Most banks have an option to download transactions as a CSV or Quicken/MS Money file, might be worth checking into. How would a check card have this effect? You have to have money in your account before you can use it. and one more edit... This is a case where balancing your checkbook instead of checking online periodically would cause problems, right? If you relied on what you wrote down, you would probably assume that there was no bank error not in your favor, assume that you have an extra $100 in your account, and eventually overdraw. More or less, it bugs me when people keep the same data in two different databases. Unless you're constantly syncing the two, you're going to run into problems. If you don't absolutely need it in two separate places, it should be avoided.