QBO PayPal integration creates both a sales receipt and a deposit, double counting each sale

Hi there, @Michael7s.

I'm here to help ensure your PayPal transactions are not duplicating your sales. 

To fix this, we need to match them with your sales receipts. Here's how: 

1. Go to the Banking page. 
2. From the Bank and Credit Cards drop-down menu, select your bank account.
3. Under the For Review tab, find and click your PayPal payment transaction, then select Find Match.
4. Choose the sales receipt.
5. Click Save.

Here's an article for an additional guide on categorizing or finding a match of your downloaded banking transactions.

For future reference, read through this article to learn about balancing your checkbook to match your QuickBooks transactions with your PayPal, bank, and credit card statements: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online. 

Visit us again here in the Community and post some more if you have additional concerns. I'm here to keep helping. Take care!

Thank you KatherynJoyce,  I'd like to follow those instructions.  So here's what I did. 

For each sales receipt that ended up in the P&L under "PayPal Sales," I found the correlating deposit transaction in the "Already Categorized" section of banking for PayPal and "Undid" each deposit transaction. 

This eliminated the sales receipts "sales of PayPal" from appearing in the P&L (Yay!).  Now... what do to with each of these transactions in the "For Review" list on the Banking Transactions PayPal screen of QBO?  

The options QBO gives for each PayPal sale transaction is either:

"Categorize" as a Sales Receipt or Deposit or Transfer

or

"Find match"

The latter, "Find match"  errors out with "No Matches Found"  So that's of little help for now. 

If I Categorize the PayPal transaction (sale) as a Sales Receipt, it rightly counts it as income, but also creates a sales receipt that shows up on the P&L and appears to double count it. 

If I Categorize the PayPal transaction (sale) as a Deposit, it rightly counts it as income and everything is fine. 

Here's where this introduces a new and different cause/problem.  The RULE for entering PayPal Sales transactions instructs QuickBooks Online to add the transaction as a "Deposit" but instead, QuickBooks Online enters it as a Sales Receipt - which causes the double counting and the problem on the P&L. 

Does this seem like a bug in QBO or am I missing something important? 

Thanks for your help. 

Thank you for getting back to us and sharing detailed information on your concern, @Michael7s.

Allow me to provide additional insights on how QuickBooks Online (QBO) handles your PayPal transactions.

When you sync your PayPal transactions in QBO, you'll want to make sure that all the sales from your PayPal account are created in QuickBooks. This is to ensure the system will match your transactions without an error and won't double the income. Also, make sure that the items used in a transaction with products/services within QuickBooks match your PayPal transactions. The match criteria are based on the item name.

To learn more about how QuickBooks manage your PayPal transactions, feel free to read these articles:

• Connect to PayPal FAQ.
• Use the Connect to PayPal app.

Just in case you want to reconcile your PayPal account within QuickBooks, you can check out this article for your future reference: Learn the reconcile workflow in QuickBooks.

Please let me know if you need clarification about importing PayPal transactions in QBO, or there's anything else I can do for you. I'll be standing by for your response. Have a great day.

@Michael7s 

Explore the trial version of this app to reconcile PayPal transactions. You may find some useful reference to resolve your issue.

https:// synder.grsm.io/quickbooks

Hello Mark, I am not sure I follow your suggestion.

The items as the poster pointed out are double counted. This is wrong.

Credit card and banking transactions do not require additional gymnastics or massaging. A payment comes through, a payment is recorded.

What Quickbooks does, is takes a single paypal transaction and records it twice. That's wrong - no two ways about it. Please see attached. This illustrates the single transaction in my brand new paypal account, and the corresponding TWO entries in quick books.

Thank you.

Hi Homecook!

Thanks for joining us here. Let me share some details about Paypal transactions.

One reason why the transactions are showing twice is that you linked into QuickBooks Online the bank account that is connected to your Paypal account. The best way to fix this is to record the transaction in the Paypal account. Then, create a transfer from the bank to Paypal to record the funds coming out from the bank that you use for the Paypal transaction.

1. Go to the + New button and select Transfer.
2. Under Transfer Funds From, choose the bank account and the Paypal under Transfer Funds To.
3. Enter the details needed, tap Save and close.

Once done, match the downloaded transaction from the bank with the transfer on the PayPal account.

Also, as I checked your screenshot, it seems that you processed a refund on your Paypal account. Please note that all transactions will be downloaded into QuickBooks Online once you linked your Paypal or bank account. That's why you're seeing sales and refund transactions in the Banking. All you need to do is categorize and/or match them.

I've added some links you can check. These will discuss more on how to handle the downloaded entries to keep your account balance:

• Use the Connect to PayPal app

• Connect to PayPal FAQ

I'll be here if you need more help. Take care always!

