If two credit cards are reported under the same bank feed, how do you reconcile when payments are only applied to one card number?

You've come to the right place for answers, @spencervet13.

Thank you for providing complete details of your concern. I'll provide some explanation of how parent and sub-account work in QuickBooks Online. This way, I can guide you accordingly in handling your business. 

To begin with, you'll need to add a specific sub-account for your payments to personalize the transactions. Your Chart of Account (COA) looks like this in the screenshot below: 

Recording transactions in sub-accounts will affect the parent balance. But entry in the parent will not affect the sub-accounts. Let me give you an example. 

You record money out under the parent account, the balance will go down, while the sub-account fund will remain the same. 

When it’s time to reconcile, you only need to reconcile the parent account because all the transactions in the sub-accounts roll up into it. That said, there is nothing else to do with your sub-account balance. For more knowledge about the process, check out this article: About bank or credit card sub-account setup. 

In addition, if you have issues when reconciling accounts, you can use this link to resolve the issue: Reconciliation hub.

Furthermore, check out these articles below on how to personalize COA and to know the usage limits: 

• Learn about usage limits in QuickBooks Online
• Learn about the chart of accounts in QuickBooks

Feel free to mention my name in the comment section if you have clarification on this matter or other concerns. I'm always here to help you. Have a great day, @spencervet13.

@MichelleBh , you say that there is nothing else to do with the subaccount balances? So, they just continue to grow? That doesn't make sense. When we look at our accounts, we want them to mirror what is happening in real life. All of other bank accounts can be brought to match exactly what shows in the bank on any given day once the bank feeds are cleared. This does not happen with our credit cards - ever. The 'bank' balance for the primary card reflects the total balance (the yet to be paid balance from the previous statement plus the purchases as they accumulate throughout the billing cycle for both cards) and the 'bank' balance for the second card shows as '$0.00' (always). However, the QBO balance for these accounts continue to grow in opposite directions. That is to say the primary card shows as a negative balance while the secondary card shows as positive balance. The primary card balance is ever decreasing by the difference of payments made toward the total credit account balance against purchases made specifically on that card. Meanwhile, the secondary card balance grows in 1:1 fashion with purchases made specifically on that card. It is not a 'clean' process. Unless, we take additional steps through journal entries or, honestly I do not know how our accountant 'fixes' the balances, it is very disconcerting to see the balance of the secondary card growing into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. If I have to take the extra measures to clean up those subaccount balances to mirror real life EVERY time I run the bank feeds, I will do it but, it really seems like this could/should be automated when payments are applied to the parent account. Also, in order for me to make those entries to 'fix' the balances, I would need to understand and know how to do them so as not to create false profits/expenses and throw off all of the accounting. 

Is this something that can be done by entering the purchases differently? By creating a bill against the parent account instead of just letting the balance roll from month to month? By deleting the parent account and making the primary card (according to the card issuer) the parent account? Can it be set up so the individual card bank feeds are directed into a single COA account instead of separate ones?

Hi there, spencervet13.

I appreciate you for coming back to the thread and add some clarifications. This isn't the kind of impression that I'd like you to have and we know how much time it can take when something isn’t working the way you need it. That said, I'll be sharing further information on how transactions in different accounts work in QuickBooks.

As mentioned above, when the time comes that you need to reconcile, you only need to do it on the parent account since transactions from the subaccounts roll up into it. That said, there is nothing else to do directly with your sub-account balances. However, you can manually clear the balance. This isn't needed to create a journal entry. If you pay the card with one check, make sure to enter the sub-accounts in the payment instead. This will zero out their balances including the parent.

On the other hand, it will depend on 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. That said, you can click this article to view additional details on how to handle multiple banks and sub-accounts in QuickBooks: About bank or credit card subaccount setup.

Please refer to this article to see different guidelines on how you can fix various reconciliation issues: Learn the reconcile workflow in QuickBooks.

Don't hesitate to post again or comment below if you have any questions about reconciling or how to handle parent/sub-accounts in QuickBooks Online. I'm always here to help.

I have no problem with reconciling, it is the subaccount balances showing on the Balance Sheet. How can I remove the subaccounts from showing on the Financial Reports on OBO?

Hi there, @barb_r.

I'll share insights about the accounts of your report in QuickBooks Online.

As of the moment, there isn't an integrated way to remove subaccounts from the list of categories shown in your Balance Sheet report. From now, let's consider exporting your report to a new excel file and customize the file to not include your subaccounts.

