Shared Card Desk
Import one credit card statement, give each line to the company it belongs to, and post correct double-entry to every set of books in one step.
Overview
Shared Card Desk is for a card that pays expenses for more than one of your companies, or for one business plus personal spending. Instead of keying the same statement into several companies, you import it once and sort it on one screen.
Open it from Tools → Shared Card Desk in the sidebar, or from the 💳 Shared Card Desk button on the Bank Import screen. The desk belongs to you as a user, not to whichever company is open, so it shows every company you can post to.
Add a Card
- Click Add a card (or + Add card beside your existing cards).
- Enter a card name, such as "Discover", and optionally the last 4 digits.
- Answer Who pays this card's bill? (explained below).
- Click Save.
You can open Card settings at any time to rename the card. Once a card has posted lines, who pays it can no longer change, because the posted entries were written on that basis. Add a new card if that changes.
Who Pays the Bill
| Answer | Use it when | Each charge posts |
|---|---|---|
| Each company pays its own share | Each company pays the card issuer directly for its own charges. This is the most common setup. | Dr Expense / Cr Discover Card (Shared) in that company |
| I pay it, and my companies pay me back | You pay the card personally and each company reimburses you. | Dr Expense / Cr Due to Owner (Shared Card) |
| One company pays it, and the others owe that company | The card belongs to one company that pays for its sister companies too. | Sister: Dr Expense / Cr Due to Payer. Payer: Dr Due from Sister / Cr Credit Card |
The shared account
With Each company pays its own share, Kantivo suggests an account name such as Discover Card (Shared). You can change it. As you type, the form tells you whether the name is free in every one of your companies, because the account must read the same everywhere.
- The account is a Credit Card account, created in a company the first time a charge is posted to it.
- Renaming it in Card settings renames it in every company at once.
- Its balance in each company is that company's unpaid share of the card.
Intercompany cards
With One company pays it, choose the paying company and its credit card account. Kantivo creates "Due to <payer>" and "Due from <sister>" accounts as needed. Both sides are tagged with the partner company, so consolidation can recognize them as intercompany balances.
Import a Statement
- Select the card at the top of the desk.
- Click Import statement and choose the file you downloaded from your card issuer (CSV, Excel, QFX, QBO or QIF).
Kantivo then:
- Reads the sign convention. Some issuers export charges as positive numbers and others as negative. Kantivo detects which one your file uses. If charges came in as credits, choose the statement in the filter and click Flip signs.
- Skips duplicates. Lines already on the card are not imported again, so overlapping or repeated statements are safe. Two identical charges on the same day in one file are kept as two lines.
- Pre-sorts what it can. Remembered merchants are assigned or ignored, and card payments ("AUTOPAY PAYMENT - THANK YOU") are set aside as ignored.
Sort the Lines
The tabs across the top show To sort, Ready to post, Ignored, Posted and All. Lines still to sort have an orange edge.
Assign a line
Choose a company, then an account. Expense accounts are listed first. The line moves to Ready to post as soon as both are set.
Split a line
Click Split to divide one charge between companies. Each split gets a company, an account, an amount and an optional memo. Split evenly divides it to the cent, and the dialog shows what's left to assign until the splits equal the charge.
Ignore a line
Click Ignore and pick a reason: Personal, Not business, Card payment, Duplicate, or Recorded elsewhere. Ignored lines post nothing but stay on the statement, so the totals still tie out. Restore brings one back.
Work on many lines at once
Tick the boxes on several lines (or the header box for all visible lines). A bar appears where you can assign them all to one company and account, ignore them, or clear them.
Post & Tie Out
The bar above the lines shows total charges, total credits and payments, the number of lines, and how many are still to sort. Post stays disabled until that last number is zero. Every line on the statement must be either assigned or ignored, so nothing on the card is silently left out.
To post one statement rather than everything on the card, choose it in the statement filter first.
Each line posts in a single database transaction across every company it touches: either all of its entries are written, or none are. A line dated in a company's locked period isn't posted. Kantivo names it, and the rest of the statement still posts.
Posted entries appear in each company's register as 💳 Shared Card, with the reference SCD- followed by the line number. Clicking one opens that line in the desk.
Undo & Corrections
To change a posted line, open the Posted tab and click Undo (click again to confirm). Kantivo removes its entries from every company it was posted to, and the line returns to Ready to post with its assignment intact. Fix it and post again.
Desk entries can't be edited, voided or deleted from a register or anywhere else in the app. One company's half of an intercompany pair could otherwise change without the other. Undo refuses an entry that has been reconciled, or that falls in a locked period. Undo the reconciliation, or open the period, first.
Paying the Card
For a card where each company pays its own share, the desk shows each company's unpaid share and the total, which should match the card's current balance (less anything you pay personally).
Record a company's payment whichever way suits you:
- From Bank Import or Bank Feeds: categorize the payment line to the card's shared account. This is best if you already import the bank account.
- From the desk: click Record a payment, then choose the company, the bank account it was paid from, the amount (prefilled with what the company owes) and the date. It posts Dr Discover Card (Shared) / Cr Bank.
Remembered Merchants
With Remember choices by merchant ticked (the default), each line you assign to a single company and account, or ignore, teaches the desk. The next statement arrives with those merchants already sorted and tagged remembered. You still review them before posting.
Kantivo matches merchants by the start of the name, ignoring store numbers and processor prefixes such as "SQ *", so "SQ *BLUE BOTTLE COFFEE Oakland" and "SQ *BLUE BOTTLE COFFEE SF" are the same merchant. Click Remembered merchants to see the list, how often each was used, and to forget any of them.
FAQ
Can I use the desk with a single company?
Yes. A business card that also carries personal spending works well: assign the business lines, ignore the personal ones, and post.
I keep personal books in Kantivo too. Should I ignore personal charges?
No. Your personal books are just another company in the desk, so assign personal charges to it like any other.
Who can use a card?
Cards belong to the user who created them. You can post to any company where your role allows posting. Companies where you only have view access aren't offered.
Does the desk record a vendor on each entry?
Not yet. The statement description is written to the entry's description and memo. Payee tracking for desk entries is on the roadmap.
What happens if I remove a card?
A card with nothing posted is deleted. A card with posted lines is archived instead: its entries stay in the books and its history is kept.