In some months, I pay more on my credit card than the expenses incurred. In those months, I can't attribute expenses to the entire amount sent to the card company. It would seem like I'd want the balance to be directed to a "prepaid credit card account" or something similar. In months where I pay less than the expenses incurred, I'd draw this asset down.
I can't figure out how to accomplish this and would be grateful for some guidance.
@Peter_Collery,
Having the credit card connected to Wave and overpaying your statement due creates a negative liability. In essence an asset. I would leave as is and be sure that your negative liability agrees back to the credit card statement on a given date.
Thanks. I think that's what I've done. In a month when I "overpay" my actual expenses I allocate the excess as a transfer to "prepaid credit card". That transfer shows up as its own transaction, and I have a prepaid credit card asset on my balance sheet. So far so good.
My question is how I can draw that asset down in months when my spending on the card is greater than the cash I send the issuer.
Peter_Collery,
As I mentioned, I would not transfer the balance since you need to draw down on it. The future charges on the card would draw down the balance. So for example, you charge 1000 and pay 1100. You now have a credit balance of -100. Next month you charge 50. You balance now would be -50. By leaving as is, you do not need to constantly move amounts back and forth between accounts ie. a prepaid and a liability.
Hi again, and thanks for your patient support. If I pay $1,100 in a month where I have $1,000 of expenses, the Wave software insists that I allocate all $1,100. I can allocate the $1,000 to the various expenses I incurred that month. Can you tell me precisely what I should do to show the remaining $100 as a prepaid asset, and how I can use that asset to pay a subsequent credit card bill?
So it sounds like the credit card is not importing. Correct? When a credit card is importing as well as the cash account, charges are categorized and payments to the card are done through the transfer to credit card when you categorize. The payment to the card is also imported from the credit card. These 2 amounts (payment from cash account and deposit in credit account account) represent the transfer between accounts. By doing this, the balance of the credit account should agree back to the credit card statement. If it is negative number then it represents amounts prepaid (overpaid).
I think you're right. I'm simply seeing the activity in my bank account in Wave. So, if I send $1,000 to the credit card company, that shows up as a $1,000 deduction to my bank account which (if I don't want to just leave as a payment to the credit card company) I have to categorize. In a month where I paid more on the credit card bill than the expenses I incurred, I don't have enough expenses to fully allocate the amount paid.
I hope this makes sense. Should I explore importing the credit card bill?
@Peter_Collery,
Yep. That is the only way you will be able to keep a running balance of either an amount due or overpayment similar to the checking account. Meaning, a running balance.
Hello, I have added a credit card to my business books in wave. I have a "Business Checking Account" and a "Credit card/Liabilty account". I have imported my credit card transactions from my bank statement but the expenses are showing as income? So when i pay for everyday expenses using my credit card, those expenses when imported into wave show as income? Please help. Thank you
@Jonathan_GS_GROUP,
If you have a lot of transactions, I would delete everything you imported and start again. It would appear that the amounts are backwards in the csv which is why they are showing up as deposits. In the csv, charges are positive numbers and credit card payments are negative. Sometimes, depending on the financial institution, the export can be backwards.
If you do not have many transactions, then I would go to Accounting/Transactions/Filter for just the card and one by one click on each transaction and change from deposit to withdrawal. Repeat until all have been flipped.
Thanks Mikeg, appreciate your quick reply. I've check the CSV files. In my checking account the expenses show as negative and in the CSV export for my credit card are also shown as negtative. When I import the checking account CSV it shows correctly but when i imported the credit CSV it has swopped things around. See attached images/CSV files. Thank you so much!
@Mikeg. Blonde moment. For confirmation, i should invert my positives and negatives on my credit card CSV(This is how the financial institutions that wave is geared to read operates) and re-import into wave and wave will read it correctly?
Hello,
I have followed the steps to categorize my credit card payments as "transfer to Bank, Credit Card or Loan" - I am able to locate the corresponding transactions from my checking account and my credit card. I link them & it appears to be successful, but as soon as I navigate away and come back to my transactions it appears that the system has generated 2 new transactions called "created transfers" with the exact same information. The debit & credit have the same date & I'm able to locate and link them as a transfer. Why is the system creating 2 new transactions?
@SRRE_CO
I met the same problem. Then figured it out as below:
After you click "Transfer" under "Category", pay attend to the option of "Select Account with Matching Transaction", click it, and then match the same transaction under the other account. Then the "created transfer" will disappear. (Eventually, you will just need to click the tick button in the other account, rather than click the transaction...).
