I need to record an expense I paid with my personal money. The issue arise since it asks at the top "payment account" What do I put in?

Hi there, mosh0458.

We encourage our customers to avoid mixing up their personal funds with business because the auditors from Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will look closely to the businesses with large business expense. I’ll show you how to record this transaction in QuickBooks Online.

You can either reimburse it as a check or an expense. Since you’ve mention that you wanted to record this as an expense, here’s how:

1. In your QuickBooks company, click on the Hamburger icon. 
2. Select + New button, and choose Expense.
3. Select a bank account to use to reimburse the personal funds.
4. In the Category column, choose Owner’s Equity or Partner’s Equity.
5. Enter the amount.
6. Verify the details and then hit Save and close.

For more information, check out:Pay for business expenses with personal funds.

Also, for future reference you can check out: Transfer funds between accounts.

Let me know if you need further assistance. I'm more that willing to help you out. Take care.

Yes I am aware we do not do it but I only found out now I can take it as a business expense.

Please explain this:

Select a bank account to use to reimburse the personal funds.

I need to add it to a real expense on my report so let's say I call it 

John's Commission then it's in essence a loan so I would balance it out with a loan or what not.

Which bank do I debit it from? It will throw my balance off? 

I can shed a light on this, mosh0458.

There are times that business owners will pay for business expenses with personal funds. These expenses can be recorded in QuickBooks Online in several ways. How quickly the business will repay the expenses can determine the best way for the client to record the transactions.

If the client is paying the expenses immediately, we can write a check to reimburse the owner for the business expenditures paid for with personal funds. If the owner cannot reimburse themselves in the short term, a journal entry can record the expenditures. 

In this process will be recording the expense and then credit that same amount to the owner's equity account using an expense. First, we'll need to record the business expense you paid for with your personal funds through a journal entry.:

1. If you're in Business view, switch to Accountant view first.
2. Select + New.
3. Select Journal entry.
4. On the first line, select the expense account for the purchase.
5. Enter the purchase amount in the Debits column.
6. On the second line, select Owner's equity.
7. Enter the same purchase amount in the Credits column.
8. Select Save and close to completely record the expense.

Then, we can now record the reimbursement as a check: 

1. Click the + New icon.
2. Select Check. 
3. Choose the bank account that the company uses to reimburse the personal funds.
4. In the category column, select Owner's equity.
5. Enter the amount to reimburse.
6. Select Save and close or Save and new.

For more information about this process, you can visit this article: Pay for business expenses with personal funds. It also contains information on how to record the reimbursement as an expense.

Should you need further assistance in managing your business expenses, you can always find me here. Stay safe and healthy.

Thanks a lot for your help.

When I go and do this:

Select + New. Select Journal entry. On the first line, select the expense account for the purchase. Enter the purchase amount in the Debits column. On the second line, select Owner's equity. Enter the same purchase amount in the Credits column. Select Save and close to completely record the expense.

It asks from which account on the top left, the answer is none of them as I paid from a personal account.

(I get a drop down of credit cards and checking accounts)

What should I do?

Yes thanks a lot but there's one issue:

Which payment account do I chose?

Your advice makes 100% sense but there is no payment account as it's personal.

Hey there, mosh0458.

You can use the Owner's Equity account. If you don't see this account, you can set it by following these steps:

1. Go to Accounting > Chart of Accounts.
2. Select New, and choose Equity from the Account Type drop-down menu.
3. Select Owner's Equity from the Detail Type drop-down.
4. Enter the Name and Description.
5. Click Save and Close.

I'm adding this article that you can bookmark for future reference: Add an account to your chart of accounts in QuickBooks Online.

Please let me know how it goes. I'm here to help you some more. Thanks.

Every account has owners equity set up and I do to.

That option is not available under the payment account

Hi there, mosh0458,

QuickBooks lets you reimburse the money after recording the business expense you paid for using personal funds. Creating a journal entry is the transaction you'll create in the system. Then, record the company reimbursement.

The 'Select a bank account to use to reimburse the personal funds.' line refers to the bank or credit card account used when the company reimbursed your personal expense. Thus, you won't need to enter Owner's equity when recording the reimbursement.

Upon sharing this, I still suggest consulting with your accountant. He/She might have specific instructions on how to properly handle the personal expense.

You can visit again this link: Pay for business expenses with personal funds for more details.

Don't hesitate to leave a comment if you have follow-up questions. I always have your back.

I need to put something here: 

What do I put 

The 'Select a bank account to use to reimburse the personal funds.' line refers to the bank or credit card account used when the company reimbursed your personal expense. Thus, you won't need to enter Owner's equity when recording the reimbursement.

Hi @mosh0458,

You can either choose a bank account (checking or savings) for the payment account drop-down. This is where you get the money to reimburse your personal expenses.

I've added a screenshot below for your guide.

Here are some handy articles for your reference:

• Mixing business and personal funds.

• Pay for personal expenses from a business credit card or bank account.

• Enter Personal Expenses: Paying with Company Funds.

Should you have other questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out anytime. It's my pleasure to help. Thanks for visiting us today and have a wonderful day.

I did everything as was told the thing here is my business now owes me say $100 so if I write myself a check that needs to be recorded how?

It's not a loan it's in fact repayment. How does it get balanced out? 

I added +100 for the commission check it was then I did -100 for owners investment and now it shows up as a journal entry that's 0.

So now I go and pay myself back $100 how is it recorded? As loan to shareholders? No this is false?

As what do I put? It needs to be balanced out.