Paypal transactions not importing correctly

David WC · ‎January 30, 2022

I have PayPal set up as a Bank Feed to my QBO account. Periodically, I transfer amounts from my Paypal account to my actual bank. When the transferred amount shows up in my PayPal feed, I record it as a Transfer between accounts, then match the deposit transaction in my Bank account feed. Easy. Until today.

I noticed that my PayPal transfers (money moving OUT of PayPal) is showing up in my QBO PayPal feed as funds RECEIVED. This is a pretty basic fail in QBO, which just started in the past few days. Nothing has changed on the PayPal side - I can see three consecutive bank transfers in the past month, all posted exactly the same way in my PayPal account. The first one came across to QBO correctly, but the next two are in the feed as "received" rather than "spent". This error needs to be fixed asap by QB engineers.

LieraMarie_A · ‎February 26, 2022

Thank you for the screenshots, @David WC. I'm here to help you handle these transactions to make sure everything is accounted for.

I agree with you. You can exclude these two transactions from your PayPal feed. Then, categorize them as transfers in your banking feed. After that, go to your PayPal register and manually clear the two.

Here's how to exclude them:

On the left panel, choose the Banking menu to select Banking.
Select your PayPal account.
Go to the For Review tab.
Tick the boxes for the two transactions and select the Exclude button.

Then, record the transfers by following these steps:

Select your bank account.
Go to the For Review tab.
Find and select the transaction to open it.
Select the Record as transfer radio button. Then, from the Transfer from dropdown, select your PayPal account.
Click Add.
Do the same process for the other transaction.

After that, manually clear them from your PayPal register.

Go to the Gear icon, then choose Chart of Accounts.
Locate your PayPal account.
Select View Register/Account history from the Action column.
Identify the transactions to clear.
Under the reconcile status column, select C for Cleared.
Select Save.

For other reconciliation resources you can check, please click this guide: Learn the reconcile workflow in QuickBooks.

Should you have any additional questions or concerns, the Community will have you covered. Have a good one.

View solution in original post

Rea_M · ‎January 30, 2022

Managing your PayPal transactions in QuickBooks Online (QBO) is my priority, @David WC. That's why I'm here to share further details on how QuickBooks receives banking data from them to help you categorize your transactions accordingly.

QuickBooks depends on the banking data that PayPal provides. You may verify with them if they've implemented updates on their bank feed for transfers. This way, you can categorize your entries in QBO accordingly.

Once verified, you'll have to categorize your transactions in QBO to keep your financial data accurate and updated. For the step-by-step guide, you can refer to this article: Categorize and match online bank transactions in QuickBooks Online.

Also, I'd recommend reconciling your PayPal account every month. This will help you monitor your transactions and detect any possible errors accordingly. For the complete guide, please check out this article: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online.

Please keep me posted if you have other banking concerns and questions about managing PayPal transactions in QBO. I'm always ready to help. Take care, and I wish you continued success, @David WC.

David WC · ‎January 30, 2022

This is not a PayPal issue. And I've noticed that this is the stock answer for any PayPal related problems in QBO - "It must be PayPal's fault." Well, it's not.

I made a $5000 withdrawal from Paypal. Simple. For two years, QBO correctly imported that number as -5,000. But today, it imports it as +5,000. I can tell you with certainty that $5,000 has been deducted from my PayPal balance. So why would QBO be saying that $5,000 was added? This is an importing error, and it needs to be fixed.

Accounting software really should not mix up plusses and minuses. That's pretty basic stuff.

AlcaeusF · ‎January 30, 2022

Hello @David WC,

I appreciate you for adding more details about the issue. Allow me to step in and help you get the support you need with the downloaded data from PayPal.

I've read the thread, and I can see that all posted correctly in your PayPal account. Since it's showing as Spent in QuickBooks, I recommend contacting our QuickBooks Support Team.

This way, they can investigate the issue further with the downloaded data. Our support for Plus, Essentials, Simple Start is available from 6 AM - 6 PM PT (Monday - Friday) and 6 AM - 3 PM PT (Saturday). For Advanced, any time, any day.

Here's how you can reach them:

Click the Help tab in the upper-right corner.
Go to the Assistant tab.
Click Get help from a human.
Choose Chat with us or Have us call you.

Also, I've attached a link you can check to learn how to import PayPal transactions manually in QuickBooks: Sync with Paypal: Manual import overview.

Don't hesitate to drop a comment below if you need more assistance with syncing PayPal. I'm always here to help. Take care.

David WC · ‎February 26, 2022

OK, so it looks like Quickbooks might have fixed their importing error, because my last two transfers have been imported correctly.

Now ... how do I fix the two Quickbooks errors? I have two lines in my Paypal banking feed that are showing a credit instead of a debit. Normally, I would just link the two matching transactions (OUT of Paypal and IN to Bank Account). But now I have two IN transactions that I can't match. I assume that I now have to "exclude" the Quickbooks errors. But how do I create a new Transaction to reconcile my Paypal feed?

I'm attaching two screen grabs - one from my Paypal feed showing the difference between the correctly imported transactions and the errors - and another from my Banking feed showing the matching transactions.

David WC · ‎February 26, 2022

I had to post twice to upload both screen grabs.

LieraMarie_A · ‎February 26, 2022

Thank you for the screenshots, @David WC. I'm here to help you handle these transactions to make sure everything is accounted for.

I agree with you. You can exclude these two transactions from your PayPal feed. Then, categorize them as transfers in your banking feed. After that, go to your PayPal register and manually clear the two.

Here's how to exclude them:

On the left panel, choose the Banking menu to select Banking.
Select your PayPal account.
Go to the For Review tab.
Tick the boxes for the two transactions and select the Exclude button.

Then, record the transfers by following these steps:

Select your bank account.
Go to the For Review tab.
Find and select the transaction to open it.
Select the Record as transfer radio button. Then, from the Transfer from dropdown, select your PayPal account.
Click Add.
Do the same process for the other transaction.

After that, manually clear them from your PayPal register.

Go to the Gear icon, then choose Chart of Accounts.
Locate your PayPal account.
Select View Register/Account history from the Action column.
Identify the transactions to clear.
Under the reconcile status column, select C for Cleared.
Select Save.

For other reconciliation resources you can check, please click this guide: Learn the reconcile workflow in QuickBooks.

Should you have any additional questions or concerns, the Community will have you covered. Have a good one.

David WC · ‎June 08, 2022

I had to revisit the answer in this thread because, unbelievably it's happening AGAIN! Quickbooks has imported a Paypal Debit as a Credit.

It's worth reviving this post, just in case a potential QBO user is searching for "does Quickbooks Online integrate with PayPal" - the answer is No.

Fiat Lux - ASIA · ‎June 08, 2022

@David WC

You may need a 3rd party app to do so 8)

UnityEle · ‎March 31, 2023

Yep, can't trust at all what QBO imports in PayPal.

There is a massive glitch.

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Paypal transactions not importing correctly