Can you split a deposit transaction into both income (positive) and expense (negative) categories?

Thanks for checking in with us, tammytoosvintage.

We can split a deposit in QuickBooks Self Employed (QBSE) by using the Split tab on the Transactions page. You can split transactions between business and personal, as an amount or percentage. Also, split it as business transactions between multiple Schedule C expense categories. Though we can enter a negative value of the amount, I'd recommend reaching out to your accountant for the best accounting advice and to review the transactions in your books. Here's how: 

1. Go to the Transactions tab in the left-hand menu.
2. Locate the deposit transaction.
3. Tick the Split tab under the Type column.
4. You can split by Amount or Percentage by clicking on the drop-down menu under Type. You can also add a line and choose multiple categories from one transaction.
5. Then, enter the negative amount for the expense category.
6. Press Save.

For more details about this one, see Split transactions in QuickBooks Self-Employed article. Feel free to visit our QBSE Help Article page for more insights about running your business on your account.

I'd like to know how you get on after trying the steps, as I want to ensure this is resolved for you. Please reply to this post and I'll get back to you. Have a great weekend. 

When I try to enter a negative amount as a split by using a - it doesn't accept it and just changes the numbers to a positive amount. :( I really need this function to account for my expenses correctly for each transaction. Will I have to upgrade versions to be able to do this? I hope not because I don't need any other features of the more expensive versions. 

Not worry, @tammytoosvintage. I'm here to ensure you can categorize your transactions correctly.

In QuickBooks Self Employed, we can split a single transaction into multiple categories. It also allows us to enter a negative amount. We can perform some troubleshooting steps to fix this error. For most general issues in QuickBooks , clearing the browser's cache can do the trick. Browser caches help speed up basic browsing that allows you to save more time when loading repetitive images or information. However, it can impact processes and cause this unexpected behavior when your browser accumulates too much historical data. Not to worry, you can clear them in just a few easy steps.

In the meantime, we can start by accessing your account through an incognito window to rule out the possibility of a webpage issue. You can refer to these shortcut keys to open an incognito window in all supported browsers:

• Chrome: Ctrl+Shift+N
• Firefox: Ctrl+Shift+P
• Safari: Command+Shift+N

If it's responsive, I recommend that you clear it's cache. By clearing the browser's cache, you can remove that historical data and access QuickBooks with a clean slate.

For future reference, these write-ups provide an overview of how to classify transactions and how they affect your financial reports:

• Categorize transactions
• Schedule C and expense categories in QuickBooks Self-Employed

Visit me here again in the Community and keep me posted on your progress with this banking issue. I'm determined to help you succeed.

According to the online help information, I can only split transactions by amount using the app. Using the web browser to split transactions requires you to enter the split in percentages, which will not work in this situation. How do I actually enter a negative amount in the app? It will not let me us a negative sign and there is no was to enter the amount using parenthesis. When I enter the amount using a negative sign, it changes the amount to a positive.

Hi tammytoosvintage,

I'd like to clarify that we're unable to split transactions into two or more transactions with positive and negative values, even in the app. There is only one sign. Cash-in transactions can be split into two or more positive transactions while cash-out transactions can also be split into two or more transactions, but with a negative effect on the account balance. Hence, they are cash out entries.

Normally, you'll get the net sales amount since most of them are coming from your bank account. If you need to declare the sales costs, you can add them manually.

Hope this clears up everything.

If you have more questions, please let me know. You can also click on Help and search for other topics you want to know.

We have multiple transactions a day like Tammy does - where we get the net deposited - but we also need to show the gross amount and the transaction fees  associated with it.  unlike her - i can use percentages - change the SALES percentage to 127% and then have a -27% for the THIRD PARTY FEES

you have multiple cusotmers asking you for this, why can’t you implement it?  it’s a simple programming change

jsut remove the part of the code that says each entry must be positive.  there’s already a check in there making sure the total is 100% (i pass this test - if i put in say 126% and -27% it errors out).  i don’t understand how a customer-pleasing company can say ‘thisis the only way it is done we don’t care what you mulitple customers need”

I have just started using QBSE and it seems this functionality is limited compared to the other Quickbooks online levels.  I used the nonprofit version and you can do much more and enter split with negatives.  Quickbooks self employed is really lacking.