I am having the exact same problem, and it started about mid May 2021. For the 6 months prior my Rule for PayPal Transactions "Money In" worked fine.  That is when money came in the rule properly assigned the Transaction Type as Deposit assigning correct Income Category and PayPal Fee Split.

Now, the same rule has the transaction set at Sales Receipt, and I have to Manually go in and change to Deposit and Assign Payee and Income Account.  When I manually make the change everything works fine.

Please advise how I can get the rule to work correctly.   Thanks.

Thanks for joining us here, DaniDawg!

Bank rules in QuickBooks Online help to easily categorize the imported transactions. Let me help you in fixing the issue with your Paypal transactions.

What I can suggest is to delete and recreate the bank rule you created. Follow these steps:

1. Go to the Banking/Transactions menu and select Rules.
2. Search the Paypal rule you've set up. Under the Action column, click the drop-down and select Delete.
3. Tap Yes to confirm.

Follow the steps in this article on how to set up a new one: Set up bank rules to categorize online banking transactions in QuickBooks Online.

Once done, check on your future imported transactions if it resolves the error. If not, I suggest reaching out to our Support Team for investigation:

1. Click the (?) Help icon and enter Talk to a human (then type it again when prompted).
2. When asked by the bot, enter "Paypal Transactions".
3. Select I still need a human, then proceed with Contact us or Get help from a human.
4. Choose either Chat or Callback.

Also, you can visit this page if you need more articles and references related to banking: Learn more.

Keep your posts coming if you need anything else. We'll help you!

Thanks for the response AlexV.  I have tried recreating the Rule 3 Times and I get the same results.  Here is what I see:

1. The Rule is running against Transaction

2. Even though I selectd Deposit/CreditCard as Transaction Type option on Rule, the Rule selects TransAction Type as Sales Receipt.  As a side note when I create Rule I do not even see that as an option.  I can select either Deposit/Credit Card or Transfer.

3. When I modify transaction and select Deposit. It works fine.

See my screen shot of Rule

Thanks for sharing a screenshot with us, DaniDawg.

I can share some troubleshooting steps to isolate and fix the issue you're having with bank rules.

Let open your QuickBooks Online (QBO) account in a private or incognito window and recreate the rule. This way, we can check if this a browser cache issue. 

The browser uses cache and cookies to swiftly load the web page faster in your next visit. However, too much of it affect the functionality of your account. Using a private window helps us verify the issue as this doesn't save any cache data.

To use a private or incognito window, you can refer to these keyboard shortcuts depending on the browser you're using:

• Ctrl + Shift + N (Google Chrome browser)
• Ctrl + Shift + P (Mozilla Firefox & Microsoft Edge browser)
• Command + Shift + N (Safari browser)

If you're able to categorize your transactions, I recommend clearing your regular browser's cache. This will delete all the junk file and refreshes the system. You can also use other support browsers if this doesn't fix the issue. This way, we can see and check if this is a browser-integrated issue.

If this is not the case, I suggest contacting our Support team. They have the tools to securely look into your account and investigate the reason why the rule is categorizing the entry incorrectly. To reach out to them, you can refer to the steps shared by my colleague AlexV above.

Once everything is settled, you might want to read this link for guidance: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online. This provides detailed instructions on matching your accounts seamlessly 

In case you have other clarifications about bank rules, you can always tag me in your reply. I'll be more than happy to help you. Keep safe and have a good one!

QBO's integration with PayPal is incredibly poor (and of no apparent use) and there should not be these difficult workarounds. Last year I had to spend over $500 to pay someone to "fix" these problems and the best they did was create journal entries. 

Bottom line, funds should be immediately deposited into the PP bank account like any other bank and I should be able to categorize that deposit under one of my own accounts. Shoving everything to PP Sales is incredibly painful and provides no insight into what that sale might have been. Plus, when I run a sales report, I have a lot of trouble getting correct numbers.
This issue has been brought up many times and labeling the issue as resolved is "disingenuous". FIX IT!

If someone were to ask me if I recommend QBO, I'd say yes but only if you do not use PayPal.

First, I am new to Qb Community.  Please tell me how to originate a post instead of only bring able to comment of pose questions via s reply to existing comment!

Second, my Pay Pal transactions in QB online leave me frustrated snd befuddled.  I had PP set up as a bank account for years and this way I received all the information that appears with the transactions in PP such as who it was to or from, the banking transaction text, etc.

