Entering Credit Card Statements

What do I do when my credit card bill arrives?

Here's a simple guide to entering credit card transactions from the statement.

Instant Purchases

You can enter an instant purchase right when you buy something with a credit card. That way it is in your records immediately, so your job costs will be more accurate. If you do that, then the purchases will already be in your accounting records, before you get your credit card statement.

When your statement arrives, do the following to check instant purchases against the statement:

1. Choose Credit Card Transactions from the Bank menu, and choose this card from the submenu.
2. Choose Reconcile from the Bank menu.
3. Enter the current period
4. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you get to items on the previous statement.

If you use the Reconcile field to mark cleared items, do the following to find any unpaid items on the account:

1. Choose Credit Card Transactions from the Bank menu, and choose this card from the submenu.
2. Choose Find from the Edit menu.
3. Click in the Status field on the left side of the window, and choose Entered.
4. Click the Find button.
5. Goldenseal will show all uncleared transactions. You can mark them off on the statement, and enter something into the Reconcile field so you know they have cleared.

Other Purchases

If there are new purchases on a credit card statement that you haven't already entered, follow these steps:

1. Choose Material Purchases from the Costs menu.
2. Click the New button (or click the Template button to enter a frequent purchase item).
3. Enter details for the purchase.
4. In the Payment Method field, choose Credit Card.
5. In the Details field, enter the credit card used for this purchase.
6. Click the Enter key to complete the purchase transaction. Goldenseal will automatically enter a credit card transaction, and mark the purchase as Paid.

HINT-- If you made a credit card payment to a subcontractor, follow the steps above with a Subcontractor Cost record. If you paid an other cost, follow the steps above with an Other Cost record.

After you create a new purchase, enter the current reconcile period into the Reconcile field for the payment, so you know the item has cleared. Or, you can go back to the Reconcile command and mark it off there.

Entering Other Charges

If you paid interest or other fees to the credit card company, follow these steps:

1. Choose Credit Card Transactions from the Bank menu, and choose this account from the submenu.
2. Click the New button.
3. Choose Transfer Out in the Type field.
4. Enter Interest Paid in the Transfer To field.
5. Enter the amount of the charge.
6. Enter an overhead account and cost category for the expense.
7. Click the Enter key to complete the charge transaction.

Reconciling the Statement

After you have entered all purchases and charges, the current Running Total in the Credit Card transaction window should match the current balance on the credit card statement.

If it doesn't, you'll need to find the error and correct it. If the account started out with a balance due when you first started using Goldenseal, enter that balance into the Starting Balance field in the Credit Card account (usually it is a negative number). If you have the correct starting balance, then you'll need to check each Credit Card transaction for this account.

HINT: To see a list of all credit card transactions, choose Banking from the Reports menu, and choose Credit Card Transactions from the submenu.

You can also "mark off" each item by filling a reconcile period into the Reconcile field in the Credit Card transactions window. Then you can use the Reconcile command to balance the computer against the credit card statement each month.

Making a Payment

To write a check for a partial or complete payment, follow these steps:

1. Choose Checking Transactions from the Bank menu, and choose an account from the submenu.
2. Click the New button.
3. Enter Credit Card Account into the Pay To field.
4. Enter the account into the Account field.
5. Enter the amount of the payment.
6. Click the Enter key to complete the payment.

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