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# Set up Plaid

This guide walks through connecting Plaid to Tabs to enable cash application. Once connected, Tabs syncs transactions from your bank account and recommends matches to open invoices—so your AR records stay accurate without manual reconciliation.

## Before you begin

You need:

* A bank account at a US institution supported by Plaid. Most major US banks and credit unions are supported.
* Admin access to the Tabs app.
* A connected ERP. Tabs uses your ERP's chart of accounts to map bank accounts and write journal entries when payments are matched.

If you use QuickBooks, disable its built-in transaction matching before connecting Plaid. Running both simultaneously creates duplicate journal entries in your ERP.

Contact your Tabs Implementation Manager before go-live to agree on a starting date for transaction sync. Tabs only syncs up to the most recent 60 days of transactions, so make sure you are up to date with your cash application.

## Step 1: Connect your bank account

Tabs connects to your bank through Plaid Link—a secure, hosted OAuth flow that Plaid manages directly. Your banking credentials are never stored in Tabs.

1. In the Tabs app, go to Settings → Integrations → Plaid.
2. Click Connect bank.
3. Search for your bank and log in with your banking credentials.
4. Select the accounts you want to sync and confirm.

Plaid redirects you back to Tabs after a successful connection.

You can connect multiple bank accounts and multiple institutions. Repeat this step for each bank account that has relevant inflows.

## Step 2: Map accounts to your ERP

After connecting, Tabs displays your Plaid bank accounts next to the accounts from your ERP. Map each bank account to an ERP account so Tabs knows where to post journal entries when it matches a transaction.

You have two options:

* Map to the bank account in your ERP — the same account that receives the deposits.
* Map to a clearing account — a holding account for customer payments from Tabs.

To map accounts to your ERP:

1. In Settings → Integrations → Plaid, locate the bank accounts you just connected.
2. For each account, select the corresponding ERP account from the dropdown.
3. Save the mapping.

Tabs recommends mapping bank accounts to a clearing account in your ERP rather than directly to a cash account. This lets your accounting team move payouts from the clearing account to cash at month-end, avoiding timing discrepancies.

If any accounts are unmapped, Tabs flags them and holds journal entries for those accounts until the mapping is complete.

## Step 3: Verify transactions are syncing

Once connected, Plaid begins syncing bank transactions to Tabs automatically. New transactions appear within minutes when Plaid delivers a webhook, with a polling fallback every four hours.

To confirm the connection is working:

1. In the Tabs app, go to Reconciliation → Bank transactions.
2. Confirm your bank accounts appear and transactions are visible.

The Last synced timestamp on each account updates each time Plaid delivers new data. Some banks deliver data to Plaid less frequently.

## How cash application works in Tabs

After Plaid is connected, Tabs applies incoming bank transactions to open invoices automatically where possible and surfaces the rest for AR review.

1. Transaction synced—A bank transaction arrives from Plaid and appears in Reconciliation → Bank transactions.
2. Auto-match for Stripe payouts—If the transaction description contains the word "Stripe", Tabs identifies it as a Stripe batch payout and splits it automatically into the individual invoice payments it covers, with exact per-invoice Stripe fees applied.
3. AI-suggested match for other transactions—For non-Stripe transactions, Tabs reads the description and suggests the most likely invoice match.
4. AR team reviews—Your AR team confirms, adjusts, or excludes each transaction in the Tabs reconciliation view. Partial payments, bad debt write-offs, and bank fees can all be recorded at this step.
5. Invoice closes—Once a match is confirmed, Tabs marks the invoice as paid and writes a journal entry to your ERP. The journal entry is dated when cash hit the bank—not when the customer clicked Pay.

If your Stripe payout statement descriptor does not contain the word "Stripe", Tabs cannot auto-match Stripe payouts. Payments collect in Pending status indefinitely. Ask your Stripe admin to update the payout statement descriptor to include "Stripe"—see [Stripe's statement descriptor docs](https://docs.stripe.com/payouts/statement-descriptors).

When cash application is enabled, invoices paid via Stripe or the customer payment portal move to Pending—not Paid—until Tabs confirms the bank deposit and matches it. Dunning is paused while an invoice is Pending. This is expected behavior.

## Remove or reconnect a bank account

To disconnect a bank account, go to Settings → Integrations → Plaid and click Remove next to the account. Tabs soft-deletes the Plaid connection, deactivates the associated bank accounts, and stops syncing transactions. Open transactions associated with those accounts are removed.

To reconnect a bank that has expired credentials or a broken connection, click Reconnect in the same view. Tabs opens Plaid Link in update mode, which re-authenticates without requiring you to re-select your accounts or redo ERP mapping.

## Next steps

* [Match payments](/collect-payments/match-payments)
* [Mark invoices as paid](/collect-payments/mark-invoices)
* [Create and apply credit memos](/collect-payments/credit-memos)