ASI SmartBooks allows you to reconcile credit cards in the same manner as bank accounts
with some minor differences. Reconciling should be done when the credit card statement is
received. This is a separate procedure from recording the amount owed to the credit card
company based on the statement balance.
- Make sure the
beginning and ending balances for the credit card statement are entered
as negative amounts in the reconciliation screen. A negative amount is
used to represent the amount owed on the credit card statement. This is
different than the balances entered for a bank account which is not owed,
but instead available for use.
- Charges on the credit
card statement that have been recorded in Bills-Pay will appear under the
checks expander. Each of these charges will have a check number assigned,
although, when reconciling credit cards, these numbers are arbitrary, and are
not associated with any information on the credit card statement. Use the
Date, Name, Pay to Name, and Amount information to determine the correct
charges to mark as cleared.
- The payments credited
to the credit card for this statement (those already appearing on the
statement) should appear under the ledger entries expander.
- Additional charges
showing on the statement (not associated with an order) can be also entered
under the ledger entries expander.
Once the credit card statement has been reconciled, determine how much of the
balance is going to be paid through the bank account, enter this amount as a
bill new transaction and apply that amount to the ledger account associated
with this credit card.
Keep these differences in mind when reconciling credit cards in ASI SmartBooks.
Make sure to keep the process of reconciling the statement and the process of
recording the amount of the credit card payment separate. This will help keep
both processes cleaner and easier to understand.