How to Record and Reconcile e-Transfers in Wave Accounting
Record and match Canadian Interac e-Transfer receipts, expenses, and account transfers in Wave without duplicating bank-imported transactions.
Record an Interac e-Transfer in Wave only once, using the transaction type that explains the payment. A customer payment belongs against the invoice it settles, a supplier payment belongs with its supported expense or bill, and money moved between two business accounts is a transfer—not income or an expense. Then reconcile the Wave account to the bank statement.
Use the bank transaction as evidence that cash posted. Use the invoice, receipt, bill, or agreement to explain why it moved. An e-Transfer notification can add the payer or recipient, status, message, and reference when the bank description is vague, but it is not a second bank transaction.
Where Should an e-Transfer Be Recorded in Wave?
Start with the payment's purpose, not the words Interac e-Transfer in the bank description.
| Scenario | Wave treatment | Evidence to match |
|---|---|---|
| Customer pays an invoice | Apply the imported income transaction to the correct Wave invoice | Invoice, completed bank deposit, notification details |
| Supplier or contractor is paid | Match the withdrawal to the supported bill or expense category | Bill or receipt, completed bank withdrawal, approval |
| Money moves between business accounts | Record the two sides as a transfer between the relevant accounts | Both bank entries and the transfer reference |
| Transfer is pending, cancelled, or expired | Keep it on an exception list; do not create settled cash without a bank movement | Lifecycle notices and current online-banking status |
Wave's payment account should contain one cash movement. The related Wave invoice, bill, expense, or transfer supplies the accounting explanation. The supporting records connect the two.
Build a searchable e-Transfer record
Connect Gmail, Outlook, or iCloud. TransferLog organizes supported Interac notification details so you can search, filter, and export when you reconcile.
What Do You Need Before Reconciling e-Transfers?
Collect one complete statement period and these records:
- the opening and closing bank-statement balances;
- bank transactions already imported or uploaded to the correct Wave payment account;
- open and paid Wave invoices, bills, expenses, refunds, and transfers for the period;
- relevant e-Transfer notifications, including status and reference details;
- invoices, receipts, contracts, and tax documents that support the business purpose; and
- an exception list for missing documents, unknown people, partial payments, duplicates, and unresolved transfers.
The Canada Revenue Agency expects business records to connect income and expenses with supporting documents. A bank line shows cash movement, while the source document supports the nature of the transaction. Keep both even when Wave and the notification appear to contain the same amount.
Should You Import a TransferLog CSV Into Wave?
Usually, no. Use a TransferLog export as a matching register beside Wave, not as another bank statement.
Wave accepts bank-statement uploads in OFX, QBO, QFX, ASO, and CSV formats. Its current help centre recommends one of the first four formats when the bank provides one. If the same date range already arrived through a bank connection or statement upload, importing a notification export as cash transactions can duplicate income and expenses.
TransferLog exports details detected in supported notification emails. It does not export the bank's opening balance, closing balance, or authoritative posting history. Compare its displayed person, amount, direction, status, date, message, and reference with the Wave bank lines already present.
How Do You Reconcile e-Transfers in Wave Step by Step?
1. Choose one account and one statement period
Work on one Wave payment account at a time. Confirm its currency, statement start and end dates, opening balance, and closing balance. Do not combine two bank accounts or upload overlapping statement ranges.
If transactions are missing, first check whether a connected-bank import is delayed. Otherwise upload the missing bank-statement range once. Preserve the original statement file so another person can reproduce the reconciliation.
2. Separate completed transfers from messages
A Request Money notice, sent notice, reminder, pending transfer, cancellation, decline, expiry, and deposit confirmation can all relate to one payment attempt. Group related notices around the reference, amount, people, and timing.
Record cash only when the bank statement or known online-banking account supports the completed movement. Keep unresolved attempts in an exception register. The pending, cancelled, and expired e-Transfer workflow explains how to handle replacements without counting both attempts.
3. Apply customer receipts to the correct invoice
For a customer payment already imported to Wave, its current instructions are to open Accounting → Transactions, find the income transaction, choose Payment Received for an Invoice in Wave in the Category field, and select the invoice.