So the trick is don't "create" the transfer, but "match" it.
P.S. I'm also new to WaveApp and still learning. But it's a great tool! I want to say good job and keep going and a big thank you to WaveApp team! (There is a learning curve, and of course there will be "problems" here and there, but I'm so happy to transfer to WaveApp from the biggest player in the market)
I did some work and now is more familiar with waveapp:
the extra "created transfer" is actually not under the same account, although it shows up right after your action on the same page. You can tell from the 2nd line (the smaller words) that it's under the other account that the transfer is related with (for your convenience, I guess). If everything is right, just click the tick button on the far right over the line of the "created transfer" so you don't have to jump over to the other account, locate that transfer, and mark as reviews.
Anyway, the earlier reply about it's better to "match" the transfer. Waveapp is pretty smart to automatically match the transfers, but you still have to choose from the dropdown menu under "category".
Hi @Roka, Step #5 from the article refers to when you are selecting the Category from the transaction "Edit transaction details" window. When you click the Category option of "Transfer to/from Bank, Credit Card, or Loan", this will give you options to select an account with a matching transaction or select and account to create the transfer. If you already have a matching transaction for the transfer, you would see it as an option there and be able to select it. Once selected and saved, you will see both transactions for the transfer.
@Vincent_R , that's right! Each transfer will have two transactions associated with it. One is a transfer to an account and the other is a transfer from another account.
The important part is missing: how transactions will look after doing the above. There are three entries for one transfer transaction. Which is very confusing. Please post an ILLUSTRATED page (or better, a video) on what shows up in the entries and how to correctly categorize the apparent duplicates. This has been driving me nuts. So much more compllicated than your previous way of doing this.
I have read this entire thread and it is helpful, thank you. However, I am struggling to understand why a payment made from my business checking account to my business credit card shows as a withdrawal in my checking account , but shows as income on my P&L. It is a withdrawal in my checking and it also shows as a deposit in my credit card transactions. All good. But my P&L shows every payment made to my credit card as INCOME. Why is this?? Do I still have to create the transfer even if it shows correctly as a withdrawal and a deposit in the respective transactions? Please help.
@macrofitdenise,
That is because every transaction from a financial account, presented on the balance sheet (i.e one side of double entry) defaults to the income statement (other side of double entry)
From the transaction journal you are telling the software what that other side is. So if you paid the credit card from your checking then you are tagging the deposit from the credit card as the other side of that payment. It then completes the transaction and treats it as a movement between balance sheet accounts. For the credit card payment Assets are reduced (cash out) Liabilities reduced (liability paid). Another way of saying is that Wave is importing balance sheet accounts and one side of the double entry for accounting. The transaction journal is meant to complete the other side (categorization). Whether it is a balance sheet account, income account or expense account depends on the nature of the disbursement or receipt.
Thanks @Mikeg I do understand that. But does this mean I have to categorize each transaction in the transaction journal rather than leave it as uncategorized payment?. I tried it, but when i do this (i.e. create a transfer from the checking to credit card), it creates an additional transaction and duplicates the money. So I'm still not sure how to categorize it correctly in order for it not to show as income on the P&L report...Appreciate support with this
@macrofitdenise,
When both accounts are linked (importing) then you should be able to see that Wave found a matching transaction. You would then link the two.
Under the Choose category select Transfer From Bank or Credit Card. It should find the matching one since I am inferring from your post that both accounts are linked and importing (i.e. checking and credit card)
Got it. Thank you. What I was doing was choosing the account to transfer to, not the specific transaction, so it was creating a new transaction in the account I chose. Beginner mistake. Thank you for your support. Much appreciated.
I am able to do this one-by-one to categorize a credit card payment. However, I have not been able to do bulk transfers for this purpose. I have about 101 pending to do. Is there a way to do the transfer in bulk, the way other things can be done in bulk? Thank you.
How do you do a balance transfer from credit card to credit card when entering in manually? I understand how to manually put in payments to a credit card from a checking account. But credit card to credit card transactions still don't make sense to me.
Comments
In some months, I pay more on my credit card than the expenses incurred. In those months, I can't attribute expenses to the entire amount sent to the card company. It would seem like I'd want the balance to be directed to a "prepaid credit card account" or something similar. In months where I pay less than the expenses incurred, I'd draw this asset down.
