US Bank Home Equity Lines & Overdraft Line shows as Credit Card

inorlive

I set up my HELOC as debit, but when I link, the Account is moved from Debit to Credit Card.  I believe this is due to the way that US Bank codes these accounts.  I was told to post here so Quicken Super Agent would contact US Bank.  Thanks

jacobs

Actually, Quicken Mac intentionally treats HELOCs as credit cards. Here's a link to a post from 2017 by the Quicken Mac product manager in which he states: "HELOCs are not considered loans in Quicken.  They are considered credit cards."

(By the way, I'm not sure what you mean by saying it should be a Debit. If it weren't a credit card, it would be a Liability -- it's money you owe to the bank. Debits and credits are accounting terms for money flowing into or out of accounts; "debit" is not a type of account.)

jacobs

@inorlive You're correct that there is a Debt section, but that doesn't include ALL debt. Your credit cards are debts, too, but they are separated out in Quicken because of the types of expense and payment transactions recorded in them. Quicken puts HELOCs in with credit cards because they basically behave the same as credit cards. 

Editing to add: Debt is a liability, not an asset; they're opposite of each other. An asset is something you own; a liability is something you owe.

inorlive

Screenshot below.

Whenever I link my HELOC the account is moved to Credit Card when it should be Debit.

inorlive

Quicken (Mac)

Premier 2019

Version 5.11.0

Build 511.25626.100

MacOS  10.14.4

jacobs

Actually, Quicken Mac intentionally treats HELOCs as credit cards. Here's a link to a post from 2017 by the Quicken Mac product manager in which he states: "HELOCs are not considered loans in Quicken.  They are considered credit cards."

(By the way, I'm not sure what you mean by saying it should be a Debit. If it weren't a credit card, it would be a Liability -- it's money you owe to the bank. Debits and credits are accounting terms for money flowing into or out of accounts; "debit" is not a type of account.)

inorlive

Jacobs, Thanks for you thoughtful reply and the link to the Quicken Employee reply.  
Im not certain I agree with their logic as they have an Asset category called Debt (see screenshot), which is where Quicken listed my Home Mortgage.  I would have expected that the treatment/categorization of a HELOC would be the same as a Home Mortgage, but I never took and accounting class, so what do I know

NotACPA

NO, you have Property (Art ... and Real Estate) and you have Debt (the WF Mortgage) ... but you were talking about "Debit" ... not Debt.  BIG difference.

But, HELOCs are treated like Credit cards in Q, because you can post transactions against them to either increase, or decrease, the balance amount owed ... unlike in your Mortgage acct.

jacobs

@inorlive You're correct that there is a Debt section, but that doesn't include ALL debt. Your credit cards are debts, too, but they are separated out in Quicken because of the types of expense and payment transactions recorded in them. Quicken puts HELOCs in with credit cards because they basically behave the same as credit cards. 

Editing to add: Debt is a liability, not an asset; they're opposite of each other. An asset is something you own; a liability is something you owe.