Help & How-To

Finance & Accounting
Should we be using our business credit card for purchases yet?
My business partner and I have different philosophies on when to use a credit card. She'd like us to use our business card every time we're talking about our business or working on our business at a restaurant or coffee shop. Since we don't yet have any revenue, and I'm much more cautious about credit card spending, I'd like us to use our personal accounts, hold onto our receipts and have our business owe us back that money. It's a pretty divisive issue for us--any advice?

Asked by melissamcf
Posted: Wednesday, April 30, 2008  |  Found in Finance & Accounting


More answers by Pam Newman
Answer by Pam Newman
Accruing credit card debt will increase your costs due to finance charges. What I would recommend for you and your partner is making equity contributions or loan the business money to pay the credit card. Utilizing the business credit card keeps a clean division of personal and business expenses for accounting purposes. Then you can just write a business check to pay the credit card bill and avoid finance charges. Once the business has revenue, then it can repay the loan or you can take draws against the investment made in the business if you desire.
Pam Newman is a Certified Management Accountant, author and Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor for Financial and Point-of-Sale software. She is also president of RPPC, Inc., which provides customized business development services.


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