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C
cetanorak
April 23, 2019
Question

Manually entered credit card transactions

  • April 23, 2019
  • 1 reply
  • 0 views

Hi all,

 

I'm new to Online Simple Start and am trying to figure out how to manage this situation:

 

I have a personal credit card which is NOT connected to Simple Start.  I will, however, have a single expenditure each month on this personal credit card that I'd like to add into Quickbooks online as a business expense.

 

I tried to add a new Chart of Accounts for this personal credit card, which I configured to be "unconnected".  I then added the expense transaction manually.  The problem that results is that on when running a Balance Sheet report, this Chart of Accounts is always negative in balance, which makes sense, as it is seen as an account and an equal payment value is never added to the register.

 

I merely need to track the business expenses to this credit card.  What is the right way to the expense into Quickbooks without having to manage the account traditionally...i.e., balancing the expense debit with a payment credit, so that the account zeroes out on the Balance Sheet.

 

I hope that this makes sense, sorry if this post is unclear in any way.

1 reply

R
RaymondJayO
April 23, 2019

Thanks for sharing on-point details about your concern, @cetanorak, 

 

I'll share with you the options on how to track your business expenses to the personal credit card. 

 

Yes, you're right with figuring out that the personal credit card account will be negative on the Balance Sheet report since there's no equal payment added to the register. 

 

Just to verify, did you enter an opening balance when you added the personal credit card on the Chart of Accounts page? If not, this is also one of the reasons why this account is always negative on your Balance Sheet report. 

 

Since this is an existing account, you'll first need to enter the opening balance as a bank deposit with the same amount. Here's how: 

 

  1. Go to the Plus icon (+) at the upper right. 
  2. Select Bank Deposit under Other. 
  3. Choose the appropriate bank account from the Account drop-down menu. 
  4. Enter the actual date the money was deposited to your account in the Date field. 
  5. In the Add funds to this deposit section, select Opening Balance Equity under the Account column. 
  6. In the Amount column, enter the opening balance amount.
  7. Note that this deposit is your opening balance in the Memo field. 
  8. Click Save and close.

 

After that, you'll need to mark that transaction as reconciled in the register. Here's how: 

 

  1. Go to the Gear icon at the upper right. 
  2. Select Chart of Accounts under Your Company. 
  3. Choose the bank account to which you deposited the opening balance.
  4. From the Action column, select Account History. 
  5. Choose the Opening Balance entry in the register to open it.
  6. Select the field the Check mark (✓) column until an R (Reconciled) appears.
  7. Click Save.
     

For more information, you can check out this helpful article: Enter An Opening Balance For A Bank Account. 

 

Once done, you'll have to create an expense and make sure to choose the appropriate bank account when paying to the personal credit card. This way, it will zero out the account's negative balance on the report. 

 

If you want to reimburse your company owners for an expense paid for with personal funds, you can perform the steps through this helpful article: How To Pay For Business Expenses With Personal Funds. To learn more about this process, here's a great article you can refer to: About Mixing Business And Personal Funds. 

 

The steps and resources above will help achieve your goal, @cetanorak. 

 

I'll be around to help if you have other concerns. Have a good day. 

C
cetanorakAuthor
April 23, 2019

Thanks for your response, Raymond!

 

So for each future expense to be manually input to this credit card account, would I first add a new "Opening Balance Equity" bank deposit in the matching amount and then add the expense transaction.

 

What consequences will all of the "Opening Balance Equity" transactions have on balance sheet reports or elsewhere?  Will that create an inaccurate picture of my finances in any way?

 

Thanks so much for clarifying!

R
RaymondJayO
April 23, 2019

Thanks for getting back to us, @cetanorak. 

 

An Opening Balance is the amount of money you have for an account during initial setup. It is an offset account to keep your journal entries in balance.

 

As you enter the opening balances, the program records the amounts in the Opening Balance Equity account. This ensures that you have a correct balance on your Balance Sheet and any other financial reports. 

 

Since you'll be adding a future expense to the personal credit card, I'd still suggest consulting your accountant to see if this is the appropriate method that suits your business activities. By doing so, he/she can ensure your books are accurate. 

 

For more information about this, you can check out this helpful article: What Is An Opening Balance Equity. 

 

Stay in touch with me if you need further help. I'm always here to help. 

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