How Do I Download American Express Transactions to QuickBooks Desktop?

Download American Express Transactions to QuickBooks

As a part of business, it is a standard rule to handle many transactions in a single day. Be it a credit card account or bank account, the transactions occur into QuickBooks accounting software that needs to be reconciled monthly as well. Most users even enter or download the transactions manually. If you are stuck by this question “how do I download American Express transactions to QuickBooks Desktop”, this guide is going to teach you a lot.

Here, we will draw your attention to the benefits of download transactions from American Express. Along with this, we will show you the whole procedure to connect American Express to QuickBooks to pull out the transactions.

How Do I Download American Express Transactions to QuickBooks Desktop?

To download American Express transactions to QuickBooks Desktop, one has to set up the American Express credit card transactions. After that, you can get the business transactions. Whether it is inventory, office supplies, equipment, internet bills, phone bills, restaurants, whatever you charge to the credit card, it will download into your QuickBooks account. Thereafter, you can easily manage the expenses.

If you have no earthly clue, read the following procedure and learn how to download American Express transactions into QuickBooks Desktop.

1: Prepare the Backup File

Before getting started, one should always take a backup of your QuickBooks data. In case you mess up with the details of the transactions, they can be restored later using the backup copy. Please note, QuickBooks syncs and imports the transactions only once to your company file. However, there are a few banks that allow you to download the transactions on their behalf. Thus, you can download the transactions again if needed.

2: Create a Credit Card Account

To download the transactions of American Express, you are required to set up a brand new credit card account. This can be done via Chart of Accounts in QuickBooks. Let’s have a look at the following steps to set up the American Express credit card account in QuickBooks Desktop:

  • Log in to “QuickBooks Desktop”.
  • Then, go to the “Chart of Accounts” menu.
  • From the bottom left, select the drop-down menu located next to the “Accounts” tab. This will open the “Add New Account: Choose Account Type” window.
  • At this point, you can select the “Credit Card” option.
  • Press the “Continue” button.
  • When a new window opens, you can enter the “Account Name” as “American Express”.
  • Go to the “Account Description” and enter a few details about your American Express account.
  • Then, add the “Credit Card Account Number”.
  • Once done entering the details, you can click on the “Save” button.

By following these steps, you can successfully create a credit card account for American Express. All you have to do is make sure that you enter the account name, credit card account number, and description if required.

3: Make an Online Account for American Express

Now that you have already set up the American Express credit card account, the next step is to create the American Express online account. Using this account, users can sign in and see the transactions, download the statements, make the payments online, and use the bank feeds to download the transactions to a QuickBooks account using Direct Connect or Web Connect options.

To get started with this procedure, you can jump to the following steps:

  • First of all, visit the “American Express” login page. You can use this link as well.
  • Here, you will see a “Create New Online Account” option below, click on that to open a link.
  • Now, you can follow the prompts given on your screen to set up the “American Express Online” account.
  • After this, you can enter the “American Express Account Number”.
  • Then, add the “Card Verification Value (CVV)” number of 4 digits placed on the front of a card.
  • Now, you can create your “ID/Username”.
  • Also, set a password.
  • Press the “Finish” button.

This is how you can set up an online account for American Express. Make sure you enter the details correctly as it may lead the procedure to interruption.

4: Select the Bank Feeds Option in QuickBooks

QuickBooks provides two types of preferences; Classic Mode and Express Mode. When you are prepared to see the transactions, you can select the bank feed options to view the details using the selected mode.

  • Classic Mode: This is the original mode that helps you to view your bank feed transactions from the “Account Register”. It can also be used to create an “Alias”.
  • Express Mode: This is a newer mode using which you can see the bank feed transactions from the “Transaction List”. You can also use this mode to create “Rules”.

However, both modes can be used reciprocally. All you have to do is go to the Preferences menu -> Checking -> Company Preferences. Also, make sure that you perform this method in Single User Mode. Your QuickBooks version should also be updated to the latest release.

Note: Class Mode has the ability to create aliases for general kinds of transactions, however, you will not see it in Express Mode (if you switch later). Similarly, Express Mode lets you create rules that cannot be seen in the Classic Mode (if you switch the mode later).

