We are looking at adding a credit card as a payment option. We would like to code the expenses to each vendor, so we can still pull vendor activity reports.

Is anyone else using a credit card for payment options, and if so, how do you have that set-up?

Thanks for your assistance.

We want to do the same thing and I know I have seen information on it somewhere, but can't find it - in fact we were just looking yesterday under the knowledge base

I haven't gotten any response back yet.

We just treat the credit card provider as a vendor. The allocation process is a bit daunting, but each purchase is accompanied by a payment request document that has the invoice/receipt attached and the appropriate account and project coding. The credit card holders use the cards within the limits established and their authority to do so. It isn't doing it through the bank register system as you suggest, but it works for us. We are a small company and have 5 card holders with an overall limit of $25,000.

We also have set up the credit card company as a vendor. All proper documentation is attached to the payment request when it is processed. We have never had a problem with this system with our auditors.

We also set up the credit card company as a vendor and require backup documentation. Only a few officers have credit cards and we use a BTA (business travel account) for travel expenses. We're considering providing credit cards to more employees - What is your setup relative to issuing cards to your employees? At another company we had problems from the auditors because the cards were issued to employees and paid directly by the Corporation. However, if it's the employees' responsibility, most of them don't want an additional credit card on their credit report.

We have a very large credit card program (over 100 cards) that's been in place for 2 years. However, we are not concerned about tracking each vendor in our AP system, so we record the downloaded transactions by journal entry. If we need vendor information, we can run reports through the bank. Each month the cardholders attach receipts for each charge, code it to the proper account, sign their statement and forward it for approval. We have approval and review procedures in place to satisfy our auditors concerns.

Do you use one particular bank or financial institution for the credit cards for your employees? We are considering issuing cards to a large number of our employees in order to stop writing so many small accounts payable reimbursement checks. We are looking into a program with purchasing cards where we can control the credit limit, i.e. the limit could be increased for trips and then reduced afterwards. If you could share your set up with me, I would appreciate it. If you want to contact me directly, my email is [Email Removed].

I would be interested in your set up too if you don't mind; we would like to find a way to do this without affecting our employees personal credit. My email is [Email Removed]

I gotta say that I think it a terrible idea to exchange writing lots of small checks to allowing folks to use a credit card instead. The loss of control is my first concern - at least with the check writing you have the documentation and approval before the fact. And if you think about the work associated with implementing control features that catch personal usage or inappropriate charges - things that you want to run through your disbursement system - I'll bet you will find it a wash as to time and effort. I would strongly advise against having a bunch of small transactions run through credit cards.

Perhaps our employees are unique, but we have had no abuses of our credit card program. Employees sign an agreement with the school that details the responsibility they assume when accepting the card. Among other things, they agree to use the card only for budgeted items. Aside from the initial set up, establishing the individual credit limits and the exclusion of obtaining cash with their card, we have no other control features on the cards. Our review of receipts is the same for credit card statement backup as it is for reimbursements. We save time by using a download of all transactions from the bank which we import as a journal entry each month and actually have more detail to report than if we keyed each request into AP and wrote small reimbursement checks each month. The ability to run small transactions through the credit card program is one of the main reasons that our Lower School and Science faculty appreciate the program. As I said, perhaps our employees are unique. They truly appreciate the program and work with us to ensure that we have everything we need to be able to continue to offer them this perk.

We track by individual purchase under the respective vendor but pay the credit card vendor via a credit card "bank account". It goes like so - we enter the invoice under the ind. vendor the purchase was made from. When the credit card bill comes in we pay that invoice via bank draft, and choose the credit card bank account number for the credit side (debit is a/p). We enter an invoice for the full amount of the payment in the credit card vendor account and debit the credit card bank account number. We pay the invoice from there. Hope this helps, Romy

We also have many credit cards that we keep track of. Each credit card has a limit attached to it, and they are kept locked up in the business office until the employee needs it, then they have to sign out the card. The employee also has to sign a sheet regarding the regulations of the credit card. Whenever we receive a new credit card, I'm the one who activates it so there is no pin number where they can go to the bank and receive cash. The employee then puts in a purchase requisition so when the bill comes in it can be reconciled and imported into GL, then we enter the credit card bill into payables to be paid under the vendors name with a debit and a credit to accounts payable.

Is this the process you use for purchases made with credit card? You enter the expense into each vendor with debiting the expense and crediting (what). Did you set-up a separate cash account for the credit card? The next step would be to pay the credit card statement, debiting (the credit card bank account??) and crediting AP? Thanks so much for your assistance. Pam Foss [Email Removed]

When you enter the expense in the vendor tab you debit the expense and your system should credit a payable account (say 20001) Yes you set up a seperate asset account (say 10002) associated with your seperate credit card bank account. Then run a payment list of only the credit card expenses that are on the bill you received and pay with a bank draft in the credit card bank account. This should debit a/p (20001) and credit the credit card asset account(10002). Then go to your credit card vendor account and enter an invoice for the full payment amount. Debit 10002 and credit your a/p account (20001). Then pay this invoice off via check or eft - however you pay. Will debit a/p and credit your regular cash and bank account. Finally, you should reconcile the credit card bank account, although it should always be zero. Hope this helps, Romy