Apply only the amount actually received. A part payment leaves the remaining invoice balance open. When one deposit pays several invoices, keep the single bank amount and allocate it across the supported invoices so the parts equal the deposit. Use the partial-payment reconciliation guide when the allocation or remaining balance is unclear.
If someone recorded the invoice payment manually before the bank line appeared, compare both records before merging. Match the account, amount, customer, invoice, and date; identical amounts alone do not prove a duplicate.
4. Match supplier and contractor withdrawals
Connect each completed withdrawal to the bill, receipt, contract, or expense claim that explains it. Interac e-Transfer is the payment method, not an expense category.
Use the tax shown on the source document. Do not estimate GST/HST from the amount transferred. If the displayed recipient differs from the supplier name, retain both names and document the relationship instead of silently renaming the evidence.
5. Link transfers between your own accounts
Wave's current workflow uses Transfer to/from Bank, Credit Card, or Loan and requires both sides of a transfer when both payment accounts are in Wave. Match the outgoing and incoming transactions so the movement is not reported as new income and an expense.
If the other account is personal or is not recorded in Wave, an owner-equity or similar treatment may be appropriate. That decision depends on the facts and business structure, so confirm it with the bookkeeper or accountant. See the internal e-Transfer record guide for the evidence trail.
6. Complete Wave's reconciliation period
In Wave's web app, open Accounting → Transactions, turn on Reconciliation, select the account, and create or open the period. Enter the bank statement's end date and closing balance.
Match Wave transactions to the statement. Wave shows the closing balance, matched balance, unmatched count, and difference. Finish only when the difference is zero and each exception has an explained resolution. A forced adjustment can hide a missing, duplicate, misdated, or misclassified transaction.
How Do You Prevent Duplicate e-Transfer Income in Wave?
Use a record-once rule:
- categorize or match an existing bank line instead of recreating the deposit;
- merge only a manual entry and bank import that represent the same payment;
- combine lifecycle emails into one transfer record;
- preserve failed attempts but count only completed settlement;
- allocate one bank deposit across invoices without cloning the deposit; and
- record a movement between your own accounts as a transfer, not revenue and expense.
Wave identifies overlapping reconnection dates, duplicate bank connections, manually recorded payments, and imported bank lines as common duplicate causes. Recheck a reconciled period after editing or merging a transaction because the change can make the period need attention.
What If the Wave Reconciliation Does Not Balance?
Work from the difference instead of deleting a real transaction to restore the checkmark. Check for:
- a delayed or missing bank import;
- an overlapping statement upload;
- a manual payment plus the imported bank line;
- a pending transfer recorded in the wrong period;
- a separate bank fee;
- a transaction assigned to the wrong payment account;
- an incorrect closing or starting balance; or
- an edited or merged transaction in an earlier reconciled period.
Wave's current guidance says changes to a transaction or payment can reopen a reconciliation difference. Compare the affected period with the original statement, correct the specific item, and then review later periods.
How Does TransferLog Fit Into a Wave Workflow?
TransferLog organizes details found in supported incoming and outgoing Interac e-Transfer notification emails from connected Gmail, Outlook, and iCloud inboxes. You can search and filter those records, assign categories, and export CSV or PDF on the Pro plan.
Use the export to identify vague Wave bank descriptions and prepare an exception list. Then verify every match against the bank statement and the source document.
TransferLog does not connect to Wave, import bank transactions, post journal entries, merge duplicates, confirm settlement, calculate sales tax, or complete a reconciliation. It is the notification-record layer, not the accounting ledger or bank authority.
Official Sources
- Wave: Reconcile your books
- Wave: Mark an invoice as paid
- Wave: Upload bank and credit-card statements
- Wave: Resolve duplicate bank-imported transactions
- Wave: Create a transfer between two accounts
- Wave: Fix an unreconciled period
- CRA: Business records
- Interac e-Transfer help
This article provides general record-keeping information, not accounting or tax advice. Wave features and plan availability can change; follow the current Wave help centre for your account.
Organize supported e-Transfer notifications before reconciling Wave. Start free, then verify the export against Wave, the bank statement, and source documents.