Common Bank Connection Questions
Bank Connections, Data Access, and Connection Stability
Q1 — When a client opens an additional account, must the existing connection be deleted and re-added?
Yes — and this is required by the bank, not LedgerSync.
When a bank connection is first set up, the user explicitly authorizes access to a specific set of accounts at that moment. Banks grant permissions only for those accounts, under one security session. Banks do not allow those permissions to be modified after the connection is established — allowing post-authorization edits would violate bank privacy rules and contractual agreements with card networks.
Example: If a client authorizes only their business checking account during setup, then later opens a business savings account under the same login, the bank will not automatically share the new account. The connection must be deleted and re-authorized to include the new account.
Exception: Some banks (e.g., Chase) support pre-authorization during setup, which allows future accounts under the same login to be shared automatically. This is determined entirely by the bank and is not available at all institutions.
Q2 — Why are bank statements and check images on separate connections?
No — they cannot currently be combined into a single connection, due to bank API limitations.
Banks strictly control what their APIs expose. Standard bank APIs support transaction aggregation and statement access, but check images are not supported by any standard bank API today. LedgerSync’s Premium Bank Connections use a separate method specifically to retrieve check images. No bank data provider in the market currently offers check image access through a standard API — this is an industry-wide limitation, not a LedgerSync limitation.
Q3 — Why do bank connections break and require re-authentication?
Connection stability depends on the type of connection:
API-based connections (e.g., Chase, Bank of America):
- Built directly by the bank
- Break only when: password changes, fraud is detected, or the bank enforces periodic re-verification (typically every 6–12 months)
- Re-verification is intentional — it confirms the account is still authorized and actively monitored
Legacy or screen-based connections:
- Access the bank’s website rather than a dedicated API
- More likely to break due to bank security changes, anti-scraping measures, or IP restrictions
- Banks are actively transitioning away from screen-based connections in favor of API-based models, which significantly improves stability over time
Re-authentication process: The client receives a secure link (typically via text). The process takes approximately 30 seconds. LedgerSync supports bulk re-authentication workflows, so many clients can be prompted simultaneously with minimal effort on your end.
Q4 — How long is the Bank Fix URL valid?
The Bank Fix URL (the link you can send to a client to reconnect a broken bank connection) is valid for 6 days from the time it is generated. After 6 days the link expires and a new one must be generated.
Q5 — What is the Connection Status History?
Each bank connection in LedgerSync has a connection status history panel that shows a log of when the connection was added, when it broke, when it was re-authenticated, and any errors that occurred. This history is available for Mastercard (Finicity), MX, and FDE connections.
The history panel is useful for diagnosing persistent connection issues — it shows whether a connection breaks repeatedly at the same time each month (suggesting a bank enforcement pattern) or breaks unpredictably (suggesting a different cause).
Q6 — What is the "Review Accounts" status on the dashboard?
The LedgerSync dashboard shows bank connection statuses in separate buckets. "Review Accounts" is a distinct category from "LedgerSync Errors."
- LedgerSync Errors — connection issues that require action (broken connection, invalid credentials, MFA needed)
- Review Accounts — accounts that returned specific error codes indicating a closed account, zero-balance account, or other state where no client action is needed (e.g., error codes 913, 38006, 946, 324). These are not system failures — they reflect accounts that the bank has flagged as inactive, closed, or restricted
If you see accounts in "Review Accounts," review whether those bank accounts are still active for the client. If the account is genuinely closed, the connection can be removed without impacting any other data in LedgerSync.
Q7 — Can I rename a bank or account in LedgerSync?
No. Bank and account names come directly from the aggregator’s API (Mastercard/MX). Renaming them locally would break the sync link between LedgerSync and the provider and could cause accounts to stop updating. For this reason, names are displayed as the bank/aggregator reports them and cannot be edited in the dashboard. To keep a client’s view clean, use the Hide feature to exclude accounts that aren’t relevant rather than trying to rename them.
Q8 — Do I have to map every account before continuing setup?
No. If you only want to map some accounts right away, choose the "Unspecified" option for the accounts you’re not ready to map. This lets you proceed past account mapping without mapping every account, while still keeping the necessary validation on your data. You can map the remaining accounts later.
Q9 — How quickly do new transactions arrive?
For supported banks, LedgerSync now subscribes to an aggregator webhook that fires as soon as the aggregator finishes pulling new transactions from the bank — so transactions typically arrive the same day they post, rather than waiting 2–3 days for the next scheduled refresh. Scheduled refresh jobs still run as a fallback.
Q10 — What time zone are the times shown in?
Times displayed across LedgerSync are shown in Eastern Time (EST) for consistency.
Q11 — How many months of statements are pulled for a new connection?
By default, LedgerSync pulls 3 months of statement history when a new bank connection is added. This number is configurable per customer — if your firm needs more (for example, 4 months), contact support to have it adjusted for your account. The system honors your configured number rather than a fixed limit.
Need Help?
Contact LedgerSync Support at support@ledgersync.com
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