The bookkeeper I had did not like having to delete the duplicate sale information arising from linking it as a bank account so we removed it as a bank account. Now she only books the PayPal transactions from when they show in a bank account update.  This is good fot her but creates issues fot me.  Half the time or more I cannot tell who the actual Payee was that paid via PP nor can I see what thry bought or what invoice they paid.  This means I cannot properly categorize the transaction other than as a “Transfer” but this does not tell me or anyone if it is just an internal transfer from PP  to business checking, and therefore not counted in revenue, if it paid for something and if so what and from whom, OR if the transfer needs to book as a sale/income. It leaves me blind.

What is simplest, most straightforward way to access PP transactions through QB?  Is this as a bank account that separately pulls in the transactions (and if so, is there a way to set this up to avoid duplicate deposits/income)?

if the better way is to just let the bank account provide them, how do Iget the rest of the info I need to categorize, attribute payment to correct customer, etc?  And, how fo I avoid the confusion created by the net PP amounts deposited not matching the gross amount bookkeeper is entering the sales paid via PP.  it is creating so much confusion as I cannot exactly match the transaction amounts on the bank statement to the transaction amount that can be found in the P&L Detail report for each month?

Obviously, accounting is not in my genius zone but with the prominence and wide adoption of Quick Books surely there is a best practice that accomplishes all of these goals?

Agree 500%!!ll

Welcome to QuickBooks space, AIMONLINE.

I'm here to guide you on how to post or start a post in QuickBooks Community. Check out the steps I've listed below:

1. Log in to your Community account.
2. From the landing page, select Ask the Community. 
3. Choose your product from the drop-down menu.
4. Pick a topic, then enter the subject and details of your concern.
5. When you're done, click Post.

In QuickBooks Online, there are 3 ways to connect your PayPal account. The main difference between the connections is the way certain transactions are handled and the transaction details that are imported. I recommend reading this article to learn more about this topic: Differences between Connect to PayPal app, Sync with PayPal app, and PayPal Bank Feeds.

Take note that for PayPal Bank Feeds, users won't be able to get a detailed breakdown of their sales transactions. To ensure that you'll be able to obtain the details that you need, you'll want to use the Connect to PayPal or Sync with PayPal integration  instead.

Lassly, if there are taxes or fees on the actual Paypal payment, you won't be able to match it to the existing transaction because the amounts are different. When this happens, you'll have to exclude them from the Banking page and then manually clear them in your bank register. Here's how:

1. Select Accounting from the sidebar menu, then go to Chart of Accounts.
2. Find the bank account holding the transaction, then click View register from the Action column.
3. Select the appropriate transaction, then review the check column.
4. Keep clicking the checkbox until you see a letter C.
5. Click Save and then close the register.

For additional tips while working with your banking transactions in the future, you can browse a topic from this link: Find help with bank feeds and reconciling accounts.

You can always find me here if you have any other concerns or follow-up questions. Assistance is just a post away.

@AIMONLINE 

Consider having an additional app to reconcile PP transactions into your QBO.

I could not agree with you more on this one.  Why this cannot be handled as a deposit matching to a paid sales receipt already created in the QBO books, with the reconciling amount being the "PayPal fee" is beyond me, and having to delete out one of the receipts, recreate the sale using our product service categories so inventory is not skewed, is beyond me, but I can do it with other bank accounts and payments...or am I missing something?

It's good to have you here in the QuickBooks Community, @TrixieT.

When you sync your PayPal transactions with QuickBooks Online, we have to make sure that all of your PayPal sales are recorded. This is to verify that the system correctly matches your transactions and does not duplicate your income. We also need to double-check that the products/services used in QBO matches your PayPal transactions.

To match them with sales receipts:

1. Go to the Banking menu.
2. From the Bank and Credit Cards drop-down menu, select your bank account.
3. In the For Review tab, find and click your PayPal payment transaction, then select Categorize or Find Match.
4. Choose the sales receipt.
5. Click Save.

I'll share an article about categorizing or finding a match of your downloaded banking transactions.

If you have any clarifications about the process or other concerns, post a comment on this thread. I’ll be glad to help and make sure this is taken care of for you.

I just spent 4 hours with QBO support yesterday for this very thing.  The rule applies to everything properly except the transactions brought in automatically from Paypal, which have the most detail.  I can manually switch it from Sales Receipt to Deposit and all is well.  However having to do that for hundreds of transactions is mind numbing and defeats the purpose of the rule.  After a long afternoon of them trying to figure it out, they told me to go to Paypal.  I hung up very upset.  This is how QBO is handling things once they are there.  Paypal has nothing to do with it.  I need the rule to change it to Deposit, but it won't.  

Hello there, lweendo.

This isn’t the kind of impression I want to leave, especially when using the product and contacting our support team. Let me help and guide route you in the right direction to ensure you can change the rule to deposit.

