Where to find and change your default bank account

Your default bank account in QuickBooks Online is the account that appears first when you create a new transaction—invoice, check, or deposit. To change it, go to Settings (the gear icon in the top right), then select Account and Settings. From there, click the Sales tab on the left, then scroll down to find Deposit to. The account listed there is your current default. Click the dropdown menu and select a different account from your chart of accounts.

If you're changing the default for checks or bill payments instead of deposits, the process is similar but the setting lives in a different tab. Go back to Account and Settings, click Expenses, and look for Pay bills from. This controls which account QuickBooks suggests when you write a check or pay a vendor bill. Select your preferred account from the dropdown and save your changes.

After you change the default, QuickBooks will use the new account the next time you create a transaction of that type. Transactions you've already created will not change—only new ones going forward will pull from the new default.

Key Takeaways

  • Your default deposit account is set in Settings > Account and Settings > Sales > Deposit to, and your default payment account is in Settings > Account and Settings > Expenses > Pay bills from.
  • Changing the default only affects new transactions you create after the change; old transactions keep their original accounts.
  • You can only set one default per transaction type, so if you use multiple bank accounts, you will need to manually select the correct one for some transactions.
  • If your bank account does not appear in the dropdown, check that it exists in your chart of accounts and is marked as a bank account type, not another account type.

Why you might need to change your default account

The most common reason to change your default is that you've opened a new bank account and want QuickBooks to use it instead of the old one. This happens when you consolidate accounts, move to a different bank, or set up a separate account for a specific purpose—like a payroll account or a business line of credit.

Another reason is that you have multiple bank accounts but QuickBooks is defaulting to the wrong one. If you use one account for most transactions but a second account for specific purposes, changing the default saves you from manually selecting the account every single time. The time you save compounds quickly if you create dozens of transactions a month.

You might also change the default if you're restructuring your accounting to match how your business actually moves money. For example, if you've been depositing customer payments into a holding account and then moving them to your operating account, you could change the default to point directly to the operating account and skip the extra step.

What happens if you forget to change the default

If you don't change the default and you keep using the old account, your bank reconciliation will become harder to manage. QuickBooks will show transactions in one account, but your bank statement will show them in another. You'll spend time each month matching things up that should have been in the right place from the start.

The good news is that forgetting to change the default is not permanent. You can go back and edit individual transactions if you caught the mistake early. Open the transaction, click Edit, change the account, and save. If you've created many transactions in the wrong account, you can also use the Find and Replace feature (under Tools) to change them in bulk, though this works best if all the transactions you want to move are identical in other ways.

Checking that your account appears in the dropdown

If you've created a new bank account but it's not showing up in the Deposit to or Pay bills from dropdown, the account may not be set up correctly in your chart of accounts. Go to Settings, then Chart of Accounts. Look for your bank account in the list. If it's there, click the three dots next to it and select Edit. Make sure the Account Type is set to Bank, not Checking, Savings, or another type. QuickBooks only shows accounts marked as Bank type in the default dropdowns.

If the account doesn't exist in your chart of accounts at all, you'll need to create it first. From the Chart of Accounts page, click New, give the account a name, set the type to Bank, and save. Once it's created and saved, it will appear in the dropdown the next time you go back to Account and Settings.

If you've just connected a bank account through QuickBooks' bank feed feature, it may take a few minutes for the account to sync and appear in the dropdown. Wait a few minutes, then refresh your browser and check again.

Setting defaults for different transaction types

QuickBooks lets you set a default for deposits and a separate default for bill payments, but you cannot set different defaults within those categories. For example, you can't tell QuickBooks to use Account A for customer invoices and Account B for other deposits—you have to pick one default for all deposits.

If you regularly use multiple accounts for the same type of transaction, the workaround is to manually select the account each time. It takes an extra five seconds per transaction, but it keeps your accounts organized correctly. Some users create a checklist or a note in their workflow to remind themselves which account to use for which type of payment.

Another option is to use QuickBooks' Rules feature (under Tools) to automatically assign accounts based on patterns. For example, you can create a rule that says "if the vendor is [Vendor Name], deposit to [Account Name]." This works well if you have a few vendors or customers who always use the same account.

Syncing your default account with your bank feed

If you've connected your bank account to QuickBooks through a bank feed, the default account setting and your bank feed account should match. If they don't, you may see transactions appear in one account in QuickBooks but in another account in your bank feed, which creates confusion during reconciliation.

To check, go to Banking in the left menu and look at which account your transactions are flowing into. Then go to Account and Settings and confirm that the default account matches. If they don't match, change the default to point to the account where your bank feed is actually sending transactions.

If you've recently disconnected and reconnected a bank feed, or if you've moved your transactions to a different account, you may need to update the default manually. QuickBooks does not automatically update the default when you change your bank feed settings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I set different default accounts for different customers or vendors?

No. QuickBooks only allows one default deposit account and one default payment account across your entire business. If you need to use different accounts for different customers, you'll have to select the account manually each time you create a transaction. The Rules feature can automate this for specific vendors if you have a consistent pattern.

What if I change the default but transactions still go to the old account?

Clear your browser cache and refresh QuickBooks. Sometimes the old setting stays in your browser's memory. If that doesn't work, log out completely, wait a minute, and log back in. If the problem persists, check that you actually saved your changes after selecting the new account—the save button is straightforward to miss.

Do I need to change the default if I'm only using one bank account?

No. If you only have one bank account, QuickBooks will use it by default and you don't need to change anything. The default setting only matters if you have multiple accounts and want to control which one QuickBooks suggests.

Can I change the default for a specific type of customer or invoice?

Not through the default account setting. However, you can use the Rules feature to create conditions—for example, "if the customer is marked as a wholesale customer, deposit to Account B." This gives you more control than a single default without requiring you to manually select the account every time.

What happens to old transactions if I change the default account?

Old transactions are not affected. Changing the default only controls which account QuickBooks suggests for new transactions you create going forward. If you need to move old transactions to a different account, you'll have to edit them individually or use the Find and Replace tool.