5: Download the Transactions using the Web Connect or Direct Connect

As previously mentioned, the transactions from American Express can be downloaded by using Direct Connect or Web Connect options. Web Connect is the indirect method of pulling out the transactions from American Express. Whereas the Direct Connect option is the direct way of downloading the transactions. By using the Direct Connect option, you can sync your accounting software with American Express. This will help you to download the transactions directly.

Please Note: Both Direct Connect and Web Connect options are easy to use and perform. However, Direct Connect may charge some fees as it offers advanced features such as bank transfers and bill payments.

In the following details, we will show the procedure of both options. Depending on your choice, the steps can be followed:

Pull American Express Transactions using Web Connect

First of all, set up the bank feeds for the American Express account. To do this, you can choose any of the two options:

  • Go to the “Banking” menu, click on the “Bank Feeds”, and select the “Set Up Bank Feed for an Account” option.
  • From the “American Express Credit Card Account” window, you will see a popup where you are required to enter your username and password for the “American Express Online Account” that you created in earlier steps.

Now, download the transactions in two simple steps; Export Transactions and Import Transactions. Continue following these steps to know more:

Export Transactions

You can export the transactions through your bank feeds into a QBO file that should be stored at the location you had selected for your computer. There are two options to export the transactions:

  • Once you log in, the file can be exported directly from your “American Express Online Account”.
  • You can also export the file within QuickBooks if the bank feed setup is done for this account. All you have to do is to select the “Bank Feed Center”, click on the “American Express” option, and choose the “Download Transactions” option. Please note, you will have to log in with the correct username and password to perform this step.

Note: Different credit card companies or banks allow you to download a different number of transactions at one time whereas a few allow you to enter the date range. Generally, it is 90, 60, or 30 days maximum.

Import Transactions

QuickBooks allows you to import transactions from the Banking menu. All you have to do is to click on the Bank Feeds, scroll right, and hit the Import WebConnect File option.

  • QuickBooks prompts you to select the downloaded “QBO file” you stored on your computer.
  • Then, you can open the file.
  • Select the “American Express Credit Card Account” where you will import the transactions.
  • Now, it will show you a popup stating that QuickBooks has imported the transactions successfully.
  • After this, click on the “Bank Feeds Center” and manage the transactions.

This is how you can download the American Express transactions using the Web Connect method. All you have to do is to set up the bank feed and download the transactions in two steps.

Pull American Express Transactions using Direct Connect

Before using the Direct Connect method to download the transactions from American Express, one should check the fees that it may apply. After making sure of that, you can continue following these steps:

  • Navigate to the “Banking” menu.
  • Click on the “Bank Feed” option.
  • Go to the “Bank Feed Center” option to download the transactions.
  • Now, from the “Bank Feed Center”, go to the “Account” list and select the “American Express Account”. This account will sync with transactions within QuickBooks.
  • Here, you can click on the “Download Transactions”. You may find this link with the name of “Transaction List” if you previously performed this download but did not process all the transactions.
  • Then, click on the “Synchronize” button.
  • Once done, you can click on the “Sync this account” option.

If required you can use Classic Mode or Express Mode by clicking on the American Express Quick Statement icon. Here, you can choose any of the available modes. If you choose Classic Mode Account Register then you have the ability to create several aliases that can only be viewed in this particular.

On the other hand, if you choose the Express Mode then you will see the Transaction List. Here, you will be able to add rules. Please note, these rules will only be seen in this Express Mode only.

Benefits of Downloading American Express Transactions in QuickBooks

Before you proceed with how to download American Express transactions into QuickBooks Desktop, we want you to be aware of its benefits. The following benefits help you in your business to stay more manageable and organized with details:

  • Searching for a specific transaction becomes easier.
  • By downloading the American Express transactions, you can keep your expense accounts manageable.
  • Downloading the transactions prevents you from entering the transactions manually. Hence, it saves time.
  • It becomes easy to view the current month’s expenses and income. Therefore, downloading the transactions gives you better business reporting.
  • The procedure of reconciling the credit card statement becomes easy as QuickBooks quickly verifies the download transaction.
  • Downloading the transactions from American Express prevents mistakes from missing the vendor transactions entering into QuickBooks.

To Sum Up

American Express connect to QuickBooks Desktop so that you sync the transactions and download them from American Express. All you have to do is to set up the credit card account, create an American Express online account, choose the bank feed option, and download the latest American Express transaction using Web Connect or Direct Connect methods. Make sure you create a backup of QuickBooks data before download transactions.

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