Sync Schedules

How automatic transaction syncing works in Forbidden Finance, including sync frequency by tier, what triggers a sync, how to check the last sync time, and pull-to-refresh.

Overview

When you connect a bank account, Forbidden Finance automatically syncs your transactions on a regular schedule. The sync frequency depends on your subscription tier: Starter syncs daily, Pro syncs hourly, and Premium syncs in real time. Between scheduled syncs, you can also trigger a manual sync at any time with pull-to-refresh.

Sync Frequency by Tier

Tier	Sync Frequency	What This Means
Starter	Daily	Your transactions update once per day, typically overnight
Pro	Hourly	Your transactions update every hour throughout the day
Premium	Real-time	Your transactions update within minutes of activity at your bank

Free tier does not include bank connections, so sync schedules do not apply. Free tier users track transactions manually or via CSV or JSON import.

What Happens During a Sync

Each sync performs the following steps:

Checks for new transactions. Any new purchases, deposits, or other activity since the last sync is pulled in and added to your transaction list.
Updates pending transactions. If a previously pending transaction has been finalized by your bank, it is updated to its final posted amount.
Handles removed transactions. In rare cases, banks may remove a transaction (for example, a voided charge). These are removed from your records as well.
Refreshes account balances. Your account balance is updated to reflect the latest information from your bank.

What Triggers a Sync

Syncs happen in three ways:

Scheduled sync: Runs automatically at the frequency determined by your tier. You do not need to open the app for scheduled syncs to occur.
Webhook notification: Some banks notify Forbidden Finance immediately when new transactions are available. When this happens, a sync is triggered right away, regardless of the schedule. This is most common on the Premium tier.
Manual refresh: Pull down on the transactions list or account detail screen to trigger an immediate sync. This is useful when you just made a purchase and want it to appear right away.

How to Check the Last Sync Time

To see when your account last synced:

Go to Accounts

Open the Accounts tab.

Tap an account

Select the bank-synced account you want to check.

View sync status

The account detail screen shows Last synced with a timestamp. If the sync is currently in progress, you see a spinning indicator.

Pull-to-Refresh

You can request an immediate sync at any time:

Go to your Transactions list or open a specific bank-synced account.
Pull down on the screen (swipe downward from the top of the list).
A sync is triggered immediately. New transactions appear within a few seconds.

Pull-to-refresh works on all paid tiers and does not count against any limits. Use it whenever you want the latest data without waiting for the next scheduled sync.

Key Details

Syncs run in the background. You do not need to have the app open for scheduled syncs to work. Transactions are pulled automatically and are ready when you open the app.
Sync covers all connected accounts. When a sync runs for a bank connection, all accounts linked to that connection are updated at once.
Transaction history depth. The initial sync pulls in recent history (typically several months). Subsequent syncs only pull new activity since the last sync.
Sync failures. If a sync fails (for example, due to a network issue), it retries on the next scheduled cycle. If the failure is due to an expired or invalid connection, you see a degraded connection banner prompting you to re-authenticate.

Tips

If you are on the Starter tier and want more frequent updates, use pull-to-refresh throughout the day for on-demand syncing between daily updates.

Real-time sync on Premium is ideal if you use Forbidden Finance to actively monitor spending as it happens. You see new transactions within minutes of swiping your card.

If you notice your account has not synced recently, check the sync status on the account detail screen. A "degraded" or "needs re-authentication" status means you need to reconnect. See the reconnection guide for steps.