How To Record Credit Card Sales in QuickBooks via a Third-party Credit Card Processor
Tim is a Certified QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets) Pro, QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and CPA with 25 years of experience. He brings his expertise to Fit Small Business’s accounting content.
Mark has researched and reviewed accounting software at Fit Small Business since 2019 and has developed an extensive knowledge of accounting software features and how unique business needs determine the best accounting software.
This article is part of a larger series on Accounting Software.
Our guide looks at how to record credit card sales in QuickBooks Online, particularly if the payment was accepted through a credit card. Recording credit card transactions by hand can be tedious, so you might want to consider using an integrated payment processor to simplify the process.
We hope that this tutorial, along with our other QuickBooks Online training courses, will help you learn how to perform key tasks in QuickBooks Online, our leading small business accounting software. If you have subscribed, follow along in your own account so that you can better understand each step illustrated. Otherwise, get a 30-day free trial or 50% off for three months.
Step 1: Record Receipt of the Credit Card Payment
As you’ve learned in our prior tutorials, customer payments can be recorded as payments on outstanding invoices or as sales receipts if an invoice was never issued. Whichever sales form you use, you’ll see similar fields on the entry screen, except that you need to select Credit Card (not Cash or Check) from the Payment method drop-down menu.
To record a credit card payment on an outstanding invoice, open the Receive payment screen by clicking + New above the left menu bar and then selecting Receive payment in the first column, Customers, as shown below.
Navigate to the Receive payment window
Receive Payment screen in QuickBooks Online
Complete the Receive Payment screen by adding the necessary information:
A. Payment date: Enter the date you charged your customer’s credit card.
B. Payment method: Choose customer’s credit card payment processor.
C. Reference number: Enter the transaction number assigned by your credit card processor so that this transaction can be traced from QuickBooks to your processing account in the future (if needed).
D. Deposit to: Ensure the credit card payment is initially deposited to your Undeposited Funds account and not directly to your bank account.
If you haven’t already issued this customer an invoice, you’ll want to create a sales receipt instead of recording a payment received. To create a sales receipt, click + New at the top of the left menu bar and then click Sales receipt under the Customers column. The Sales Receipt form requires the same essential information needed to complete the Receive Payment form, with fields labeled similarly.
Sales receipt form in QuickBooks Online
Click the Save or Save and send button when you have entered all the necessary information.
Step 2: Record Deposits & Fees From Your Credit Card Processor
Most credit card processors will group multiple charges into a single deposit in your checking account. After your credit card processor transfers the funds to your bank account, you need to mirror the deposit by transferring the same credit card charges from Undeposited Funds to your bank account.
Match deposits.
If you don’t mirror the credit card processor’s deposits exactly, the individual deposits in your QuickBooks account register won’t match the deposits on your bank statement, making your bank reconciliation difficult.
Start the transfer from Undeposited Funds by clicking on the + New button at the top of the left menu bar and then selecting Bank Deposit in the far-right column.
Recording a bank deposit in QuickBooks Online (screen 1 of 2)
Complete the Bank Deposit form with the required information.
A. Account: Click the drop-down box and select the checking account where the credit card processor deposited your funds.
B. Date: Enter the date your credit card processor deposited the funds.
C. Payments included: Select the credit card payments your processor included in the current deposit. Not all payments charged on the same day will be deposited into your checking account on the same day.
D. Amount: Verify that the total amount of the deposit matches the deposit from your credit card processor.
Scroll toward the bottom of the Bank Deposit form to complete the Add funds to this deposit section.
Recording a bank deposit in QuickBooks Online (screen 2 of 2)
E. Received from: Select the name of your credit card processor withholding a fee. If it’s a new merchant, click on + Add New from the drop-down menu, as shown below.
Click + Add new to set up a new credit card processor.
F. Account: Choose an expense account, such as “Credit Card Processing Fees.” You can click Add new to set up a new expense account.
G. Payment method: Select Cash as the payment method.
H. Amount: Enter the amount of the fee as a negative number. If your credit card processor subtracts a processing fee from the deposit, record the fee using a negative amount in this section.
Click the green Save and new button to record your changes.
Step 3: Record Other Credit Card Fees
If your credit card processor charges fees other than those subtracted directly from a deposit, record an expense by clicking on + New from the left menu bar and then selecting Expense in the Vendors column.
Recording a credit card processing expense in QuickBooks Online
A. Payee: Select the name of your credit card processor.
B. Payment account: Choose the bank account from where the expense was withdrawn.
C. Payment date: Enter the date the expense was withdrawn.
D. Payment method: Indicate Cash as the payment method.
E. Category: Select an expense account to charge the credit card processing fees.
F. Amount: Enter the amount of the credit card processing fees.
Hit the green Save and close button when you’re done completing the expense window.
Integrated vs Nonintegrated Credit Card Processors
Integrated payment processors are directly connected to your point-of-sale (POS) system. So, there’s no need to enter your customer’s credit card details manually as they’re populated automatically, saving you and your customers valuable time.
Meanwhile, nonintegrated credit card processors don’t have the terminal and POS synced, so you have to enter credit card details manually when charging your customers. The lack of connection makes the checkout process significantly longer than integrated payment solutions.
While the right processing method depends on your needs, you should consider integrated credit card processors, like QuickBooks Payments, if you want a quick and efficient checkout process. As we illustrated in how to process credit card payments, QuickBooks Payments is already in QuickBooks Online, and you only need to activate the service. Alternatively, you can install a third-party app from another credit card processor that integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks Online.
Wrap Up
You’ve just learned how to record credit card sales in QuickBooks Online. To automate the steps we went over, we hope you consider an integrated credit card processor like QuickBooks Payments, which lets you record the payment received on either an invoice or sales receipt and takes care of the rest. Our series of free QuickBooks courses will now focus on preparing financial reports, beginning with how to prepare a profit and loss (P&L) statement.
