Can't deal with a credit balance?

Eric
Eric Member ✭✭✭
So, I got a refund to my credit card that caused it to have a credit balance. Quicken apparently can't deal with it. It thinks there is a discrepancy between Online balance of -$741 vs Quicken balance of $741. Either the bank or quicken is seriously confused.

Comments

  • Jon
    Jon SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    With credit cards in Quicken, a negative balance means you owe the CC company, a positive balance means they owe you. This is opposite from how CC companies often display the card balance on their websites. I would expect Quicken to show a positive balance in this situation; I would not be surprised if the CC company showed it as a negative balance.

    It's been a few years since I had a positive balance on a card, but I don't remember Quicken having a problem with it at the time.

    Quicken Mac subscription. Quicken user since 1990.

  • Eric
    Eric Member ✭✭✭
    Yes, CC company and Quicken use opposite signs. Under “normal” circumstances, everything works just fine. In this credit balance case, someone lost track of the sign. Just don’t know which.
  • NotACPA
    NotACPA SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    IIRC, in trying to reconcile this account, put a minus sign in front of the Ending Balance.

    Q user since February, 1990. DOS Version 4
    Now running Quicken Windows Subscription, Business & Personal
    Retired "Certified Information Systems Auditor" & Bank Audit VP

  • Eric
    Eric Member ✭✭✭
    Thank you for your suggestion as a work-around/hack to the problem. But, that does not alter the fact that there is clearly a bug/defect in the bank's or Quicken's code.
  • NotACPA
    NotACPA SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    Q expects the ending balance to be a negative number, but you put it in as a positive number, no sign.
    What you've actually got is the reverse of that, so you need to input your to match what Q wants.
    How is that a work-around/hack?  SOMEHOW, you need to tell Q what the absolute value is.

    Q user since February, 1990. DOS Version 4
    Now running Quicken Windows Subscription, Business & Personal
    Retired "Certified Information Systems Auditor" & Bank Audit VP

  • Eric
    Eric Member ✭✭✭
    I want to use online balance and auto reconcile. I expect Quicken to give the correct answer, that they reconcile, instead of Quicken telling me that it doesn't. If I turn off online balance, and use your suggestion, then yes, it reconciles.
  • NotACPA
    NotACPA SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    Go back to @Jon's reply re: what the card show on their site vs what they tell  Q.
    An online balance isn't gospel, as the banks can/do, change things from 1st post to statement delivery.

    Q user since February, 1990. DOS Version 4
    Now running Quicken Windows Subscription, Business & Personal
    Retired "Certified Information Systems Auditor" & Bank Audit VP

  • Eric
    Eric Member ✭✭✭
    Go back to all my posts and noticed that I've always allowed the possibility that the error is on the bank side. I have no proof one way or the other. The bottom line is this software is not producing the correct output. Your suggestion forces the correct output by turning off a feature (online balance). Now I have to manually enter the correct input in order for it to reconcile correctly.
  • NotACPA
    NotACPA SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2022
    And now you've got another example why reconciling to the online balance isn't considered to be reliable.

    Q user since February, 1990. DOS Version 4
    Now running Quicken Windows Subscription, Business & Personal
    Retired "Certified Information Systems Auditor" & Bank Audit VP

  • jacobs
    jacobs SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    Eric said:
    Your suggestion forces the correct output by turning off a feature (online balance). Now I have to manually enter the correct input in order for it to reconcile correctly.
    @Eric But how often does your credit card account have a positive (credit) balance? For most people, that's a very rare occurrence. So if you have to work around it to reconcile at this moment, it's not like you'll have to do so all the time.
    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
  • Eric
    Eric Member ✭✭✭
    Just checked my mint account. It does not have any issue dealing with the credit balance. It is shown correctly. So, I'd conclude this is a Quicken issue and not the CC company.
  • Eric
    Eric Member ✭✭✭
    Hmmm...reconnecting the account apparently fixed the issue.
  • bmylander
    bmylander Member ✭✭
    Eric, Thank you. This solved it for me as well.
This discussion has been closed.