Why does it assume all transactions are positive.

salad4

Whenever I enter a transaction manually, I have to enter a minus sign in the amount column or the software will add the money in. For example, when I choose "credit card payment" in category, it should automatically subtract from my balance, but it doesn't. If I don't type a minus sign, it adds the money to my balance.

UKR

Credit card payment transactions in Quicken should be entered as a Transfer transaction, with the name of the credit card register entered as Transfer destination.
That creates a linked pair of transactions, one in Checking, one in the credit card register.
I recommend you use distinct Payee names, e.g., the name of the credit card / bank. Once saved correctly, next month most of the information will already be memorized and available for a new transaction. Just update the amount.
Even better, set up and use Scheduled Reminders for credit card payments and other recurring events.

NotACPA

It's advisable to NOT use the "Amount" column ... and rather use the Payment vs Deposit OR Charge vs Payment columns (depending upon the type of account) for exactly the reason that you've discovered.

In fact ... just hide it so you won't (like so many others) get confused.

UKR

Credit card payment transactions in Quicken should be entered as a Transfer transaction, with the name of the credit card register entered as Transfer destination.
That creates a linked pair of transactions, one in Checking, one in the credit card register.
I recommend you use distinct Payee names, e.g., the name of the credit card / bank. Once saved correctly, next month most of the information will already be memorized and available for a new transaction. Just update the amount.
Even better, set up and use Scheduled Reminders for credit card payments and other recurring events.

Chris_QPW

salad4 said:

Whenever I enter a transaction manually, I have to enter a minus sign in the amount column or the software will add the money in. For example, when I choose "credit card payment" in category, it should automatically subtract from my balance, but it doesn't. If I don't type a minus sign, it adds the money to my balance.

Any guess Quicken might make about changing the sign based on the category (that you may or may not have entered before amount) would be just that a guess, and guaranteed to be wrong at some time.

For instance if I have a category of Clothing and I type in $100 and Quicken makes that negative.  What happens when I return the item of clothing?  Note should be recorded back to the same category so that they offset each other, but with a positive sign.