Reconciling personal expenses from personal bank credit/debit cards

It's good to see you here in the Community, @DeanaCar.

Let me share information on how to handle linked personal bank accounts in QuickBooks.

In QuickBooks Online (QBO), we suggest linking your business-only accounts and avoiding mixing business and personal expenditures. While it is not advisable to mix personal and business funds, you'll need to record the business expense you paid for with your personal bank account. Then, reimburse the money. Here's how:

1. Click the + New button, then select Journal Entry.
2. On the first line, select the expense account for the purchase.
3. Enter the purchase amount in the Debits column.
4. On the second line, select Partner's equity or Owner's equity.
5. Enter the same purchase amount in the Credits column.
6. Click Save and close.

Once done, you can now reimburse the money as an expense. To do so, please follow the steps below:

1. Click the + New button, then select Expense.
2. Select a bank account to use to reimburse the personal funds.
3. In the Category column, select Partner's equity or Owner's equity.
4. Enter the amount of the reimbursement.
5. Click Save and close.

I'm adding this article for more guidance: Pay for business expenses with personal funds.

After recording the business expenses you made with personal funds, you can unlink your personal bank account in QuickBooks. This is to ensure your personal and business transactions don't mix up to avoid balance discrepancies in your business bank accounts.

You may also want to read this article to learn about account reconciliation: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online. This will help ensure your QuickBooks transactions match your bank and credit card statements.

Come back to this post if you need clarification about this, @DeanaCar. I'll be standing by to your response.

Thank you, Mark but now I am a bit confused about the reimbursement. Is that a necessary step? Can't I just log the expense manually as a business expense and be done with it?

I'm joining the thread to share some insights about handling business expenses paid using a personal bank account in QuickBooks Online, @DeanaCar.

I understand that this process might be time-consuming on your end. But please know that doing these steps will ensure that your records in QBO are accurate, and when the time comes that you reconcile and close your books, you won't encounter any discrepancies. Also, reimbursing the business expense paid using your funds will also ensure that liability in your account won't be higher than what you expect.

I'd also recommend consulting your accountant about this. This way, they can give you advice on the best possible way to handle a situation like this. In case you don't have an accountant, I can help you find one. Please see this page: Find a QuickBooks ProAdvisor.

I've added this article in case you encounter problems when reconciling an account in QuickBooks: Fix issues at the end of a reconciliation in QuickBooks Online.

You can also check this page to learn more about closing books in QBO: Close your books in QuickBooks Online.

It's always a pleasure to have you in the Community, @DeanaCar. Feel free to get back to me if you have any additional QuickBooks-related concerns. I'll make sure to be around to assist you again. Take care, and have a good one!