Credit Card Registers

outnaround

Need help please. In my Credit card Accts (3, Offline). Charges are treated as if they are payments and decrease the balance, while payment and credits increase the balance. Column headings are Correct (charge / Payments), yet it is a mess.

volvogirl

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.....

A Positive (Black) Balance in a Credit Card Account 

Jim_Harman

There should be no need to archive the account.

Are the Balance and Clr columns displayed in your register? If not, click on the gear at the top right of the account, select Register columns, and check the Balance and Cleared boxes.

Is the balance showing as positive (black) or negative (red)? Normally it should be red. If you pay the account in full it should go to 0. If you have paid too much it will be black.

I would look for any issues shortly after the last time the account reconciled correctly, with an R in the Clr column.

Jim_Harman

Transfers from another account is the correct way to handle credit card payments. You should go to the other account and enter a Payment as a positive number with the Category set to [Visa] or whatever the name of the credit card account is, in [square brackets]. This should make the balance in the credit card account more positive.

Did you mean "I have not reconciled this account in some time?" If you have not been reconciling the credit card account in Quicken, then any charges you forgot to enter will cause the balance in Quicken to be more positive than it should be.

If you don't want to take the time to fix any past errors, you could reconcile anyway using your last statement and let Quicken adjust your balance. Back up your data first, in case the result is not what you expected.

volvogirl

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.....

A Positive (Black) Balance in a Credit Card Account 

Jim_Harman

Credit card accounts usually have a negative (red) balance. This is because you owe money to the bank. If the balance is positive (black), usually it means you overpaid the bill or returned something.

Charges make the balance go more negative and payments make it go more positive.

Note that credit card registers have "Charge" and "Payment" columns while bank accounts have "Payment" and "Deposit" columns. This can be confusing because in the credit card account a Payment increases the balance and in a bank account a Payment decreases it.

In each type of account, the "Amount" column is red if the transaction makes the balance go more negative and black if the balance goes more positive.

outnaround

Thank you for your input. I have scrolled back through the history (nine years worth). I have had the correct balance reporting in the early history. I gues I need to decide whether to archive the account and recreate it or untangle the mess.

Thankyou for taking the time to assist me.

Jim_Harman

There should be no need to archive the account.

Are the Balance and Clr columns displayed in your register? If not, click on the gear at the top right of the account, select Register columns, and check the Balance and Cleared boxes.

Is the balance showing as positive (black) or negative (red)? Normally it should be red. If you pay the account in full it should go to 0. If you have paid too much it will be black.

I would look for any issues shortly after the last time the account reconciled correctly, with an R in the Clr column.

outnaround

Yes, My columns are correct Charge, Clr, Payment, Balance. Balance is way in the black.

I have reconciled this account in some time, just tracking and verifying charges and payments as the month progress. I also balance on the paper statement. Balance is cleared monthly. Totally is a mess I created.

Perhaps my method of payment is a source of the issue? I log my payments as account transfers from another account.

Jim_Harman

Transfers from another account is the correct way to handle credit card payments. You should go to the other account and enter a Payment as a positive number with the Category set to [Visa] or whatever the name of the credit card account is, in [square brackets]. This should make the balance in the credit card account more positive.

Did you mean "I have not reconciled this account in some time?" If you have not been reconciling the credit card account in Quicken, then any charges you forgot to enter will cause the balance in Quicken to be more positive than it should be.

If you don't want to take the time to fix any past errors, you could reconcile anyway using your last statement and let Quicken adjust your balance. Back up your data first, in case the result is not what you expected.