I can't figure out how to accomplish this and would be grateful for some guidance.
@Peter_Collery,
Having the credit card connected to Wave and overpaying your statement due creates a negative liability. In essence an asset. I would leave as is and be sure that your negative liability agrees back to the credit card statement on a given date.
Thanks. I think that's what I've done. In a month when I "overpay" my actual expenses I allocate the excess as a transfer to "prepaid credit card". That transfer shows up as its own transaction, and I have a prepaid credit card asset on my balance sheet. So far so good.
My question is how I can draw that asset down in months when my spending on the card is greater than the cash I send the issuer.
Peter_Collery,
As I mentioned, I would not transfer the balance since you need to draw down on it. The future charges on the card would draw down the balance. So for example, you charge 1000 and pay 1100. You now have a credit balance of -100. Next month you charge 50. You balance now would be -50. By leaving as is, you do not need to constantly move amounts back and forth between accounts ie. a prepaid and a liability.
Hi again, and thanks for your patient support. If I pay $1,100 in a month where I have $1,000 of expenses, the Wave software insists that I allocate all $1,100. I can allocate the $1,000 to the various expenses I incurred that month. Can you tell me precisely what I should do to show the remaining $100 as a prepaid asset, and how I can use that asset to pay a subsequent credit card bill?
Again, I'm really grateful for your help.
How are the transactions getting into Wave?
When I pay the credit card bill from my bank account, it automatically shows up.
So it sounds like the credit card is not importing. Correct? When a credit card is importing as well as the cash account, charges are categorized and payments to the card are done through the transfer to credit card when you categorize. The payment to the card is also imported from the credit card. These 2 amounts (payment from cash account and deposit in credit account account) represent the transfer between accounts. By doing this, the balance of the credit account should agree back to the credit card statement. If it is negative number then it represents amounts prepaid (overpaid).
I think you're right. I'm simply seeing the activity in my bank account in Wave. So, if I send $1,000 to the credit card company, that shows up as a $1,000 deduction to my bank account which (if I don't want to just leave as a payment to the credit card company) I have to categorize. In a month where I paid more on the credit card bill than the expenses I incurred, I don't have enough expenses to fully allocate the amount paid.
I hope this makes sense. Should I explore importing the credit card bill?
@Peter_Collery,
Yep. That is the only way you will be able to keep a running balance of either an amount due or overpayment similar to the checking account. Meaning, a running balance.
Hello, I have added a credit card to my business books in wave. I have a "Business Checking Account" and a "Credit card/Liabilty account". I have imported my credit card transactions from my bank statement but the expenses are showing as income? So when i pay for everyday expenses using my credit card, those expenses when imported into wave show as income? Please help. Thank you
@Jonathan_GS_GROUP,
If you have a lot of transactions, I would delete everything you imported and start again. It would appear that the amounts are backwards in the csv which is why they are showing up as deposits. In the csv, charges are positive numbers and credit card payments are negative. Sometimes, depending on the financial institution, the export can be backwards.
If you do not have many transactions, then I would go to Accounting/Transactions/Filter for just the card and one by one click on each transaction and change from deposit to withdrawal. Repeat until all have been flipped.
Thanks Mikeg, appreciate your quick reply. I've check the CSV files. In my checking account the expenses show as negative and in the CSV export for my credit card are also shown as negtative. When I import the checking account CSV it shows correctly but when i imported the credit CSV it has swopped things around. See attached images/CSV files. Thank you so much!
@Mikeg. Blonde moment. For confirmation, i should invert my positives and negatives on my credit card CSV(This is how the financial institutions that wave is geared to read operates) and re-import into wave and wave will read it correctly?
@Jonathan_GS_GROUP,
That is correct. The csv amounts are backwards.
@Mikeg Thanks for confirming, really appreciate it! Have a great weekend!
Hello,
I have followed the steps to categorize my credit card payments as "transfer to Bank, Credit Card or Loan" - I am able to locate the corresponding transactions from my checking account and my credit card. I link them & it appears to be successful, but as soon as I navigate away and come back to my transactions it appears that the system has generated 2 new transactions called "created transfers" with the exact same information. The debit & credit have the same date & I'm able to locate and link them as a transfer. Why is the system creating 2 new transactions?
