Taking a few minutes each month to enter your credit card transactions from the statement, can produce a more accurate picture of your expenses, eliminate potential fraudulent credit card activities, and save you time.

• Make sure you have each Credit Card set up in the Chart of Accounts, with Credit Card as the type for each card you will track.
• Make sure you also have the Credit Card company name, address set up in your Vendor list.
• During the month obtain credit card receipts for each purchase from the card user. If the charge is for a business expense, a description must be written on the back (ie. lunch with Dr. Reynolds re: home remodeling). 
  When the monthly statement arrives, all related receipts are stapled to the statement for reference.
• In QuickBooks go to Banking/Record Credit Card Charges/Enter Credit Card Charges
• The Enter Credit Card Charges window will open. Curser down next to “credit card” until you find the correct credit card (ie. B of A Visa, MBNA, American Express, etc.)
• Individually list each purchase on the statement, including the amount and the account number, applying it to a customer job, if applicable. When you have listed all the entries, close the window.
• Go to Banking/Reconcile. Cursor down so that the Account is the correct credit card name. Enter any fees under Service Charge and code to the appropriate account (bank fees, etc.) Continue and reconcile the account, like a bank account, marking off any payments that are reflected on the statement. If you have a discrepancy, don’t exit out. Make sure you select LEAVE, so that you can go back to the reconciliation after you have located the difference.
• When you write the credit card payment, the account on the check will be the Credit Card name (ie. B of A Visa, MBNA, American Express, etc.). This way it will show up accurately on your Balance Sheet.

Business Plans

With QuickBooks 2005, Premier Edition, you can create a Business Plan that will forecast up to 36 months The Plan can be changed at any time to reflect changes in your business. The following capabilities are available with the Business Plan tool:

• Save a Business Plan as a .PDF file for easy printing and e-mailing.
• Export the financial projections from a business plan into Microsoft Excel for additional customization and flexibility.
• Gain more control over the business plan with improved writing and editing tools.
• Check that the Plan is complete with the new plan review feature.
• The Business Plan Tool creates a Business Plan based on the format recommended by the U.S. Small Business Administration for loan applications and lines of credit.

QuickBooks offers numerous tools that you can utilize to assist you with your business including cash projections, forecasting, budgeting, etc.

Note: Make sure that Adobe Acrobat Reader version 4-7 is installed