It happens. You’re rushing through the day, grab your business card, and before you know it, you’ve just paid for a personal expense using the company account.
No need to panic—but don’t delete, void, or exclude the transaction. That’s the worst thing you can do. It’ll make reconciling your bank account later a nightmare, and your financial reports will slowly drift out of sync with reality. Here’s how to fix it properly in QuickBooks Online.
Step 1: Find the Transaction
In QuickBooks Online, select “Transactions.” From there, you’ll see all your recorded transactions. Find the personal one that slipped through.
Step 2: Enter the Vendor or Payee
Click on the transaction and enter the vendor or payee name — this is usually the business where the purchase occurred.
Step 3: Change the Category
If it’s a personal expense, re-categorize it under an equity account such as “Owner’s Draw” or “Owner’s Pay & Personal Expenses.”
If you don’t see these in your dropdown, you can add them through “See and add more categories.”
Need help setting up your chart of accounts? See my post on that topic for a quick walkthrough.
Step 4: Confirm the Transaction
Click Confirm on the green button in the lower-right corner. You’ve now corrected the entry without breaking your reconciliation.
How to Record a Draw or Owner Payment
When you pay yourself or your accountant records that payment, the process is almost identical.
- Find the payment transaction.
- Enter your name (the owner’s name) as the payee.
- Categorize it under “Owner’s Draw.”
- Hit Confirm.
That’s it.
Why You Should Never Exclude or Delete
If you exclude or delete the transaction, it won’t match your bank statement later. When it comes time to reconcile, someone (either you or your bookkeeper) will have to dig through old bank statements, rediscover the missing transactions, and re-enter them manually.
That’s why cleanup projects take so long—and cost so much. Depending on your business size, your bookkeeper might be buying an ATV with that cleanup money. So follow this post. Or don’t—I can always use a new ATV.
If you’d rather have someone handle this for you (and save yourself 80+ hours a year), schedule a free bookkeeping strategy call. We’ll talk about your goals, cleanup needs, and how I can help you keep your books accurate and stress-free all year long.