Tracking credit card expenses and payments

Thanks for sharing your concerns in detail, CircleJ.

Your QuickBooks accounts must match your real-life bank and credit card accounts. So, pick an easy day to begin tracking transactions and enter the balance of your corresponding real-life account on that day. This will set the opening balance for your QuickBooks account. 

With this, you can use the Nov. 15 - Dec. 15 statement for the account's opening balance. Just make sure to set the date and balance accurately to avoid discrepancies. Additionally, since the account's opening balance is set to Nov. 15, you'll need to record the expenses from that date, as well.

Furthermore, you can use the Pay down credit card feature to record your credit card payments. 

Here's how:

1. Click the +New button.
2. Select Pay down credit card under Other.
3. Locate the credit card you paid. Then, enter the payment date and amount.
4. Select the payment method you used to pay the credit card.
5. Add notes or file attachments if you want to.
6. Click Save and close.

This way, you can ensure that the payments correlate to the expenses. Alternatively, you can also record the payment through a banking download. Once you're done recording it, proceed to match the transactions in your bank feeds.

To maintain accurate financial records, entering the correct opening balances is essential. Here's an article with more info on opening balances: Enter and manage opening balances in QuickBooks Online.

For future use, here's a guide on reconciling to ensure your QuickBooks accounts match your real-life statements: Reconcile workflow.

Please leave a reply if you have further concerns about entering your opening balance in QuickBooks. I'm happy to assist you further. Keep safe!

Thank you for your quick and helpful response!

Under transactions "for review" for bank transactions the payments that I made to the credit card come up. Can I record the transaction from there so I don't have duplicates? And if so, when I click on that to categorize that should I choose "record as credit card payment"? Then from there select the credit card I am paying? 

Then would it make sense to go to the credit card under "chart of accounts" and add the expenses and they would correlate with the payment I made that comes up in the bank transactions?

For example, if I go to "chart of accounts" then click on the specific credit card, the opening balance equity from the statement Nov 15-Dec 15 just say $1000. Would it be correct for that amount to be under charge and balance with the date Dec 15? Then I enter in the expenses and categorize them from that statement (that equal $1000), then from there the payment of $1000 made Jan 6 where the "type" is credit card payment, the payee account would be business checking, then the balance is $0. Does that sound correct? 

Again thank you so much for your help!

I can share additional information about recording your credit card payment in QuickBooks, @CircleJ. 

If you've already recorded your payments to credit cards in QuickBooks Online using the steps provided by AnneMariee above, you'll just have to match them to avoid duplicate transactions. 

Here's how:

1. Go to the Transactions tab and then Bank Transactions. 
2. Select the tile of the bank account and click the For Review tab to start your review. 
3. Find and click to expand this bank transaction.
4. Click the Find Match radio button. 
5. Review the Matching records found in QuickBooks for the possible matching transaction already entered in QuickBooks.
6. Select the transaction to match.
7. Click on Save. 

Here's detailed guidance for matching online bank transactions in QuickBooks Online. 

Then, check out this reference for other ways to record payments you make to your credit cards in QuickBooks Online. From here, you can reconcile them to ensure your books are accurate and there aren't any duplicate transactions: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online.

Let me know if there’s anything else that I can assist with your bank transactions by leaving a comment below. I'm always willing to help. Have a great day!