Adding a Loan to Banking

Sending good vibes to you, klkel632.

I'd be glad to provide you with easy steps on how to add a loan account in QuickBooks Desktop.

To track a loan payable, you need to create a liability account.

Here's how: 

1. From the Lists menu, click Chart of Accounts.
2. In the Chart of Accounts, right-click anywhere and select New.
3. In the Add New Account screen, click the Other Account Types radio button and from the drop-down and choose either:
   • Other Current Liability: for short-term loans payable over one year.
   • Long Term Liability: for long-term loans payable over a longer period.
4. Click Continue.
5. Enter a name and number for the account.
6. Click Save & Close.

Record the loan amount:

1. From the Banking menu, select Make Deposits.
2. If the Payments to Deposit window opens, click Cancel.
3. In the Make Deposits window:
       a. In the Deposit To field, select account to deposit the loan into.
       b. Check the Date and enter an optional Memo.
       c. In the From Account column, select the Liability account you created in Step 1.
       d. In the Amount column, enter the loan amount.
       e. Click Save & Close.

Record loan payments:

1. From the Banking menu, select Write Checks.
2. Choose the Bank Account you will use to pay the loan.
3. Verify Check NO. and Date.
4. In the Pay to the Order of field, select the name of the bank.
5. Go to the Expenses tab and in the Check details area:
   1. Click the first line then choose the liability account created in Step 1 and enter payment for the principal amount.
   2. Click the second line then choose an interest expense account and enter payment for the loan interest.
6. (Optional) Memorize the check if you want QuickBooks to enter the payment automatically at regular intervals.
   1. Click Memorize.
   2. Choose and fill out all necessary fields.
   3. Click OK.
7. Click Save & Close.

You can check out this article for figures and detailed steps: Manually track loans.

As always, you can contact our customer care agents if you'd like someone to be with you as you go through these steps. Our contact details can be found here along with our opening hours:

1. Go to: https://help.quickbooks.intuit.com/en_US/contact.
2. Choose your QuickBooks Product.
3. Select your QuickBooks version.
4. On the Contact Us page, click a topic.
5. Click on the Get Phone Number button to see the support number.

This will get everything nice and organized in your QuickBooks Desktop. Let me know if there's anything else you need. Have a great rest of your day.

We received a loan. I created the COA for the long term liability, created a Journal Entry for the amount of the loan on one side and going in to the bank on the other. However, the amount on my COA for the long term liability (from the Journal Entry) does not reflect the Interest Amount that we will end up repaying. How can I fix this? 

I did create an Interest Expense Account for the Loan. 

Hi SpecRefPremier,

You can edit your journal entry and add your interest amount from there. Let me guide you how.

1. Click Company at the top.
2. Click Make Journal Entries.
3. Click the Find arrow at the top and locate the journal entry.
4. Then, add the interest to your entry.
5. Click Save & Close.

Also, you can pull up a journal report to see your journal entries. Here's how:

1. Click Reports.
2. Click Accountant and Taxes.
3. Click Journal (or Adjusting Journal Entries).

See attached screenshot below.

You can refer to this article about creating a journal entry for details.

I've also added our page about banking and bank feeds for some help articles for your future tasks.

You can always post anytime if you have other questions.