Once you've connected a bank account, SparkReceipt keeps it in sync automatically — but you're in control of it. Each connected account has a settings page where you can pull older transactions, refresh its details, and disconnect it. This article explains how syncing behaves and how to read the account's status and any sync errors.
Where to manage a connection
Go to Integrations in the left-hand sidebar and open the Bank accounts section. Each connected account appears as a card showing its name, institution, type, and last four digits, along with a status badge. Click Settings on a card to open that account's settings page. (Managing connections is available to administrators and accountants.)
How syncing works
After the first import, SparkReceipt keeps the account up to date automatically — you don't have to refresh anything. SparkReceipt isn't polling your bank on a fixed timer; instead, it subscribes to your bank through Stripe and gets notified whenever new transaction data is ready. Each notification triggers a background sync, and the new transactions show up in the Transaction Manager on their own, already categorized and matched where possible.
Because of this, how often new transactions appear is up to your bank, not SparkReceipt. Banks typically post new transactions roughly once a day, and often with a delay of a day or more. If a purchase you made an hour ago isn't showing yet, that almost always means your bank hasn't released it to the connection yet — not that syncing is broken. SparkReceipt picks it up automatically as soon as it's available. If you don't want to wait, you can pull transactions on demand with Fetch older transactions (below) instead of waiting for the next notification.
While a sync is in progress, the account card shows a sync badge (Pending, Syncing, Completed, Failed, or Interrupted), and the settings page notes: "This account is syncing right now. New transactions will appear automatically — no need to refresh or fetch."
Fetching older transactions
The automatic sync brings in new transactions going forward. To pull history — for example when you first connect and want the last few months — use Fetch older transactions on the account settings page:
- Open the account's settings and choose Fetch older transactions.
- Set Pull transactions since to the date you want to go back to, and click Fetch.
- SparkReceipt starts the sync in the background ("Sync started — new transactions will appear shortly").
Banks typically share up to around 180 days of history through the connection, though the exact depth depends on your bank. The date picker enforces the range your bank allows.
Refreshing account details
Refresh details updates the account's name, number, and status from your bank. It does not fetch transactions — it only refreshes the account's own information. Use it if the account's name or status looks out of date.
Disconnecting an account
To stop syncing an account, open its settings and choose Disconnect. You'll be asked to confirm: "Are you sure you want to disconnect this account? Transaction syncing will stop, but existing transactions will be kept."
Disconnecting stops all future syncing, but everything already imported stays — your transactions, matches, and any expenses or income you created from them are untouched. Only the live link to your bank is removed.
Reconnecting
If an account is disconnected and you want it back, open its settings and choose Reconnect. This takes you through the same secure bank-linking flow you used to connect it the first time.
Account statuses
A connected account is always in one of three states:
- Active — connected and syncing normally.
- Inactive — your bank connection needs attention (for example the bank's authorization expired or the institution had a temporary problem). Syncing pauses while an account is inactive; it often recovers on its own, and syncing resumes automatically once it does.
- Disconnected — the link to your bank has been removed, either by you or at your bank. No new transactions will arrive; existing ones are kept. Reconnect to resume.
Sync history and preview
The account settings page includes a Sync information card listing recent syncs — When, Type (Initial, Refresh, Manual, or Daily), Status, and how many transactions were Fetched, New, or Updated. You can also Preview transactions to see, read-only, what was fetched, and jump straight to the full list with Open in Transaction Manager.
Common sync situations
- "No transactions have been fetched for this account yet." Right after connecting, your bank's first data refresh is still running. Give it a few minutes; the transactions appear once your bank returns them.
- Rate-limited. Banks and Stripe limit how often data can be refreshed. If you hit a limit, SparkReceipt tells you it will retry automatically shortly — there's nothing you need to do.
- A sync shows Failed or Interrupted. An interrupted sync (for example from a temporary rate limit) is retried automatically. If a sync keeps failing, check whether the account has gone Inactive or Disconnected and reconnect if needed.