# Pending Transactions (/docs/guides/troubleshooting/pending-transactions)



# Pending Transactions [#pending-transactions]

A **pending** transaction is one your bank has authorised but not yet finalised. It typically appears right after a purchase and clears (posts) a few days later once the merchant settles the charge.

Lunch Flow can sync pending transactions, but this is **off by default** because of the duplicate risk described below.

<Callout type="warn">
  Enabling pending transaction sync can create duplicate entries in your destination app. Leave it disabled unless you understand and accept the tradeoff described below.
</Callout>

## Why pending sync can cause duplicates [#why-pending-sync-can-cause-duplicates]

When a pending transaction clears, banks or providers sometimes assign it a completely different identifier. Rather than updating the existing record, the cleared transaction can arrive as a brand new entry. In some cases the amount, date, or description may also change between the pending and posted versions.

Most destination apps deduplicate by transaction ID, so they have no way to know these two records are the same purchase. The result is two entries for one transaction:

* One from when it was **pending**
* One from when it **cleared**

Pending transactions can also disappear entirely before posting, which can leave orphaned entries that never resolve.

## Enabling pending sync [#enabling-pending-sync]

Pending sync is off by default. You can opt in through:

* **Destination settings:** Some destinations like Lunch Money have a **Sync pending transactions** toggle in the connection settings.
* **API:** Use the `include_pending=true` query parameter when fetching transactions.
* **actual-flow:** Set `"includePending": true` in your config when syncing to Actual Budget.

To turn it back off, disable the toggle in your destination settings or remove the `include_pending` parameter from your API calls.

## What we are improving [#what-we-are-improving]

We are actively working on better handling for pending transactions, including matching a pending entry to its posted version so it updates in place instead of duplicating. This is genuinely difficult because of the many edge cases: IDs change, amounts shift, dates move, and some pending transactions vanish without ever posting. Behaviour also varies across banks and providers.

Until that handling is reliable, we recommend keeping pending sync disabled.

## FAQ [#faq]

<Accordions>
  <Accordion title="Will I lose data by leaving pending sync off?">
    No. Every transaction still syncs once it clears, which is usually within a few days. You only lose the short-lived pending preview, not the final record.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I already have duplicates from pending sync. What do I do?">
    Turn off pending sync so no new duplicates are created, then delete the leftover pending entries in your destination app. The posted (cleared) version is the one to keep.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does this affect balances?">
    Balance syncing is separate from transaction syncing and is not affected. This only concerns individual pending transaction records.
  </Accordion>
</Accordions>