How to Enter Credit Card Transactions in QuickBooks Online

Welcome to the Fit Small Business QuickBooks Online training course. In this lesson, we cover how to enter business credit card transactions in QuickBooks Online manually. You can follow along on your own QuickBooks Online account. If you don’t have one already, sign up for a free 30-day trial and follow along below.

To complete this lesson, you can either watch the video below, read through the step-by-step instructions, or do both. Let’s begin.

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When to Manually Enter Business Credit Card Transactions in QuickBooks Online

If your financial institution doesn’t integrate with QuickBooks and you can’t obtain a CSV file with your banking transactions, you have to manually enter credit card transactions in QuickBooks. However, the most efficient way to enter credit card transactions is by connecting your bank account to QuickBooks or importing your credit card transactions from a CSV file.

Entering Credit Card Charges in QuickBooks in 5 Steps

Entering credit card charges in QuickBooks can be accomplished in five easy steps. The first step is to create a new account if you haven’t already. You can do this by navigating to the chart of accounts list and selecting add new account. Next, complete the required fields to add the account to the chart of accounts list. To add transactions, click the View Register button and complete the fields to record credit card transactions.

Five steps to entering credit card charges in QuickBooks are:

1. Display the Chart of Accounts List

To start, navigate to the chart of accounts list by clicking on the gear icon to the left of your company name.

In the Your Company column, select Chart of Accounts as indicated below:

Navigate to Chart of Accounts in QuickBooks Online

2. Create Credit Card

The next step is to add the credit card account information to the chart of accounts list. In this step, you provide the account type, detail type, the name of the account, a description, and the current account balance.

Click on the New button in the upper right-hand corner (not shown) and complete the fields as indicated below:

Complete Fields to Add a New Credit Card Account in QuickBooks Online

Brief descriptions of the information required for the new credit card account are below:

1. Account type: Select the type of account you are downloading transactions for. In this example, it would be “credit card.”
2. Detail type: This field automatically populates based on the account type selected.
3. Account details: This field includes a brief description of what accounts fall into the account type you selected. Use this information to confirm that you have selected the correct account type.
4. Name: Enter the name of your credit card and the last four digits of the account number in this field. TIP: Including the name and last four digits of the card number allows you to easily tell one credit card account from another if you have more than one business credit card connected to QuickBooks.
5. Description: In this field, you can either enter the same information you entered in the name field or a more detailed description of the account. TIP: It’s important to include a brief description in this field so anyone using QuickBooks will know what types of transactions are recorded to the account.
6. Balance: To successfully reconcile your credit card accounts, you need to indicate the ending balance on your credit card statement in this field. TIP: The credit card statement that you use is determined by the date that you start using QuickBooks. For example, if you start using QuickBooks as of June 1, enter the ending balance on your May credit card statement.
7. As of Date: This is the ending date on the credit statement. (i.e., 06/1/2019).

3. Review Updated Chart of Accounts

Double-check to make sure that the new credit card account has been added to the chart of accounts list. To do this, navigate back to the chart of accounts list and search for the new account.

The new credit card account will appear on the chart of accounts list, as indicated below:

Review the New Credit Card Account Added to the Chart of Accounts

4. Navigate to Credit Card Register

After adding the new credit card account to the chart of accounts list, you can access the account register. The register is where you find all of the transactions that have been recorded to the credit card in QuickBooks.

From the chart of accounts list, click on the View register link in the far right column:

Navigate to Credit Card Register

The credit card register should display on your screen as indicated below:

Credit Card Register in QuickBooks Online

Below you will find a brief description of the information that appears in each field:

1. Credit card register: You can determine what credit card register you are in and easily switch between registers by clicking the drop down arrow.
2. Ending balance: This is the current balance of the credit card account. TIP: The credit card balance is immediately updated when you enter credit card transactions in QuickBooks.
3. Reconcile: In the reconciling credit card accounts lesson, we walk through every step of how to reconcile credit card accounts. You do not need to click on this right now.
4. Date: This is the transaction date of the credit card charge or credit.
5. Ref No or type: If you have a reference number to help you identify this transaction in the future, you can enter that number in this field. The transaction type (i.e., CC expense or CC credit) appears in this field right below the reference number.
6. Payee or account: For charges, this field shows the payee and the expense account the purchase was categorized to. For credits or payments, this field lists the vendor that provided the credit along with the expense account it was categorized to.
7. Memo: Typically, you include some additional information about the transaction (e.g., the charge was to buy plumbing supplies).
8. Charge: Enter the amount charged to your credit card in this field.
9. Balance: This field automatically updates after every transaction entered.

5. Enter Credit Card Charges in QuickBooks

Entering credit card charges in QuickBooks requires you to navigate to the credit card register and complete the fields covered in step four (above).

First, you need to select the transaction type. To do this, click on the drop down arrow and select a transaction type from the list as indicated below.

Select the Transaction Type in Credit Card Register

Complete all of the necessary fields and save the credit card transaction as shown below:

Enter and Save Credit Card Transaction in QuickBooks Online

How to Modify Credit Card Transactions

If you need to make changes to a credit card transaction after saving it in the register, you can easily do so. However, I don’t recommend making any changes to the date or the amount if the transaction has already been reconciled. If you do, you run the risk of being out of balance with the credit card statement.

Follow these steps to modify credit card transactions:

1. Navigate to the Credit Card Register

To make changes to a credit card transaction that we previously entered, navigate to the credit card register. You do this by opening the chart of accounts list and clicking on the View Register link next to the credit card account.

From the chart of accounts list, click on the View register link in the far right column as indicated below:

Navigate to the Credit Card Register

2. Select the Credit Card Transaction to Edit

Once you are in the register, click on the transaction that needs editing and make your changes. Don’t forget to save your changes.

Select the Credit Card Transaction to Edit in QuickBooks Online

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About How to Enter Credit Card Transactions in QuickBooks

Below is a list of the most frequently asked questions small business owners have about how to enter credit card transactions in QuickBooks. If you don’t see your question, head over to the Fit Small Business Forum and post it there. One of our industry experts will promptly respond to you.

The most frequently asked questions about how to enter credit card transactions in QuickBooks are:

How do I enter credit card charges in QuickBooks?

Entering credit card charges in QuickBooks can be done in six easy steps:

1. Open the chart of accounts
2. Create a new account for the credit card
3. Click the View register link next to the credit card account
4. Select the transaction type
5. Complete the fields for the credit card charge
6. Click the Save button

How do I import credit card transactions into QuickBooks?

There are two options for importing credit card transactions into QuickBooks. The first option is to connect your bank account to QuickBooks. This allows transactions to automatically import into QuickBooks daily. If your bank does not integrate with QuickBooks, then you need to import credit card transactions from a CSV file.

How do I enter credit card payments in QuickBooks?

Entering credit card payments in QuickBooks can be done in five easy steps:

1. Open the chart of accounts
2. Click the View register link next to the credit card account
3. Select CC Credit as the transaction type
4. Complete the fields to record the credit card payment
5. Click the Save button

Wrap Up

That wraps up the section on How to Manually Enter Business Credit Card Transactions in QuickBooks Online. The next lesson in our QuickBooks Online Training Course show you how to manage downloaded business credit card transactions. In this lesson, we walk you through what to do after you have imported your credit card transactions into QuickBooks.

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