Now you're able to see a list of categories in a balance sheet report in QuickBooks, kindly read this article to learn more about how to get the most out of your financial reports: Export Reports to Excel in QuickBooks Online.

Aside from customizing them, you're also able to generate other data based on the financial status you need. Here are the references you can use: Create and manage reports in QuickBooks Online.

If there's anything else that I can help you with aside from generating a report with certain accounts in QuickBooks, please let me know by tagging, @JonpriL, in the comments below. I'll be around and ready to help. Take care always and stay safe!

I would really like to see an example of how to clear the negative balances in action. Is the opening balance the thing in need of clearing with a journal entry? What would such an entry look like? Thank you!

Thank you for reaching us, @BookishAccounting!

The negative balances on your transactions indicate that your accounts have credits. To correct this, make a journal entry to credit the accounts affected and clear out the negative amounts. I recommend consulting with your accountant beforehand so they can guide you on which accounts to choose.

Here's how to create a journal entry:

1. Click the + New icon.
2. Select Journal entry.
3. Fill out the fields to create your journal entry.
4. Select Save and new or Save and close.
   
   

You can check out this article for more details: How to clear negative entries from Undeposited Funds and the Bank Deposit screen.

You can also learn more on managing the balance sheets in QBO by reading through this link: Understanding the Balance Sheet: Asset, Liability, and Equity.

The articles listed below provide some insight about the reconciliation:
 

• Categorize and match online bank transactions in QuickBooks Online.
• Learn the reconcile workflow in QuickBooks.

Please visit us again if you need further assistance with your transactions. Have a great day!

From what I'm reading in the help blogs I'm not sure you guys are really understanding what people are asking. I have attached a screen shot of my setup for you to see and here is my issue..

Details:

• I have a parent account and two sub accounts (the actual cards used).

• The two sub accounts (cards) are the ones that sync, not the parent account.

• With my credit card company the main card is the account and the secondary card is just so an employee can also make purchases. The second card's transactions filter into the main account and when the main account is paid, it pays off the total amount of purchases from both cards. So just one credit card bill and payment for both accounts (cards). 

• Over the last several weeks of charging and paying the balance each week the two sub accounts have a counterbalancing total. The main card has a -216.77 positive balance and the second card has a 216.77 negative balance. The balance for the parent account is zero because the card is paid in full each month. The 216.77 on the secondary card is the amount that was charged on that card but it was paid off when the main card balance was paid. 

• Payments made on this credit card account apply to both accounts but shows up as a overpayment on the main one and a balance owed on the second card account even though they cancel each other out and are actually a zero balance. 

Questions:

1 How do I make it so each card shows a zero balance since they are both fully paid off?

2 I can only make a payment to the main account so will the secondary account always just have a balance that goes up forever?

3 Will the other one always show a negative balance because the payments aren't being shown in the secondary account?

4 How do I get the payments to show up on the second account with out doubling them by being in both the main and the secondary cards registers? I also can't split the payment up bc it is coming from the credit card company records as one payment. 

Thanks for joining the thread, @tanspar.

Reconciling your accounts is utilized to match your bank and credit card statements to clear or show a zero balance in the affected accounts.

Since transactions run via each CC account, you must reconcile from the CC sub account to the main account. However, if transactions flow through the parent account, you only need to reconcile the parent account  because all transactions in the subaccounts roll up into it.

Furthermore, certain banks may display the total bank balance at each subaccount level. This is due to the bank providing us with a static account balance rather than the balance of each subaccount.

You may want to understand more how the parent and subaccounts work in QuickBooks Online. Please refer to this article: Credit card subaccount setup.

Check out this article for your reference in reconciling your accounts: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online.

Please get back to us if you have further questions about your accounts in QuickBooks Online. We're available 24/7. Have a nice day!

Hey Siriel,

I'm not trying to be rude but all you did was quote the non specific article you sent me. This doesn't help my situation. Let me try again. When I look at the register for each of my sub accounts they show either a negative or positive number that is not zero. My card is paid in full so I would like that to be reflected in what I see in the registers. Is there really no way to for them both to display a zero balance? Currently it shows one card receiving payments and showing a positive balance credit and the other card as not showing payments at all but rather that same amount as a negative balance. Please don't send me another article. Just answer that one simple question. If the answer is that you can't do that, then please just say that.

Some people are showing in these support forums this counterbalancing amount in the thousands to sometimes over a hundred thousand. Will that keep going to millions of dollars before you have to have an accountant create a journal entry to zero it out? Surely there is a way that can be done before it gets to that point. 

Thank you for coming back to the Community, spartanwc.

