How to handle Paypal Checking and Paypal Credit Accounts in Quicken

mtsingle93

Hi, I am relatively new to Quicken, and I am running a Mac subscription (Quicken Deluxe 2020). I have a Quicken file that has a Paypal Checking (Cash Account) and Paypal Credit Card (Credit Card Account). I am attempting to reconcile transactions between these two accounts and my Bank of America Checking Account (main checking account). I see that most of the transactions in the Paypal Credit Account are credit card payments from Bank of America and most of the transactions in the Paypal Checking account are purchases or paying a friend, etc. But, I see some transactions where I paid a person in the Paypal Checking account and it appears in the Paypal Credit Card account. Both transactions are debits, so I can't transfer from one account to another without creating a third transaction that would look like a credit in the Paypal Credit Card account. How do I handle the transactions between the Paypal Credit Card Account and Paypal Checking account, so I don't have dupes or missing transactions?

I am very confused about how to handle the Paypal accounts. Thank you!

NotACPA

From what you've described, I'd set up the PP checking account as a checking account in Q ... and the PP credit card as a credit card in Q.

Thus, they'd act like any other checking or card account and you'd record expenses in them, any transfers into them (checking deposits or card payments) as transfers.

Payments to/from BofA would, likewise, be transfers.

mtsingle93

Thanks so much @NotACPA . I have already set the PP accounts up as you described. However, as an example, I have an Air Travel expense of $596.93 in the PP checking account, and it also appears in the PP Credit Card account. Both amounts appear as negative amounts. If I transfer the transaction from the PP Checking to PP Credit, I get a third transaction of +596.93 in the Credit Account, and I also lose the category information as this was an actual expense. It seems like the PP Checking account could be a holding account for the credit card, but not all of the transactions appear in both the PP Checking and PP Credit Card accounts. Any other insights? Thank you!

NotACPA

Is that $596.93 a transfer from one account to the other?  Such as you initially charged the amount on your Card account and the payment for it was automatically transferred to the checking account?

Also, in both accounts, what color are the numbers in the BALANCE column?

Because, a payment (to checking) should show in the PAYMENT column in the checking account (thus reducing that balance) and also a PAYMENT in the card account (making is LESS negative).

mtsingle93

It should not be a transfer unless Paypal has the credit account to automatically transfer it to the checking account (I am not sure how to check this, but I did a quick Google search about how the accounts act differently, and there was not much info). I do know that some transactions only appear in the PP checking account. Most of the transactions in the PP Credit account are payments from my monthly BofA checking, but there are some transactions in the credit account like to Groupon or Lyft but those also appear in the PP Checking account.

In both accounts, the numbers are red in the balance column.

This is very confusing. I just want to get my accounts reconciled.

Quicken_Tyka

Hello @mtsingle93

Thank you for the response, although I am sorry to hear that you continue to experience trouble reconciling your Paypal account.

At this time I would recommend contacting support directly for further assistance troubleshooting steps.

https://www.quicken.com/support#contact-support

Quicken Care has the ability to initiate a screen share to view the issue in real-time to and help with the reconcile process.

Thank you,

-Quicken Tyka

NotACPA

A balance amount, in a credit card, that's RED, is normal.  You owe someone money (as in, "In the Red").  In this case, you owe the card issuer money.

A balance amount in a checking account, that's RED, indicates a problem.  Your Q account is overdrawn. Checking account balances are, normally, BLACK ... unless you're overdrawn.

SO, when was the last time that you reconciled the checking account?  Are any debits in the account duplicated (when they shouldn't be)?  Are any deposits to the checking account missing?  Are any debits or deposits for the wrong amount (diminished credits or  increased debits)?

Reconciling this account is, I strongly suspect, the key to resolving your issue.

mtsingle93

I did go back and look at the balance color for both accounts. In PP checking it is red, and in PP credit, some are red and some are black with the most recent transactions being black.

I have not reconciled either of these accounts yet, so it sounds like I should go ahead and do that? Thank you!

NotACPA

Make that your accounts are sorted by DATE (the Date column in each of them has an arrowhead that points up.)  You can sort on this column by clicking in the DATE header.

Also, when discussing the Red/black issue ... make sure that you're looking at the BALANCE column.  The Payment and Deposit columns in the checking account are always Black. Likewise for the Charge and Payment columns in the card account.

Also, when doing the 1st reconcile ... take out your OLDEST statement for these accounts and then reconcile MONTH-BY-MONTH.  Trying to reconcile the whole thing at once leads to all sorts of confusion when there's an error in the account.  After the errors are corrected, a monthly reconcile takes but seconds ... unless there's another error.