Problem with charge vs payment

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1958usmc
1958usmc Member ✭✭
On one of accounts when I download or add a payment to my VISA account, it raises my balance instead of reducing it. This just started within the past few days???

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  • Sherlock
    Sherlock Member ✭✭✭✭
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    If you haven’t already, you may want to verify the register is sorted appropriately and there aren’t any unexpected filters being applied:  open the register, select the Date column header (you want the small triangle to right of Date to point up) and Reset.

    Charges should always subtract from the running balance.  
    Payments should always add to the running balance.

    When the running balance is in the black (positive), charges will appear to reduce the balance and payments will appear to increase the balance.

    When the running balance is in the red (negative), charges will appear to increase the balance and payments appear to reduce the balance.

  • TTSguy
    TTSguy Member ✭✭✭✭
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    For me to keep it straight I do this: Go to >Register Columns (gear icon on right side upper)>Check the Amount box> uncheck the Charge box> uncheck the Payments box. Take another look at your register. Does the result now make more sense?
  • 1958usmc
    1958usmc Member ✭✭
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    OK Guys, thank you for your comments. I have been a Quicken guy since they bought Andrew Tobias; Managing You Money back in the 80'. I've never had anything like this happen, ever! All the other credit cards are correct showing red balances until I pay them off at the end of the month. But this particular credit card (USAA VISA) shows no red, all black and each time I enter a charge it decreases the balance. A payment increases the balance? Totally confused. I tried what you recommended, no help.
  • Sherlock
    Sherlock Member ✭✭✭✭
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    1958usmc said:
    OK Guys, thank you for your comments. I have been a Quicken guy since they bought Andrew Tobias; Managing You Money back in the 80'. I've never had anything like this happen, ever! All the other credit cards are correct showing red balances until I pay them off at the end of the month. But this particular credit card (USAA VISA) shows no red, all black and each time I enter a charge it decreases the balance. A payment increases the balance? Totally confused. I tried what you recommended, no help.
    The register is behaving properly. 

    If you think the balance is incorrect, I suggest you attempt to reconcile the register against a statement from the financial institution and to determine the source of any discrepancy. 

    If the reconciled opening balance has changed, a reconciled transaction has been added, modified, or deleted.  To determine the source of the change, I suggest you compare the running balance of the account register in the current Quicken file with the running balance of the account register from a Quicken file backup saved when the account was last reconciled.  One way to accomplish this is to print the registers to text files.
  • volvogirl
    volvogirl SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
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    The charge is decreasing the balance because your account is showing you overpaid the bill and the balance is what the credit card OWES YOU.  Here's my standard answer.......

    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.  Or it might have got changed to zero or the wrong amount.

     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…..



    I'm staying on Quicken 2013 Premier for Windows.

  • 1958usmc
    1958usmc Member ✭✭
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    OMG, Thanks Volvogirl!!!!! Why did I not think of that.? DUH!! I just did a reconcile and accepted it with a large Balance Adjustment rather than going back through everything looking for the wrong entry. Now everything is fine. Thank all of you for jumping in and helping this ole Marine Grunt. Semper Fi; Jim
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