Paying a credit card statement where one account has a negative balance

Hi there, @midsouthwaterllc. Thank you for detailing your concern.

I can help share insights to accurately manage the negative balance of your Credit Card (CC) account in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT). 

You're already on the right track. A negative amount in your Credit Card (CC) account means you paid more than your credit card charges. Since your CC account has a balance of -21.11, rest assured you don't need to create a bill in this case since you've already paid more than the credit card charges you owed.

Next, the bank statement is the source of truth. If the ending balance of your CC account statement is -21.11 and correctly reflects the ending balance of your record in QBDT, you don't have to create a positive ending balance. You can reconcile moving forward. 

After this, let me add this article to check out the available reports to track your cash flow in QBDT: Track your cash flow in QuickBooks Desktop. 

We'll be here in the Community if you need further assistance or if there are details you'd like to add in accounting for the negative balance of your CC account in QBDT. We're committed to offering ongoing support. Have a great day ahead!

The balance on ONE of the CC accounts is a negative amount (a credit). The actual entire statement balance itself (all the CCs combined) is not negative. I am trying to record/pay the entire statement balance through the Pay Bills window as I normally do (from our bank account via check). Because QB is not acknowledging the -21.11 for the ONE CC account (only $0), the statement balance/amount to be paid is not calculating correctly.

TOTAL statement amount due = $10,296.50

TOTAL amount it comes to on Pay Bills window for all the CCs = $10,317.61

Another thought I had.. If I save/Pay Selected Bills using the incorrect total amount in the Pay Bills window, but I change the check amount and correct it manually after saving? Will that balance things out or will that mess other things up behind the scenes? 

Thanks for getting back to the thread, @midsouthwaterllc.

I'll share additional information about the negative amount on your Credit Card (CC) accounts in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT).

As my colleague mentioned above, the negative amount on your CC accounts is an overpayment. 

In this case, I suggest reviewing the transactions on your credit card to check what's causing the negative amount or if there's a duplicate since the total statement amount due is correct, and the pay bills window has a bigger amount. You can compare it with what you recorded with your bank statement to make sure everything matches.

Moreover, you don't need to save or pay the selected bills using the incorrect total amount in the Pay Bills window. 

Also, we can't guarantee that it will balance things out, or it could mess up your account. I would also advise you to consult with your accountant or a QuickBooks Certified ProAdvisor. That way, they can guide you with the appropriate process and ensure the accuracy of your books.

I'm attaching these articles to make sure your accounts in QB match your real-life bank and credit card statements:

• Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Desktop
• Fix issues when you're reconciling in QuickBooks Desktop

Please post a reply again if you have any other concerns with entering a negative credit card transaction. I'm always here to help you out.

The reason there is a negative statement amount (credit) on one of the CCs balance is because a fraud charge was reimbursed twice, which would have been an accident on their part, but has gone through nonetheless.

I'm going to try my last idea and see how it all works out when I do Month's End. I will try to remember to come back to update this thread for anyone else who might experience this issue in the future.

Well, QB would not let me change the amount of the payment manually, of course, so that option was a no-go.

I ended up deleting all the individual CC Bills the Reconciliation process created and used the Write Checks option instead, itemizing each CC account under Expenses. That way I could have a negative balance on the one CC and the Check amount matched the statement balance. 

I imagine that is what the folks trying to help me were trying to say but did not quite get there as far as instructions/help were concerned.