How To Enter Credit Card Payments In QuickBooks Pro

QuickBooks can be a bit overwhelming, even for seasoned users. One area that can be a source of confusion is entering credit card payments.

Fortunately, entering credit card payments into QuickBooks isn’t difficult. In this post, we show you how to reconcile credit card payments in QuickBooks. Then, we’ll show you how to enter payments in QuickBooks in just a few easy steps, so you’ll be a pro in no time!

Reconcile Your Credit Card

You may not have known this, but before you enter credit card payments, you need to reconcile your credit card. This safeguards against any errors and makes entering payments easier (just watch and see).

To begin, go to Banking>Reconcile Credit Card. Be sure to have your credit card statement handy.

Step 1: Select Your Credit Card

Select the credit card account you wish to reconcile.

Step 2: Choose Statement Date

Use the drop-down calendar to enter the statement date on your credit card statement.

Step 3: Enter Your Ending Balance

Enter the ending balance exactly as it appears on your credit card statement.

Step 4: Enter Any Finance Charges

Use the “Finance Charge” box to enter any finance fees (or interest fees). Enter the date the finance fee was charged and select an account like “Interest Expense” to categorize your finance charge.

Then click the blue “Continue” button.

Step 5: Reconcile Your Account

Once you click “Continue,” you’ll be taken to a bank reconciliation screen that looks something like this. The charges and cash advances associated with your credit card will appear on the left, while your payments and credits will appear on the right.

Go through your credit card statement line by line. For each individual transaction on your credit card statement, find the matching transaction in QuickBooks and click it. Continue until all the transactions on your credit card statement are selected.

Once all of the transactions are selected, go to the bottom right-hand side of your QuickBooks screen. The difference should be zero. If not, something’s gone wrong and you’ll need to pinpoint the mistake (you could be missing a transaction, have been charged twice by the credit card company, or have entered the wrong ending balance).

Step 6: Save

When the difference is 0.00, your credit card account is balanced! Now click the blue “Reconcile Now” button.

Step 7: Write A Check

QuickBooks will take you to this screen:

The “Write a check for payment now” option makes entering a credit card payment easy. You can select that option right away and click “OK,” or you can go in and write a check at a later time.

After you click “OK,” you may receive this popup notification about your reconciliation report. You can view or print a summary reconciliation report or a more detailed reconciliation report.

Enter A Credit Card Payment In QuickBooks Pro

You can either enter a credit card payment by following the reconciliation step above and clicking the “Write a check for payment now” option at the end, or you can go straight to the “Write Checks” icon on the Home page.

Step 1: Select Payment Account

Select the account you will be using to pay for your credit card charges (not the credit card account you are paying).

Step 2: Select Credit Card Account

Now, skip down to where it says “Account.” Here is where you will select the actual credit card account you are paying. If you come straight from the reconciliation screen, this information will be automatically filled in.

Step 3: Choose Your Vendor

Go back to the top and use the drop-down menu to select the vendor you are making the payment to.

Step 4: Enter Check Number

Enter a check number (or adjust the existing check number if needed).

Step 5: Enter Date

Use the drop-down calendar to make sure the proper payment date is selected.

Step 6: Enter Payment Amount

If you came straight from the reconciliation screen, QuickBooks will automatically fill in the total outstanding balance on your card. However, you may want to adjust this total or make a partial payment. If that’s the case, enter the custom payment amount.

Step 7: Write a Memo

You can include a menu to describe this payment if you’d like.

Step 8: Add Additional Information

At this time, verify that the account name and amount appear correctly and add any additional information (such as another memo).

Step 9: Save Your Payment

Once your payment looks correct, click the “Save & Close” button. Hit the “Save & New” button if you’re planning on writing more checks.

Step 10: Check Your Payment

Lastly, go to Lists>Chart of Accounts and select your credit card. You’ll see a screen with all of the recorded charges and payments. Double check that your payment has been properly recorded and that the outstanding balance looks right.

Once you’ve done this, you’ve successfully recorded your credit card payments in QuickBooks! For more credit card help, check out the other posts in our QuickBooks Pro 101 Series.

How To Review A Reconciliation Report

Once you finish reconciling your accounts, QuickBooks gives you the option to view or print the report immediately. If you want to review a previous reconciliation report or view your current report at a later time, you can do so in three simple steps.

• Under Reports, click on Reports Center.
• Search for the Previous Reconciliation Report you wish to view. Open the report.
• Select the reconciled account. Then, select whether you want Detail, Summary, or Both reports.

What If A Transaction Doesn’t Appear On My Statement?

Transactions that don’t appear on your statement should not be marked as reconciled. Instead, this is how you should move forward:

• First, compare the total number of transactions to make sure that no transactions are missing.
• If there want to inspect a transaction more closely or get more information, select the transaction, then choose the option Go To.
• If you entered any information incorrectly when reconciling your accounts, select Modify to view and change Service Charges, Interest, and Ending Balance.

QuickBooks Pro Credit Card Payment FAQs

Final Thoughts On QuickBooks Pro

Once you get the hang of reconciling and entering credit card payments in QuickBooks Pro, the process is quick and easy. However, you may still encounter issues that leave you scratching your head.

For troubleshooting issues, check out the QuickBooks Community or call QuickBooks directly. Don’t forget to check out the rest of our QuickBooks Desktop Pro 101 Series to learn how to reconcile a bank account, enter credit card charges, enter a bill, handle merchant fees, and more.

Overwhelmed by QuickBooks Pro? Maybe it’s time to switch to QuickBooks Online. QBO is easy to use, cloud-based, and affordable. Best of all, you can easily import your QuickBooks Desktop data into QuickBooks Online. Check out our full review on QuickBooks Online for more details.

Outgrown QuickBooks Pro? Switch to QuickBooks Premier. It’s the same QuickBooks Desktop software you love but with more users and advanced, industry-specific features, which we cover in our QuickBooks Premier review.