Credit Card Accounts

Use Credit Card Accounts for credit cards that you use for purchases.

HINT-- Credit Card accounts help the Goldenseal accounting software to keep track of purchases paid for by credit card.

USING CREDIT CARD ACCOUNTS
Depositing Funds | Paying Bills | Credit Card Transactions | Using Credit Card Accounts

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When to Use Credit Card Accounts

Use Credit Card accounts for credit cards that you use for purchases, and that don't draw directly from a bank account. Use it for:

VISA
MasterCard
American Express, Discover and Diner's Club cards
Any other general-purpose credit cards

You can also use Credit Card accounts for lines of credit, and other "revolving" debt accounts.

HINT-- If you can take money out of a loan account at irregular intervals, consider it as a Credit Card account, even if there isn't an actual card that you use.

When Not to Use Credit Card Accounts

Do not use Credit Card accounts for:

Debit cards and ATM cards-- Cards that deduct money directly from your bank account are not true credit cards. Enter them as regular Checking or Savings transactions, use Bank Payment as the transaction type, and enter Debit Card or ATM into the Conditions field.
In-store credit-- Cards that add to your account with a vendor are not true credit cards. Handle store cards through ordinary vendor billing instead.
Installment Loans-- Enter mortgages, installment loans, and fixed-payment notes as a Loan account.
Merchant Credit Card Accounts-- If you accept credit cards for sales or services, enter the merchant account as a Checking or Savings account, since the money in it is an asset, not a liability. You can use Payment Methods to identify sales that are paid by each type of card that you accept.

Creating Credit Card Accounts

To create a new Credit Card account, follow these steps:

Choose Credit Cards from the Accounts menu.
Choose New Record from the Edit menu, or click the New button.
Fill out information about the account.

QUICK SETUP HINT-- You only need to enter an Account Name. For accurate reconciling, enter a Starting Balance. All other fields are optional.

Data Fields

Enter the following information for each Credit Card account:

Account Name-- Enter a short name for the account. This is the text that will appear in the Chart of Accounts and in pop-up menus.
Bank Name-- Enter the bank or organization where the account is located.
Address-- Enter the address where credit card payments are sent.
Phone-- Enter the phone number for the credit card agency.
Account Number-- If there is an account number for the account, enter it here.
Phone-- Enter a phone number for the account.
Payment Terms-- Use the clairvoyant field to choose the usual payment terms for the Credit Card account.
Expiration Date-- Enter the date when this card expires.

Entered-- When you create an account, today's date will be entered automatically.
Record Number-- An internal record number will automatically be assigned.
Division-- Use the clairvoyant field to enter the company division to which this account belongs.
Starting Balance-- Enter the starting balance for the account-- the amount owed on the credit card when you first started using Goldenseal.
Minimum Balance-- Enter the lowest balance you can have in this account. Usually it will be a negative number.
Comments-- Enter any comments you'd like to make about this account. You may want to enter key words to make it easier to locate or group particular accounts.

Calculated Fields

Goldenseal shows the following calculated values for this account:

Current Balance-- The current balance is the most recent running total, after all bank transactions are included.

Status Field

Enter the current status of this account:

Active-- You currently do business with this customer.
Inactive-- You don't currently do business with this customer, but you may in the future.
Closed-- You definitely don't do business with this customer any more.

Credit Card Transactions

To make a purchase with a credit card, follow these steps:

Choose Material Purchases from the Costs menu.
Click the New button.
Enter the vendor and purchase information.
In the Payment Method field, enter Credit Card.
Enter the Credit Card account into the Details field.
When you close the purchase transaction, Goldenseal will automatically create a Credit Card transaction for the purchase.

To reconcile Goldenseal against your credit card statement, follow these steps:

If you have already reconciled this account in a previous month, skip to step 4.
Start with the first statement after you started with Goldenseal.
Choose Credit Cards from the Accounts menu, and locate this account. Make sure the starting balance is equal to the previous balance on the statement.
Choose Credit Card Transactions from the Bank menu, and choose an account from the submenu.
If some of the transactions on the statement are not yet in Goldenseal, enter them.
Go through the transactions on the statement, and enter the current reconcile period into the Statement field for each item.
Enter any interest charges, rebates or fees (see the next paragraph).
When you have entered everything, choose Reconcile Account from the Bank menu.
Match the computer balance against the statement balance.

To enter interest charges or other fees on a credit card, follow these steps:

Choose Credit Card Transactions from the Bank menu, and choose an account from the submenu.
Click the New Button, or choose New Record from the Edit menu.
Click on the Type popup at top center, and select Transfer Out.
Enter the amount and job cost details for the charge..

To enter a payment to a credit card, follow these steps:

Choose Checking Transactions from the Bank menu, and choose an account from the submenu.
Click the New Button, or choose New Record from the Edit menu.
Enter Credit Card into the Pay To field.
Enter the Credit Card account into the Account field.
Enter the amount you are paying.
When you close the check transaction, Goldenseal will automatically enter a credit on the Credit Card account.

To enter a balance transfer between two credit card accounts, follow these steps:

Choose Credit Card Transactions from the Bank menu, and choose the source of funds from the submenu.
Click the New Button, or choose New Record from the Edit menu.
Enter Credit Card into the Pay To field.
Enter the Credit Card account into the Account field.
Enter the amount you are transferring.
When you close the transaction, Goldenseal will automatically enter a credit to the other Credit Card account.

Using Credit Card Accounts

To move money into or out of a credit card account, choose Credit Card Transactions from the Accounts menu, and choose an account (or All Accounts).

To make purchases with a credit card, enter a Material Purchase transaction, and enter the credit card into the payment method fields. Goldenseal will create an instant purchase.

To reconcile the account against your bank statement, choose Reconcile from the Accounts menu.

To find a specific credit card transaction, use the Find command.

To view all of your credit card transactions in one place, choose Banking from the Reports menu, and choose Credit Card Transactions from the submenu.