Why is my Bill payment showing a negative in Expenses

You didn't do anything wrong, @NikkiHardyYardPizza!

Let me help share how your transactions are reflected on your data after saving them.

Normally, bill payment is part of the money taking out from your business bank account. This is the reason why it'll display a negative amount on the list of your transaction upon reviewing them on the Expenses page.

In the same manner, here's an article you can read to learn more about your expense transactions: What is the difference between bills, cheques, and expenses?

Additionally, I've also included this reference for the compilation of articles you can use while working with us: Expenses and Suppliers for QuickBooks Online.

If you have any other questions, please let me know in the comments below. I'll be here to lend a hand.

HI @JonpriL 

Thanks for your reply. Are you able to explain why my other expenses are not showing negative if they are also money taken out of the business bank account? 

Nikki 

Hello  NikkiHardyYardPizza, Are the other expenses bill payments or standard expenses? A Standard expense is money taken straight away the bill payment is paying off the bill to make the bill closed as paid whereas the expense is paid straight away so it shows differently on the expense transactions list, If you were to go to account history in the bank account they would both show as a deduction of money and the same on the expense account chart of account it would show in an increase of expenses. Any questions on this just reply back to this post

I have the same problem, create bills show positive amount and bill payments are negative amount, that makes my expenses for those bills equal 0. I dont know how my expenses record? When I export to excel and calculate the expenses, it does not show the correct number.

Can I get rid off all bills with positive numbers and replace negative pill payments by positive expenses.

Any idea? Thanks

Hi @Jane821,

I'll discuss this situation further, as to why expense transactions have positive amounts, while bill payments have negative amounts on QuickBooks Online (QBO).

QBO uses double-entry accounting, which shows debits and credits for two or more accounts. The best way to show this is through the transaction journal for both of these transactions. 

An example for an expense transaction journal:

As you can see on the image, the expense transaction affects both the Checking account (bank) and the Contractors account (expense).

As for a bill payment transaction, check out the screenshot below:

Here's the screenshot of its corresponding bill transaction:

Going back to what I mentioned earlier about double-entry accounting. The system offsets your Creditors amount by showing a negative amount on the bill payment. So when it links to a bill, the total amount equals zero (given that the bill was paid in full).

The bottom line is, there isn't any issue with your QBO company if you see a positive amount for expense transactions or a negative amount for bill payments. 

I suggest you view this article as well: How accounts are affected by debits and credits. 

Feel free to post a reply and tag me in the comments below if you have other questions about the Creditors account in QBO. I'll take care of them for you. 

Thank @Ryan_M .

Here is my problem, I dont understand how does it work.

I understand that bill is positive and bill payment is negative will make my balance 0.

So where is my expense when I run the expense report. For every expense or check that I issue without billing it shows "Expense" with positive number on the report, but bill payment is negative.

I can't sum up how much I paid, because the (bill + bill payment) is 0 and is not calculated when I sum them up.

Now I just want all bills and bill payments become expenses or checks with positive number. Is it possible?

Thank @Rea_M 

I have 2 questions now:

1. I have never reconciled this account yet. What happens when I reconcile it. Will QB add those expenses automatically or I have to take other step entering expenses manually.

2. Can I remove all transactions of Bill and Bill payment and replace them by Expenses or Check with positive number.

Cheers

Thanks for coming back, @Jane821.

Let me guide you on what are the best things to do on your bill transactions in QuickBooks Online.

When reconciling your account in QuickBooks Online, you'll need to make sure that all the transactions that you've created in the system will match into your bank statement. Know that expenses are entered manually, and figures are based on the amounts that you've created.

To learn more on how reconciliation works, please see this reference: Learn the reconcile workflow in QuickBooks.

On the other hand, you can delete the bills and the payments that you have, but this will be at your own discretion. Make sure that the transaction that you made in QuickBooks matches the real-life happing of your business.

Here's a link that will give you more information about the difference between bills, cheques, and expenses: How to enter bills, cheques, and expenses.

Please don't hesitate to reach out to me here should you have any further questions, I want to make sure you're taken care of. Have a good one!

hi Good morning. Why is my bank statement showing a charge for $55 when it should be $1 for 6 months

Good Morning remprince,

Thank you for chiming in on the thread. We have a Charge LookUp Tool and would appreciate it if you could see if the charge is for the product you signed up for. If it is a billing issue, I highly recommend connecting with our team because they have the necessary tools to make changes to your account. Here's how:

1. Go to the Help menu.
2. Hit the Contact Us button.
3. Enter "callback" in the "What can we help you with?" section.
4. Select "Let's Talk"

The Community has your back, so please let me know if you need any additional assistance. I hope you enjoy your day. Be safe and take care.