Bank Direct Connect Overview

In this overview article you will find: what BDC is and how it works within Accounting Seed, including the Aggregation Providers available by region, key terms and concepts such as Bank Transactions, matching, and automation, the source record types that can be added or matched, supported file import formats, and links to related BDC articles for configuration, Bank Rules, and troubleshooting.

What is Bank Direct Connect?

Bank Direct Connect (BDC) is a feature within Accounting Seed that enables you to automatically download bank and credit card transactions directly from your financial institutions into Salesforce. Rather than manually entering transactions, BDC pulls them from your bank and presents them in a streamlined interface where you can match them to existing accounting records or create new source records — all without leaving Accounting Seed.

How BDC Works – The Big Picture

BDC connects to your financial institutions through a third-party Aggregation Provider (Plaid, Yodlee, or Salt Edge). Once connected, transactions flow into Accounting Seed on a scheduled or on-demand basis and are presented in the Bank Transactions interface for review and processing.

General Flow
 

Important: Bank Transactions downloaded through BDC are not source records and have no impact on the General Ledger until they are either added as a new source record (Cash Receipt, Cash Disbursement, or Journal Entry) or matched to an existing one.

Aggregation Providers by Region

Provider	Region	Notes
Plaid	United States, Canada	Default provider for most US customers
Yodlee	United States	Legacy provider; supports Open Banking API for select banks
Salt Edge	EMEA, United Kingdom	UK and European Customers

Key Concepts & Terminology

Understanding these terms will help as you work through the other BDC articles.

Term	Definition
Financial Institution Account (FIA)	A specific bank or credit card account connected through an Aggregation Provider (e.g., your Chase Checking account).
Aggregation Provider	The third-party service (Plaid, Yodlee, or Salt Edge) that securely connects to your financial institution and retrieves transaction data.
Bank Transaction	A downloaded transaction record in Accounting Seed. Not a source record — has no GL impact until processed.
Source Record	An accounting record (Cash Receipt, Cash Disbursement, or Journal Entry) that posts entries to the General Ledger.
Unmatched Bank Transaction	A Bank Transaction that requires your attention — either missing required fields to be added, or has multiple potential matches to review.
Add	Creating a new source record from a Bank Transaction.
Match	Linking a downloaded Bank Transaction to an existing source record already in Accounting Seed.
Initial Download Date	The date from which BDC begins downloading historical transactions for a connected FIA. BDC will also look back 14 days before this date to capture pending transactions.
Bank Rules	User-defined automation rules that auto-populate fields on source records based on transaction criteria (description, category, amount, etc.).
Global Automated Add	A Bank Settings option that automatically creates source records when all required fields are populated and no potential match exists.
Global Automated Match	A Bank Settings option that automatically matches transactions when exactly one source record match is found.

Accounting Seed Objects & Record Types

Source record types that can be Added from BDC:

• Cash Receipt
• Cash Disbursement
• Journal Entry (Debit or Credit)

Source record types that can be Matched from BDC:

• Cash Receipt
• Refund Cash Receipt
• Cash Disbursement
• Refund Cash Disbursement
• Journal Entry Line
• Bank Deposit
• Bank Disbursement

File import formats supported:

• OFX (Open Financial Exchange)
• QFX (Quicken Financial Exchange)

Note: Up to 500 transactions can be imported per file. There is no date limit for file-imported transactions.

Next Steps

• BDC Configuration: Work with your Salesforce Admin to get setup to start using BDC. This is for existing customers only.
• BDC Bank Settings: Connect your financial institutions
• BDC Bank Rules: Automate field population
• BDC Bank Transactions Introduction: Understand the UI
• BDC All Bank Transactions: Review all historical transactions
• BDC Unmatched Bank Transactions: Process your daily transactions
• BDC Financial File Import: Import OFX/QFX files from your Bank
• BDC Connection Messages & Troubleshooting: Resolve connection errors
• BDC Troubleshooting & FAQ: Guide for troubleshooting and frequently asked questions.