If you slogged through the previous few pages and discovered how to record checking and savings account transactions, you may experience déjà vu in the next few pages. Entering credit card and line of credit transactions is mighty similar to recording transactions made in savings and checking accounts. Besides leaving credit cards at home, one way to keep credit card spending under control is to diligently record charges as you make them. As the amount that you owe in the credit card register gets larger and larger, you will be discouraged from spending so much with your credit card.

Recording credit card and line of credit charges

Credit card and line of credit account registers have a Charge form for recording charges.  As does the Withdrawal form, the Charge form has places for entering a transaction date, amount, payee name, category, and memo. All the drop-down lists and keyboard tricks work the same way on a Charge form as on a Withdrawal form. To fill in the Charge form, follow these steps:

1. Open the account register.

2. Click the Charge tab.

3. Enter a reference number (optional).

4. Enter the charge date.

5. Enter the business you purchased the item from in the Pay To text box.

6. Enter the amount of the charge.

7. Select a category.

8. Enter a description (optional).

9. Click the Enter button (or press Enter). Credit card and line of credit accounts track what you owe, not what you have. Don’t forget this all-important detail. In the credit card register shown, you can clearly see the words You Owe where the words Ending Balance appear in a savings or checking account register. In effect, the You Owe number is a negative number. It represents an amount that you will have to pay out of your checking account one of these days.

Recording a credit

If you receive a credit from a bank or credit card issuer, perhaps because you overpaid, disputed a bill, or returned an item you bought, record the credit in the credit card account register. To do so, click the Credit tab and fill in the blanks in the Credit form. The Credit form works exactly like the Charge form (see the preceding section, “Recording credit card and line of credit charges”). Be sure to record the credit in an expense category. Seems odd, doesn’t it, to record credits as expenses? But when you recorded the purchase in the register, you assigned it to an expense category. Now that you’re getting a refund, assign it to the same expense category so that the amount you spent in the category is accurate on your reports.

Recording a credit card payment

Before you make a credit card or line of credit payment, reconcile the credit card or line of credit account. Then take note of how much of the debt you intend to pay, and follow these steps to make a payment to the bank or card issuer:

1. Open the register of the account from which you intend to make the payment (see “Opening an account register,” earlier in this article). Probably a checking register.

2. Click the Withdrawal tab at the bottom of the register window.

3. Click the Common Withdrawals button, choose Credit Card Payment, and then choose the name of the credit card account where you track the credit card that you want to make a payment on

4. Enter a check number in the Number text box if the number that appears there isn’t correct. Remember, you can click the down arrow and choose Next Check Number to enter the next available check number in the text box.

5. In the Date text box, enter the date that you wrote or will write on the check.

6. Enter the amount of the check in the Amount text box. Money continues to track what you owe from month to month.

7. If you care to, write a few descriptive words in the Memo text box.

8. Click the Enter button or press Enter. The amount you paid is deducted from the checking account. Meanwhile, the You Owe amount in the credit card or line of credit register decreases or is brought to zero. In effect, you have transferred money from your checking account to the account where you track credit card charges. Earlier in this article, the sidebar, “Transferring is more than meets the eye,” explains the mystery of why you transfer money between accounts to satisfy a credit card debt. Right-click a credit card payment in a register and choose Go To Account: Credit Card Name (or press Ctrl+X) to go to the account register where you track credit card charges.

Fixing Mistakes in Account Registers

Everybody makes mistakes, and absolutely everybody makes mistakes when entering transactions in account registers. Most people do not have an expert typist’s nimble fingers or sureness of touch. Therefore, the following sections explain how to find and fix mistakes, how to get from place to place in large registers, how to move transactions from one account to another, and how to delete and void transactions.