Linking accounts to registers

What linking does

A connected bank account gives you a live balance. A register item records what that balance means —
that this account is your mortgage on 12 Example Street, or the savings you are building for a deposit.

Linking joins the two. Once linked:

• Your register item's value updates from the real balance instead of drifting out of date.
• Your net worth reflects reality rather than the last figure you typed in.
• Transactions from that account feed your budget in the right places.

Common links:

Linking an account

1. Go to Accounts.
2. Find the account and select Link to Register.
3. Pick a register item from the list, or create a new one (below).
4. Confirm.

Swish only offers items that make sense for the account — a mortgage account will offer liabilities, not
insurance policies. If an item is already linked to another account, it is shown as Linked to other.

Creating a register from an account

If nothing suitable exists yet, choose Create a new register in the link dialog. Swish creates the
item and links it in one step, filling in what it can from the account details.

You can add the rest of the detail later — see Adding a register item.

Managing an existing link

An account that is already linked shows Manage Link instead. It opens the same dialog, where you can:

• Change which register item it points at — just pick a different one
• Unlink it, using the control on the currently-linked row

Create a new register is unavailable while the account is already linked, because an account can
only point at one register item at a time. To swap it for a brand new item, Unlink first, then open
the dialog again and create the new one.

Unlink takes effect immediately — there is no confirmation step.

Unlinking does not delete anything — the account stays connected and the register item stays in your
register. They just stop being joined, and the item's value stops updating automatically.

Disconnecting, retaining, and deleting banking data

These actions are different:

• Unlink separates an account from a register item. It deletes neither one
  and leaves transaction history untouched.
• Revoke Accounts stops future Akahu updates. Keeping banking data turns
  the accounts into retained history and clears live register links.
• Delete retained data on one retained account permanently removes that
  account and all of its transactions, including notes, categories, goal
  allocations, and their historical goal-spending effect. Register items and
  manual values remain.
• Revoking with Keep Banking Data switched off deletes all stored banking
  accounts and transactions after Akahu access is removed.

A deleted retained account is not blocked from returning. If a later Akahu
connection returns it again, Swish can import it as a current account.

Reviewing links after connecting a bank

When you connect a new bank, or reconnect one, Swish shows the accounts it found and the register
classification proposed for each one.

Review each proposed classification, expand any account that needs changing, then select Continue.
Account types are locked once they have been saved.

This is worth a minute of attention. Getting links right at the start saves untangling them afterwards.

Seeing what is linked

From an account — the account card shows badges for its linked registers, and its transaction history
page lists them too.

From a register item — open the item and use the Linked Registers tab. See
Viewing and editing items.

Across everything — on the Accounts screen, filter by Accounts Linked to Assets or Accounts Linked
to Business.

Good practice

One account, one register item. This is not just advice — it is how Swish works. Linking an account
to a register item clears any link either of them already had.

Link liabilities as liabilities. A mortgage account linked to an asset will make your net worth look
far better than it is.

Link business accounts to the business. Keeping business and personal separate keeps your personal
budget honest.

Do not link an account you do not want in your budget. Linked accounts feed your budget and goals; a
trust account you only administer may be better left unlinked.

Common questions

Do I have to link everything? No. Unlinked accounts still show their balance on the Accounts screen —
they just do not feed a register item.

Can one register item have several accounts? No. Each register item links to one account, and each
account links to one register item. If a property has two loans, record them as two liability items and
link one account to each.

What if I link the wrong thing? Use Manage Link to change or unlink it. Nothing is lost.

Does unlinking delete my transactions? No. Your history stays with the account.

What happens if I disconnect the bank? The link is cleared and the register item stops updating. The
item itself stays, and you can maintain it manually.