Using QB 3005 Pro to download credit card charges

Posted by PT on November 28, 2007, 1:13 am

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Our organization uses a set of a half dozen credit cards assigned to
specific employees for periodic business purchases. In a typical month,
each card may accumulate a half dozen charges.

Using the old fashioned manual method, here's what I do for each card:

I click on Banking | Record CC Charges | Enter CC charges. On the resulting
screen, and using data from either the CC provider's on-line statement or
hard copy statement I select and enter the vendor from my QB vendor file,
enter the transaction date, the amount and the appropriate account to charge
the purchase.

Now if I were to let QB download the data from the CC provider, how could QB
select the correct vendor, and how would it know which account to debit? Is
there a step in which I make the choices during the download?

I guess what I'm asking is whether there's any real saving to using the QB
download
--

PT

Posted by L on November 28, 2007, 8:02 am

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> Our organization uses a set of a half dozen credit cards assigned to

> specific employees for periodic business purchases. In a typical month,

> each card may accumulate a half dozen charges.

> Using the old fashioned manual method, here's what I do for each card:

> I click on Banking | Record CC Charges | Enter CC charges. On the

> resulting

> screen, and using data from either the CC provider's on-line statement or

> hard copy statement I select and enter the vendor from my QB vendor file,

> enter the transaction date, the amount and the appropriate account to

> charge

> the purchase.

> Now if I were to let QB download the data from the CC provider, how could

> QB

> select the correct vendor, and how would it know which account to debit?

> Is

> there a step in which I make the choices during the download?

> I guess what I'm asking is whether there's any real saving to using the QB

> download

QB obtains the vendor name from the financial institution. The names rarely
match what you would enter as a vendor name.... they are often truncated, or
contain information specific to WHICH Staples, Shell Oil or whatever
location you visited. There is an opportunity to assign an 'alias' to the
downloaded name, so that if you have a CC charge that went to "19 PET. -
NEPTUNE Q39 NEPTUNE NJ" you could assign it as an alias to "19 Petroleum
Inc.".

After you download the transactions for your CC, QB will attempt to match
the transaction to ones already in your register. The help section for
online banking has a detailed explanation under 'matching transactions'. If
the transaction is in the register but hasn't been matched, you have the
opportunity to manually match it. If the transaction has not been entered
into the register, you can enter it. It is in the matching/entering stage
that you can create aliases, assign accounts, etc.

The real time savings come after you have downloaded and recorded
transactions for a couple of months. QB has the option to 'add multiple' and
it will bring up a screen, with transactions that match the vendor
names/aliases previously entered, and the accounts previously assigned. You
have the option AT ANY TIME to change vendor names or accounts (say your
purchase at Staples was not for 'office supplies' but instead for 'office
furnishings' or whatever... you can select the proper expense account from
the screen BEFORE the transaction is entered).

Posted by PT on November 28, 2007, 1:17 pm

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Thanks for such a detailed and helpful explanation

--

PT

> QB obtains the vendor name from the financial institution. The names

> rarely match what you would enter as a vendor name.... they are often

> truncated, or contain information specific to WHICH Staples, Shell Oil or

> whatever location you visited. There is an opportunity to assign an

> 'alias' to the downloaded name, so that if you have a CC charge that went

> to "19 PET. - NEPTUNE Q39 NEPTUNE NJ" you could assign it as an alias to

> "19 Petroleum Inc.".

> After you download the transactions for your CC, QB will attempt to match

> the transaction to ones already in your register. The help section for

> online banking has a detailed explanation under 'matching transactions'.

> If the transaction is in the register but hasn't been matched, you have

> the opportunity to manually match it. If the transaction has not been

> entered into the register, you can enter it. It is in the

> matching/entering stage that you can create aliases, assign accounts, etc.

> The real time savings come after you have downloaded and recorded

> transactions for a couple of months. QB has the option to 'add multiple'

> and it will bring up a screen, with transactions that match the vendor

> names/aliases previously entered, and the accounts previously assigned.

> You have the option AT ANY TIME to change vendor names or accounts (say

> your purchase at Staples was not for 'office supplies' but instead for

> 'office furnishings' or whatever... you can select the proper expense

> account from the screen BEFORE the transaction is entered).