Balance Error

Question

On one of my credit card accounts, when I make a charge it is deducted from the balance rather than increasing the balance.  Conversely, a payment on my card shows as a balance increase.  This is opposite what one would expect.  How can I change this?  This situation has occurred for many months; my current credit card balance is a few hundred dollars but my Quicken balance shows over $12K.

redmonkey799 · Answer

I have the same problem on all of my credit card accounts. I checked the sort order and it is correct. I went all the way back to the start of the account and find that it is showing charges as decreasing the owed balance and credits as increasing the owed balance. Note that it just started displaying this way recently. Prior to that it always showed the charges as increases to the owed balance and credits as decreases to the owed balance. i do not have a credit balance on the account and I don't use online services so that's not the problem. I am thinking it might have started after I was upgraded to R41.10.

volvogirl · Answer

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. Sounds like you're 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

Quicken Jared · Answer

Hello @WLH_1,

I do apologize for this problem with payments and charges appearing as opposite values in the register. Thank you for reaching out about this here on the Quicken Community.

First, make sure the sort order is from oldest at the bottom to newest at the top in the register by clicking on the triangular arrow next to the word Date in the box at the top of the associated column. It should be facing downward.

Next, are the balances displaying in red or black? It may be that your financial institution lists the Credit Card balance as an amount owed. Do you know what connection method is being used to link or add your accounts to online banking services, by chance? You can check this anytime by going to Tools > Account List in the upper menu at the top of the screen and then clicking on the Edit button in the row with the affected account. Next, navigate to the Online Services tab. The connection method should be listed here.

I hope to hear back from you soon.

Thank you,

Quicken Jared