@SRRE_CO
I met the same problem. Then figured it out as below:
After you click "Transfer" under "Category", pay attend to the option of "Select Account with Matching Transaction", click it, and then match the same transaction under the other account. Then the "created transfer" will disappear. (Eventually, you will just need to click the tick button in the other account, rather than click the transaction...).
So the trick is don't "create" the transfer, but "match" it.
P.S. I'm also new to WaveApp and still learning. But it's a great tool! I want to say good job and keep going and a big thank you to WaveApp team! (There is a learning curve, and of course there will be "problems" here and there, but I'm so happy to transfer to WaveApp from the biggest player in the market)
@SRRE_CO
I did some work and now is more familiar with waveapp:
the extra "created transfer" is actually not under the same account, although it shows up right after your action on the same page. You can tell from the 2nd line (the smaller words) that it's under the other account that the transfer is related with (for your convenience, I guess). If everything is right, just click the tick button on the far right over the line of the "created transfer" so you don't have to jump over to the other account, locate that transfer, and mark as reviews.
Anyway, the earlier reply about it's better to "match" the transfer. Waveapp is pretty smart to automatically match the transfers, but you still have to choose from the dropdown menu under "category".
Hope it helps!
Care to explain this part too ? Locate means what ? What do I do ?
Thank you for the information. Just to confirm. After this process is done this will show two line items correct?
Hi @Roka, Step #5 from the article refers to when you are selecting the Category from the transaction "Edit transaction details" window. When you click the Category option of "Transfer to/from Bank, Credit Card, or Loan", this will give you options to select an account with a matching transaction or select and account to create the transfer. If you already have a matching transaction for the transfer, you would see it as an option there and be able to select it. Once selected and saved, you will see both transactions for the transfer.
@Vincent_R , that's right! Each transfer will have two transactions associated with it. One is a transfer to an account and the other is a transfer from another account.
The important part is missing: how transactions will look after doing the above. There are three entries for one transfer transaction. Which is very confusing. Please post an ILLUSTRATED page (or better, a video) on what shows up in the entries and how to correctly categorize the apparent duplicates. This has been driving me nuts. So much more compllicated than your previous way of doing this.
I have read this entire thread and it is helpful, thank you. However, I am struggling to understand why a payment made from my business checking account to my business credit card shows as a withdrawal in my checking account , but shows as income on my P&L. It is a withdrawal in my checking and it also shows as a deposit in my credit card transactions. All good. But my P&L shows every payment made to my credit card as INCOME. Why is this?? Do I still have to create the transfer even if it shows correctly as a withdrawal and a deposit in the respective transactions? Please help.
@macrofitdenise,
That is because every transaction from a financial account, presented on the balance sheet (i.e one side of double entry) defaults to the income statement (other side of double entry)
From the transaction journal you are telling the software what that other side is. So if you paid the credit card from your checking then you are tagging the deposit from the credit card as the other side of that payment. It then completes the transaction and treats it as a movement between balance sheet accounts. For the credit card payment Assets are reduced (cash out) Liabilities reduced (liability paid). Another way of saying is that Wave is importing balance sheet accounts and one side of the double entry for accounting. The transaction journal is meant to complete the other side (categorization). Whether it is a balance sheet account, income account or expense account depends on the nature of the disbursement or receipt.
Thanks @Mikeg I do understand that. But does this mean I have to categorize each transaction in the transaction journal rather than leave it as uncategorized payment?. I tried it, but when i do this (i.e. create a transfer from the checking to credit card), it creates an additional transaction and duplicates the money. So I'm still not sure how to categorize it correctly in order for it not to show as income on the P&L report...Appreciate support with this
@macrofitdenise,
When both accounts are linked (importing) then you should be able to see that Wave found a matching transaction. You would then link the two.
Under the Choose category select Transfer From Bank or Credit Card. It should find the matching one since I am inferring from your post that both accounts are linked and importing (i.e. checking and credit card)
Got it. Thank you. What I was doing was choosing the account to transfer to, not the specific transaction, so it was creating a new transaction in the account I chose. Beginner mistake. Thank you for your support. Much appreciated.
I am able to do this one-by-one to categorize a credit card payment. However, I have not been able to do bulk transfers for this purpose. I have about 101 pending to do. Is there a way to do the transfer in bulk, the way other things can be done in bulk? Thank you.
How do you do a balance transfer from credit card to credit card when entering in manually? I understand how to manually put in payments to a credit card from a checking account. But credit card to credit card transactions still don't make sense to me.