Bank Sync

Connect your bank once, then pull new transactions whenever you like. Go to Accounts > Bank sync.

Bank sync is part of the subscription.

How It Connects

Hierarchy Budget uses SimpleFIN Bridge, a service that sits between your bank and apps like this one.

The important property: Hierarchy Budget never sees or stores your bank credentials. You sign in at your bank through SimpleFIN, SimpleFIN gives you a setup token, and the token is what you paste here. Access is read-only - nothing can move money.

Connecting

  1. Go to bridge.simplefin.org and connect your bank there
  2. Copy the setup token SimpleFIN gives you
  3. Paste it into the Bank connection box on Accounts > Bank sync and click Connect
Accounts > Bank sync: a bank connection box asking for a SimpleFIN setup token, with a Connect button
The whole connection surface: one box, one token. Your bank credentials never pass through this page.

Once connected, the accounts your bank exposes are listed. Match each to an account you already have, or create a new one from it.

Synced accounts are marked auto-sync on the account list.

Pulling Transactions

Transactions come in on their own, and there’s a sync trigger on this page for when you don’t want to wait.

New transactions land uncategorized and go to the Inbox, the same as anything imported. The app suggests categories, learns from your approvals, and gets quieter over time. See Reviewing Transactions.

Duplicates are detected using the bank’s own transaction IDs, so a sync overlapping transactions you already have won’t double them up.

Sync and Manual Entry Together

You can run both. A transaction you entered by hand is matched to the bank’s version when it arrives, rather than sitting beside it as a duplicate - so recording a check the day you write it still works.

Sync vs Import

Bank SyncImport
SetupConnect onceNothing
OngoingAutomaticDownload a file each time
HistoryRecent transactionsAs far back as the bank offers
Best forKeeping currentBackfilling the past

Most people do both: import a year of history to start, then let sync keep it current.

If Something Goes Wrong

A bank asks you to re-authenticate. Banks expire access periodically. Reconnect at SimpleFIN and paste a fresh token.

An account isn’t listed. Not every institution is supported by SimpleFIN. Check at bridge.simplefin.org - if yours isn’t there, import statement files instead.

Balances look wrong. Sync brings in transactions; your register balance is built from them. If it disagrees with the bank, reconcile to find the gap.