Sync Not Working

Why transactions might be delayed in Forbidden Finance, how sync schedules work by tier, and how to troubleshoot stale data.

Overview

If your connected bank transactions are not appearing or seem outdated, the most common cause is your tier's sync schedule. Forbidden Finance syncs transactions on a schedule that varies by tier -- daily for Starter, hourly for Pro, and real-time for Premium. Transactions do not appear instantly on all tiers. This guide explains how sync works, what can cause delays, and how to troubleshoot.

Sync Schedules by Tier

Tier	Sync Frequency	What This Means
Free	No bank sync	Manual accounts only. Add transactions by hand or CSV and JSON import.
Starter	Daily	Transactions sync once per day. New purchases may not appear until the next morning.
Pro	Hourly	Transactions sync every hour. You typically see new transactions within 1-2 hours.
Premium	Real-time	Transactions appear within minutes of posting at your bank.

Even on the Premium tier, "real-time" depends on your bank reporting the transaction to Plaid promptly. Pending or authorization-hold transactions may not appear until they post.

Common Sync Issues

Transactions Are Delayed

If transactions from today or yesterday have not appeared yet:

Check your tier's sync schedule. On the Starter tier, transactions sync once daily. A purchase you made this afternoon may not appear until tomorrow.
Pull to refresh. On the dashboard, pull down to trigger a manual data refresh. This loads the most recent data from your last sync window.
Check if the transaction has posted at your bank. Pending transactions (authorizations that have not fully cleared) may not sync until the bank finalizes them. Check your bank's app or website to confirm the transaction status.

Data Seems Stale (No Updates for Several Days)

If your account data has not updated in multiple days:

Check for a degraded connection

Look for a yellow or red connection health banner on the dashboard, or go to Settings > Accounts to see the status of each bank connection. A degraded connection stops syncing until you reconnect.

Reconnect if needed

If the connection is degraded, tap Reconnect and re-enter your bank credentials through the Plaid interface. See the Bank Connection Issues guide for detailed steps.

Confirm the last sync time

In Settings > Accounts, each connected account shows the date and time of its last successful sync. If this timestamp is current but transactions still seem missing, the issue may be on your bank's side.

Balances Are Wrong

If your account balance in Forbidden Finance does not match your bank:

Check pending transactions. Forbidden Finance reflects posted balances. Pending transactions at your bank may cause a temporary mismatch.
Check manual adjustments. If you manually edited an account balance, the manual value is used until the next sync overrides it.
Wait for the next sync cycle. Balance discrepancies usually resolve after the next scheduled sync.

Some Accounts Are Not Syncing

If only certain accounts from a bank connection are not updating:

Verify the account is selected. During the bank connection setup, you choose which accounts to link. Go to Settings > Accounts to confirm the affected account is included.
Check your tier's account type limits. Investment accounts require the Pro tier. If you are on Starter and connected a bank that includes both checking and investment accounts, only the checking and savings accounts sync.