Should you track personal accounts in QuickBooks Online?

[@dannyostrovsky1636]

thank you Veronica you LITERALLY saved my life

[@5MinuteBookkeeping]

You're welcome, Danny.

[@hashimasmatshah2337]

This video is informative for Bookkeepers and Business owners . Thanks .

[@5MinuteBookkeeping]

Thank you!

[@amandajean1856]

What would you do if you are a sole proprietor and you want to write off your home office expenses? Should those not be tracked in QB? What about truck payments? Truck is used for business but payments made from personal account. Would you merge personal and business finances on QB then?

[@5MinuteBookkeeping]

Amanda - that's a great question. First, you would never merge your personal finances with your business. Home office deductions (personal expenses) are tracked separately from QuickBooks - they are only for tax purposes. Any company expenses paid with personal funds (like truck payments) can be reimbursed back to you by the company. By reimbursing those expenses back to you, the company will record the expenses. If you're not able to reimburse yourself for those expenses - consult your tax accountant for advice on how to handle these types of expenses.

[@gusolive]

where would you keeo track of personal?

[@VeronicaWasek]

That's a great question. You can use YNAB or Mint to track personal expenses.

[@intheuk56]

i understand the logic of keeping business and personal accounts separate. but what do you suggest to help me keep on track of my personal accounts? are you suggesting two quickbook accounts?

[@VeronicaWasek]

I don't recommend tracking personal finances in QuickBooks. QuickBooks is designed for business bookkeeping - not personal bookkeeping. You can try an app like YNAB (You Need a Budget) to help you track personal finances.

[@krayon04]

I track my personal accounts in Quicken. It can download your transactions like QBO! Very intuitive! Business accounts in QBO.

[@Taimur_SK]

What if I want to practice and learn quickbooks online using my personal bank account?

[@5MinuteBookkeeping]

You could practice with your personal bank account, but I would suggest doing that in a trial version. Your business financials should not have any practice transactions - only valid business transactions.

[@jdagrees9609]

Great question because this is EXACTLY what I was wanting to do !

[@debbiefairall9997]

I understand the need for separation of business and personal. I thought Quick Books allows you to create files called companies, if so , then couldn’t you create the actual company as one file and then personal transactions as a different named company, allowing Quick Books to track it all?

[@5MinuteBookkeeping]

You could do that, Debbie, but QBO is a business software and not really the best fit for tracking personal finances. I recommend using You Need A Budget (YNAB) or Mint.

[@debbiefairall9997]

@@5MinuteBookkeeping Thank you very much for your reply!!

[@ler5299]

Would you recommend a program like Quicken Home and Business plan for separating expenses, which claims it allows you to separate expenses? As opposed to Quickbooks? Or is that not enough separation? (Business in this case is self employment and possibly an LLC at some point. Same as questions below, where some expenses have crossed over between the two). Like others here, I was looking for a way to simplify and get organized by having everything in one place, but am rethinking that per your advice. Thank you

[@5MinuteBookkeeping]

I know that many people want to have everything in one place, but for many reasons (legal, tax, etc), you should not track personal expenses in QBO - as discussed in the video. I only work with QBO and can't recommend something specifically. But, if you haven't formed an LLC yetc, Quicken Home and Business might be an option.

[@AmberStephenson-dn3yn]

I currently have my personal bank account connected to QB. Can I just delete this account from the Chart of accounts?

[@5MinuteBookkeeping]

No. If you connected your personal bank account and categorized transactions already, you can't delete the account.

[@edselsreadingchannel6724]

Hi! and thank you for your channel and helping us noobs with this. My scenario is this: I bought equipment from my personal funds for a business i didn't launch yet. 3 weeks later, my business was registered with the State Secretary. I then opened a business bank account and got quickbooks . How can i account for the equipment I bought from my personal funds that are intended for my business? fyi, i only bought the QB package becuase I heard it can draft estimates that can then turn into invoices. I didn't know you can do more things with it. Please advise. Thanks!

[@5MinuteBookkeeping]

Hi Edsel. You can reimburse yourself from your business account. Enter a check or enter an Expense in Quickbooks. Enter your name as the vendor and enter the appropriate account category (Equipment, for example). If you can't afford for your business to reimburse you, there are other ways to reflect this but it's more involved and you'll likely need the help of a professional to enter it. If you don't know how to enter it right now, just categorize it as "Ask My Accountant" and ask your accountant or bookkeeper later how to enter it.

[@BrandingbyRevivre]

Hi, I have a question, when I first started I connected my personal bank account because I don't have a business bank account yet, now I no longer want to keep the personal bank on file. Would it be best to start a new QBO account or should I disconnect the personal banking and keep the same QBO account? Is it bad to disconnect an unbalance bank account?

[@5MinuteBookkeeping]

I can't answer you specifically since I don't know exactly what's on your books. But, as a best practice, personal accounts should never be connected to your QuickBooks account.

[@RealStraightTruthBroadcast]

what if i'm self employed and have a small business? how do i track both in quickbooks online?

[@VeronicaWasek]

If you file taxes as a sole proprietor, you could keep track of both companies in 1 QBO file but you'd have to sign up for QBO Plus version - which costs $60 a month.

[@RealStraightTruthBroadcast]

Veronica Wasek Wow you answer back fast! I am totally impressed by you. Thank you for your service. I’m running QuickBooks self employed and QuickBooks online separately. Can you do a video on how to record a transaction from a customer that payed me through PayPal , but how do I transfer and find the transaction in QuickBooks to match?

[@5MinuteBookkeeping]

@@RealStraightTruthBroadcast I don't have any videos on this topic, however, my team and I did 3 blog posts on how to work with QBO and Paypal - you can find them here - How to Link Paypal to QuickBooks Online Parts 1, 2, and 3 5minutebookkeeping.com/?s=paypal

[@COBBDIESEL]

Veronica, if I paid a business expense from my personal account do I try to show that in QB or should I just forget about it and remember not to do it again?

[@VeronicaWasek]

You would want to reimburse yourself from your business account so that you can capture the expense in your business. You want to make sure that your business shows all your expenses so can get a full picture of all your expenses. You also want to make sure that you get all your business tax deductions.

[@COBBDIESEL]

@@VeronicaWasek Thank You!!!

[@VeronicaWasek]

@@COBBDIESEL You're welcome!

[@patriciafrisch2569]

Capital Investment and Draw??

[@kevinhuynh4164]

What if I'm self employed I use my card for both peronal and business

[@5MinuteBookkeeping]

The best practice is to keep business and personal separated - especially if you use QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks Self Employed version might be an option for you if you are self employed and use accounts for both business and personal. However, the best practice is to keep business and personal separate.

[@sherryhill5923]

Very helpful

[@5MinuteBookkeeping]

Thank you!