Fixing business credit card that's been accruing in Quickbooks for years

Good day, @rebecca777.

Let me answer all of your banking queries in QuickBooks Online (QBO). 

When connecting to Online Banking, you need to know how your bank sends the downloaded transactions. If the transactions download to one account, connect only the parent account. If the transactions download to the individual accounts, connect the subaccounts and not the parent account.
 

You can’t connect both a parent account and its subaccounts. If you try to connect both, you’ll get a message that the account is already connected.

If all of these accounts are connected to online banking as a parent, you have to disconnect the ones that are suppose to be subaccounts. Then, set them up as subaccounts in the Chart of Accounts. 

Here's how:

1. Unlink the bank or credit card subaccounts from QBO.
2. Go to the Accounting menu and select Chart of Accounts. 
3. Search for the account and choose Edit from the ACTION drop-down list.
4. Check the Is sub-account box, then select the parent account from the drop-down list.
5. Click Save and Close.

Once done, all of your transactions from your sub-accounts will automatically be downloaded to the parent account on the Banking page. Then, you can now categorize them.

Please take note some banks let you download the last 90 days of transactions while others can go back as far as 24 months. If you're unable to see all of your past transactions, you can manually upload them instead.

If you're not connected to online banking, simply change your accounts into a subaccount. After doing these steps, all of your subaccounts will automatically sum up in the parents account. Finally, you can now reconcile it and close your books.
 

In case you need further help reconciling, see How to reconcile accounts for a step-by-step guide.

Just let me know if you have further banking queries. I'll be here to help. Have a good one!

Thank you for your input. I do have some more questions.

First, the main bank account and subaccounts are all set up as parent accounts right now. I do like that I can have them all automatically update. I imagine if I disconnect the credit cards and make them subaccounts, I'll have to manually add the transactions and I'd rather not. Does downloading the transactions to the parent account somehow propagate the subaccounts? Does it work well? The credit card bank account is Bank of America. Also, I don't want to have to categorize all of the transactions again. There are a lot.

I am still wondering how to correct the balance from previous years. I don't want to change anything from previous years, it may upset the reconciliation. Can I create a transfer this year that I don't have to reconcile so that the balances are correct? Right now they have been accruing in the main and child credit card accounts without transfers between the two.

Hello, rebecca777. 

Thank you for getting back to us. Once you downloaded the transactions from the parent account it will also generate to the subaccount.  

However, if the parent account is connected to online banking, the transactions you confirm or categorized will only show in the parent account. To learn about it, you can refer to this article: About bank or credit card subaccount setup. 

Also regarding the balance from previous year, In case you haven't closed your previous books, I recommend reconciling your account in QBO to match your account balance. After that, I suggest partnering with your accountant to help you run year-end reports. Also, they can reclassify transactions, distribute profits from the business, and help you prepare your year-end tax return. These are the tasks you'll have to perform before you close your previous year books. To learn more about this process, see Task 4 - 10 through this article: Year-end Guide and Checklist. 

Let me know if you need further assistance in QuickBooks. I'm always here to help. Have a good one and stay safe!