credit card account not posting payments correctly??

JCT

Recently started a new Quicken file. Set up a number of checking and credit card accounts. The checking accounts seem to be working find. That is : a deposit increases the balance in the account. A payment decreases the balance.
The credit accounts seem wrong.
A charge is shown as a positive amount in the charge column, a negative amount in the amount column, and has a negative impact on the balance column.
Conversely, payment is shown as a positive amount in the payment column, a positive amount in the amount column, and has a positive impact on the balance column.
Thereby, the balance column no longer indicates the balance owed on the credit card.

How is this supposed to work???? Really, Really, really need some help
Jack Tunell
[Removed - Email]

JCT

First I apologize for my question. Apparently my mind was the thing that was not working. After reviewing the various responses everything seemed to fall in place. Returning to my Quicken everything seemed to be working fine. Also like it has always worked.
Second, thanks bundles for the prompt responses. I hope my response will reach all three ( Jim Harmon, volvoygirl and Bootmania).

Jim_Harman

A credit card account is a loan to you. When you buy something, the balance becomes more negative because you owe the bank more money. When you make a payment to the card account, the balance becomes less negative. The balance is what you owe the bank.

Boatnmaniac

That is how it has always worked for me...in all types of accounts where I have both a credit/deposit/increase column and a charge/payment/decrease column shown.  I think the logic behind that is that an amount listed in a charge/payment/decrease column is already assumed to be a negative number.  As you noted, the Balance column does calculate correctly assuming the positive number in the credit/deposit/increase column is really a negative number.

If you want to see negative numbers for the charges/payments/decreases in your registers then you could change the register columns settings to not include the Charge/Payment/Decrease and the Credit/Deposit/Increase columns but do include the Amount and Balance columns.  The Amount column will show both negative and positive numbers for the transactions.  You can make these register Columns setting changes by clicking on the icon directly above the register scroll bar on the right side.  Here is a pic of the Columns setting changes to make and what the register will look like afterward:

Did this answer your question?

volvogirl

What you are describing is right. What color is the Balance?    A charge should decrease the balance column, meaning make it more negative even though it shows a larger amount.  When you owe a balance the balance column should be a negative amount and get larger negative.  

When you make a payment it will make the balance column less negative, meaning you owe less.  Or if you overpay the bill it may make the balance show positive like the bank owes you.  

So it sounds like it is working right.  If you end up showing a positive balance it may be another situation.  Here are my notes for that........

First make sure you are sorted in Date order with the newest date at the bottom. If you are not then click the DATE Column heading to sort.

 

If you are running a credit balance. Is the balance in red or black? Look back through your transactions and maybe you'll spot one that was entered backward. Or a payment in the charge column or a charge in the payment column. Look around back where this first started happening.  Or maybe you are missing some charges? 

If the balance is in Black, it means you have a credit on the card.  Like if you overpaid the bill or got a refund for something you returned.   When you enter a charge it will reduce (decrease) the credit you have available on it.   And a payment will increase the balance.

Also make sure you have the right starting balance.  If it's zero you might need to add a beginning balance for when you started the account in Quicken.

 The credit card balance you OWE should be in RED. If the balance is Black then it's showing the credit card company owes you and you have a credit balance. And then when you make a payment it's like the cc owes you more. So you need to go back though your entries and find where the balance switched to black to being in your favor.

See this for more info…..

https://www.quicken.com/support/positive-black-balance-credit-card-account 

 

JCT

Thanks for your fast response, much appreciated. However, I have some comments.
I guess that logic works well if you are tracking your total worth, investment, business etc. Unfortunately, I am just tracking checking, credit card, cash, etc. transactions. When I look at my credit card balance in quicken I want to see what my current balance is on the card. That is, if I want to pay off the account today, what would i need to mail to the credit card company.
Also, I believe this is a major change to how accounts are handled. I have been using Quicken for some time as a kind of automated booking assistant. Up until a few weeks ago my credit card accounts reflected my balance with the card company. No some kind of indicator in my overall financial status. I would like to keep using Quicken in that way.
Is there some way to get the credit card accounts to revert to the previous operation. I have a previous Quicken file in which the accounts treat charges, payments, etc as I am used to.
Thanks again for your response
John Tunell
jtunell1@gmail.com

volvogirl

There should be no change in how credit cards work.  If you are not seeing the right balance then check my post for what to look for.  

Boatnmaniac

@JCT - I am not sure who your response was intended for....me or @volvogirl ?

Assuming the date order sorting of transactions in the register is not the issue, I am wondering if it is more a matter of which columns are shown in the register?   This is the default view when setting up accounts in Quicken.  Is this what you are seeing and what is causing you concern?

If so, then you should know that what is shown in the Amount column is simply a restatement of what is shown in the Charge and Payment columns.  The Amount column is not additive to the Charge and Payment columns so the Balance columns should be accurate. 

If you do not like seeing both the Charge/Payment columns and the Amount column, then you can do what was suggested in my previous reply....change your register settings for Columns to be shown by unchecking "Charge" and "Payment" leaving "Amount" checked.

Of if the Amount column is what you do not want to see, then you can change your register setting for Columns to be shown by unchecking "Amount" but leaving "Charge" and "Payment" checked.  This will cause the register to look like this (which is how I prefer it):

If none of this is accurately capturing the issue for you, would you take a screen shot of what you are seeing?  Then edit it to remove any personal information and save the file to your desktop or some other place in your directory.  Then click on that file and drag it to the "Leave a Comment" field here so it can be posted.  A picture can be worth a thousand words.

JCT

First I apologize for my question. Apparently my mind was the thing that was not working. After reviewing the various responses everything seemed to fall in place. Returning to my Quicken everything seemed to be working fine. Also like it has always worked.
Second, thanks bundles for the prompt responses. I hope my response will reach all three ( Jim Harmon, volvoygirl and Bootmania).