We'll have to write a check to clear the balances in your register. Then, add each sub-account as a line item to the transaction. Allow me to guide you through the process.

Here's how:

1. In your company, tap the New menu at the top right and choose Check under Vendors.
2. On the transaction page, fill in the details with the correct information.
3. In the Category details section, go to the first line and select the first sub-account from the Category drop-down and enter the payment in the Amount (USD) field.
4. On the next line, choose the second sub-account from the Category drop-down and input the payment in the Amount (USD) field.
5. Click Save and close.

Next, return to the credit card register. You will then be able to see that the amounts will display as zero. When you're ready, you can reconcile the credit card account.

For more information, here's an article that will walk you through the steps of keeping track of your expenses and maintaining accurate financial reports: Record your payments to credit cards in QuickBooks Online. There, you'll learn about the various payment methods for the mentioned account.

We want to make sure you have all of the resources and tools you need to finish your accounting tasks in the online program. The Community page includes self-help articles that will teach you how to handle payroll, banking, taxes, and cash flow management, to name a few.

Keep me posted below if you still have questions about clearing out your banking entries or other product-related concerns. I'll get back and respond to them. Have a good one.

Thank you for getting back to me and attempting to solve this problem. A problem I might add should not exist. Or is at least one that occurs so frequently for so many people that QBO should absolutely have a better solution. 

In terms of your suggestion there are a few questions that need answering.

You mention very vaguely on step 2 that I need to "fill in the details with the correct information". Care to explain a little bit of detail there?? For instance, Payee section needs a vendor. If you have connected your credit card to QBO directly no vendor profile for your credit card company has been created by the system. Do I need to create a vendor profile for my credit card company? Won't this only further complicate things?

Also, what about the check number on this fictional check transaction? Do I leave that blank?

Finally, once you do all of this, if you have a set up where your cards are downloading transactions individually and not through a parent account, you still are stuck with a situation where you can't match that transaction to the downloaded transaction because you have now separated it in to smaller transactions. If you attempt to select "find more" transactions to match the entries on the check you are only shown the entries for that specific account but not the others.

Lastly, I know this isn't any of the support staffs fault and I'm not trying to sound frustrated with you. This is just a problem that I can't understand why it even exists. ALL businesses have to reconcile their credit cards. Why is this such a difficult thing to do?

Hi there, @spartanwc. Please know that this isn't the kind of experience we want you to have. I understand the challenges you've been through when trying to find a solution to this query.

Allow me to provide additional information on this subject. You cannot match them online because the payment cannot separate the two credit card accounts from the bank feeds. However, you may exclude the main credit card transactions and manually record them to the credit card payment.

I recommend contacting our live support team for additional information and a more extensive process. They have appropriate tools to assist you further during a screen-sharing session. They may also establish a case if necessary. Here's how:

1. Log in to your QuickBooks Online account.
2. Click the ? Help button at the top right corner.
3. Select Contact Us.
4. Enter a brief discussion with your concern, then click Continue.
5. Choose how you want to contact our support and fill in the information.

QuickBooks Online enables you to record credit card payments in a number of ways, allowing you to keep track of your expenses and provide accurate financial reports. Please read this article to understand how to record payments made to credit cards in QuickBooks Online: Record your payments to credit cards in QuickBooks Online.

Don't hesitate to reach out to us if you have more concerns about managing your transactions and accounts in QBO. We're always here to help you. Take care always and best regards.

There's no way to get the system to clear them out automatically, but there really should be. When you reconcile it pops up to allow you to pay the card now or enter a bill to pay it later, why can't it have a third option to roll the additional card accounts into the account you designate as the main card?

The best way I can figure out how to do it is to do this manually by posting a journal entry each credit card closing date moving the transactions from the additional card accounts to the main card account where your payments get pulled into. Not the cleanest option though because you have to then clear each line of that journal entry off during your bank rec.

I have a similiar issue but the problem is more complex as I see it.   When I make a CC payment its one check so the bank and quickbooks wouldn't know how to divide it.  Since I carry a balance from time-to-time I'm not sure how divide it between sub accounts and quite frankly not sure that I care at the end of the day.  What's Interesting is on the main transactions screen, I don't see any balance on my non-primary cards after I review the transactions. 

I don't mind doing a journal entry to shift the numbers onto the main card form time-to-time but quickbooks needs to take some responsibility to FIX the reporting so that the main credit account entry on the balance sheet doesn't show the sub accounts, just one line. Enough with the excuses and crappy work arounds.  I shouldn't have to export and twiddle around with this using excel or do other unnatural acts.