I know that you’ve already reached out to our QuickBooks Online (QBO) Care Team about this issue. I still suggest contacting them again for further assistance. They have extra tools like screen sharing to help them check the mapping of your transactions (PayPal).

One of our specialists will assist you on how to successfully change the rule to deposit. Reaching out ensures your sales record has the correct information.

Here’s how:

1. Tap the Help icon at the top to open the QB Assistant window.
2. In the Assistant tab, scroll down to the Type something field to enter the issue.
3. Click the Get help from a human link and follow the on-screen steps to complete the process.
4. In How would you like to connect with us? section, choose Chat for real-time assistance or Callback to speak with an agent.

I can see that my colleagues already provided this link on this thread. Let me share them again to help you efficiently manage your PayPal transactions as well as your bank rules. These resources contain answers to common questions on how the mentioned app and QBO handle your entries.

• Use the Connect to PayPal app
• Set up bank rules to categorize online banking transactions in QuickBooks Online

Set up bank rules to categorize online banking transactions in QuickBooks Online

---

@lweendo wrote:

I can manually switch it from Sales Receipt to Deposit and all is well.  However having to do that for hundreds of transactions is mind numbing and defeats the purpose of the rule. 

 

@lweendo 

Consider having an additional app to do as a workaround.

We did the screen sharing.  We went round and round with checking the rule, deleting and making new rules, etc. etc.  They involved a higher tier and we went round and round checking everything again.  Manual uploaded entries work fine with the rule, so they said manually upload.  This more work and doesn't give as much detail on the transactions.  It would be faster, albeit mind numbing and a waste of time, to manually change every transaction from Sales Receipt to Deposit, then to manually import every transaction just so a rule can add it as a deposit.  After not being able to fix the issue, they told me to go to Paypal.  However, I see from this thread, that it is not just me having this issue.  

We did the screen sharing.  We went round and round with checking the rule, deleting and making new rules, etc. etc.  They involved a higher tier and we went round and round checking everything again.  Manual uploaded entries work fine with the rule, so they said manually upload.  This more work and doesn't give as much detail on the transactions.  It would be faster, albeit mind numbing and a waste of time, to manually change every transaction from Sales Receipt to Deposit, then to manually import every transaction just so a rule can add it as a deposit.  The transactions come in from Paypal just fine.  After the transactions are there, the rules will not change the type from Sales Receipt to deposit.  After not being able to fix the issue, they told me to go to Paypal.  However, I see from this thread, that it is not just me having this issue.  

This is a terrible solution. The very set up you have duplicates the income! Matching the "Sales Receipt" does not categorize the income and when I did try to categorize things manually, the "PayPal Sales" are still showing up in my books as double income. I can't find any way to manually exclude the "sales receipts." I can't manually edit the PayPal Sales account nor even view the records! Also, QuickBook chokes on PayPal's temporary holds and sometimes records multiple transactions even after they've cleared. I'm at the point of disconnecting PayPal entirely and entering it in manually.

I know this hasn't been easy for you. www6.

One of the most popular online payment methods is PayPal. It is important to know how your transactions are recorded since PayPal operates differently from any financial institution.

You can link your PayPal account to QuickBooks Online using either the Sync with PayPal App or the PayPal Bank Feed. Each has a slightly different operation and imports various transaction information. Please see the following information below for the advantages and limitations of these two connections.

Sync with PayPal App:

• Detailed Sales transactions
• Sales Receipts are automatically generated
• Customer details are imported automatically
• Sales Tax and PayPal Fees imported
• Expenses import to the default category
• Transfers import to the default category
• Inventory not synced
• A long list of transactions that do not integrate

PayPal Bank Feed:

• Detailed transfer and expense transactions
• More control over categorization
• Review before importing
• Less detail on sales transactions
• Sales receipts must be entered manually
• PayPal fees must be entered manually

If you're using the Sync with PayPal app connection, the PayPal sales are automatically imported to QuickBooks Online as a sales receipt. To prevent duplication, you don't have to create a sales receipt manually. Also, there isn't any option to exclude PayPal Sales with this connection since the transactions are auto-imported.

If you want to change the default setting of your PayPal account, please follow the steps below:

1. Login to Intuit App Center.
2. Select the My Apps tab.
3. Find the Sync PayPal app card. 
4.  Select Settings.

On the other hand, connecting PayPal to the bank feeds is best practice if you receive payments from customers via PayPal. When you do this, transactions are downloaded on the Banking page and can be matched to those in QuickBooks. You can read this article for more details: Use the Connect to PayPal app.

I'm also adding this resource for future reference to learn more about reconciliation workflow in QuickBooks: Reconcile workflow.

If you have questions about QuickBooks Online (QBO), don't hesitate to leave a comment. We're always willing to assist.