There’s also a shift in control.
Clients are now actively involved in how their data is shared. They approve access. They can revoke it. That changes how connections are set up and managed.
Why our accreditation matters more than it sounds
One thing that often gets overlooked is accreditation.
As an accredited data recipient, we’re operating under strict ACCC standards. That has a few practical implications for you:
• the connection happens entirely within QuickBooks
• there’s no need for third-party connectors
• data handling meets a defined security standard
It also makes consent more stable. Clients still need to approve access, but the process is more consistent compared to providers without accreditation.
The timeline you need to work towards
This isn’t something that’s coming down the line.
It’s already happening.
The major banks are live. More institutions are being added. Thousands of connections are already active.
But there’s one date that matters most.
Legacy bank feeds will be switched off on 30 April 2026.
That date isn’t moving.
So the transition needs to happen before then.
From what we’re seeing, firms that start early spread the workload. Firms that wait end up managing a high volume of client changes all at once.
Where most firms are getting caught out
Interestingly, most of the friction we’ve seen so far hasn’t been technical.
It’s been process.
There are a few areas that keep coming up.
Nominated representatives are one. Being a signatory on an account doesn’t automatically give permission to share data. Clients need to nominate who can do that.
Client involvement is another. The setup requires approval, often through a one-time password from the bank. That step can’t be skipped.
And then there are bank-side processes. If accounts don’t appear during setup, it usually means something needs to be resolved with the bank.
Each bank handles this slightly differently, which adds another layer to manage.
How we’re seeing firms approach the transition
There are two main ways firms are moving clients across.
Some are choosing to transfer the connection. That means disconnecting the old feed first, then connecting the new one. It’s clean, but it relies on everything being ready upfront.
Others are taking a more cautious approach.
They connect the new feed alongside the old one, then merge them once everything is confirmed. It involves a few extra steps, but it reduces the risk of breaking anything mid-process.
In practice, we’re seeing more firms lean towards the second option, especially when they’re unsure if everything is set up correctly.
What the setup actually feels like
From a workflow perspective, it’s not dramatically different.
You still select the bank, enter details, and connect the account.
The key difference is where authentication happens.
Instead of staying inside QuickBooks, the process moves through the bank. The client verifies their identity, approves access, and selects which accounts to share.
Once that’s done, the connection is live and the data starts flowing immediately.
The part that matters most: how you prepare clients
The biggest challenge here isn’t the setup.
It’s communication.
For most clients, open banking is new. If the first time they hear about it is when something stops working, it creates friction straight away.
What we’ve found works best is introducing it early.
Explain what’s changing in simple terms. Focus on what improves. Set expectations around what they’ll need to do.
Even something as simple as mentioning it in a newsletter or during regular conversations can make a big difference.
It turns the transition from reactive to planned.
What this means for your firm
There’s no getting around it. There is work involved in making the switch.
It takes coordination. It takes client involvement. It takes a clear plan.
But once you’re through it, the day-to-day experience improves.
Feeds are more stable. There’s less manual intervention. The data is more reliable.
And that flows through everything else your team does.
The shift to act on now
This isn’t something to park for later.
The timeline is set. The rollout is underway. And it affects every client with a bank feed.
From where we sit, the firms that start early are the ones that stay in control of the process.
Because at its core, this is a rebuild of how data moves.
And once that changes, everything built on top of it moves with it.
Watch the full session
If you want to see how we’re approaching this in more detail, including the full walkthrough of how the connection works, we go through it step by step in our QuickFest session. You can catch the full replay here:
