QuickBooks Desktop Credit Card Sub-Accounts

Thanks for sharing your concern here in the Community, @ReneeE. I'm here to help you fix this.

We can pay down a credit card to zero out the balance and do the reconciliation.

1. From the Banking menu, select Write Checks.
2. Choose the bank account you want to use for paying the credit card from the Bank account ▼ dropdown.
3. Click the date of your payment.
4. Select the name of your credit card company from the Pay to the order of ▼ dropdown.
5. Enter the amount of your payment.
6. Tap on the expenses tab.
7. Under the Account ▼ dropdown, select your credit card account.

Once done, you'll reconcile the credit card transactions.

1. Go to the Banking menu, then select Reconcile.
2. In the Account field, select the bank or credit card account you want to reconcile.
3. The Statement Date is automatically filled in. Usually, it's 30 or 31 days after the statement date of the previous reconciliation. Change it as needed to match your bank statement.
4. QuickBooks also automatically enters the Beginning Balance. It uses the ending balance from your last reconciliation to get this number.
5. Enter the Ending Balance based on your bank statement.
6. Enter the Service Charge and Interest Earned based on your bank statement. Don't enter charges you've already entered in QuickBooks.
7. Review the fields. If the info is correct, select Continue or OK.

Once you're done with the transfer process, you need to match it with your downloaded events. Doing this presents that you have paid the credit card bill amount. 

You can use this article for your future reference about reconciling accounts in QuickBooks Desktop. It has complete instructions to ensure everything is properly recorded. 

The Community is open 24/7 if you need further assistance with this. You can also click the REPLY button below if you have other QuickBooks-related concerns. We'll be more than happy to provide additional assistance. Keep safe! 

I cannot do what you suggested. All of the transactions have a check mark and say Cleared. These transactions go back to 2021 so all these main credit cards have been paid and reconciled. I do not download from the bank. I enter all credit card charges manually.

Thanks for your reply, @ReneeE. I'll add some steps to sort out this issue with your sub-account balance in QuickBooks Desktop.

To zero it out, you can pay your credit card charges to reduce the amount you owe. If you want to pay them before reconciliation, here are the steps you can follow:

1. Go to the Banking menu, and select Write Checks.
2. Choose the bank account you want to use for paying the credit card from the Bank account ▼ dropdown.
3. Select the date of your payment.
4. Tick the name of your credit card company from the Pay to the order of ▼ dropdown.
5. Enter the amount of your payment.
6. Hit the Expenses tab.
7. On the Account ▼ dropdown, select your credit card account.

When paying for the sub-accounts, enter a line for each sub-account, then type the amount you want to pay. The total amount should equal the total amount reflected for the parent account. Then, Save & Close once done.

Alternatively, you can also do it after reconciling the account. Check out the Pay credit card charges after reconciliation section in this article: Set up, use, and pay credit card accounts.

Moreover, we have a handy resource to help you find discrepancies and other issues in your current reconciliation: Get reports for previous reconciliations in QuickBooks Desktop.

I'm more than willing to help if you have any other transaction concerns. I'll ensure your needs are taken care of. Take care always.

Please read what I have posted in my message. Your responses are not helpful to me and show me that you are not reading my post. I am putting all the information below.

1. The transactions in the sub-accounts are from 2021.

2. The transactions in the sub-accounts from 2021 have a check mark, say cleared meaning they have been paid. 

3. I have reconciled the credit card statements. 

4. I have QuickBooks desktop.

5. I do not download from the bank.

6. I enter all credit card changes manually.

I need to know how to clear the sub-accounts so that they do have a 0 balance so I can hide the accounts. Remember I can NOT pay these accounts since they have paid and reconciled.

Thanks for following up with the Community, ReneeE. I appreciate your detailed information.

Reconciling an account correctly should result in the account's balance being zeroed out. Since you've already reconciled everything for both of these accounts, but they're still showing a non-zero balance, you'll want to check with an accounting professional on what's causing the balance to appear.

Additionally, to assure that your tax return won't have to be amended by any changes you may perform, I'd also recommend working with an accountant. If you're in need of one, there's an awesome tool on our website called Find a ProAdvisor. All ProAdvisors listed there are QuickBooks-certified and able to provide helpful insights for driving your business's success.

Here's how it works:
 

1. Go to our Find a ProAdvisor page.
2. Use the City or ZIP search field to specify a location.
3. Select Find a ProAdvisor.
4. Browse through your results and find one that works best for the business. You can click on each ProAdvisor's profile to learn more information about them.
   
   

Once you've found an accountant, they can be contacted through their Send a message form:
 

1. Use the available text box to introduce yourself. Be sure to include details about which services you're looking for.
   
   
    
2. Enter your appropriate info in the Your name, Your email, and Your phone number (optional) fields.
   
   
    
3. Select Send message.
   
   

I can also confirm that accounts can be zeroed out by inactivating them while they show a non-zero balance. When it comes to balance sheet accounts, Intuit recommends correcting their balances to zero before inactivating them. However, if an account's balance is not zero, and you inactivate it, QuickBooks will automatically create an adjustment entry to zero out the non-zero balance of your inactive account.

This automatic entry posts to the Opening Balance Equity account, which is the equivalent of posting to previous years. If you produce an entry like this by inactivating an account while it still shows a non-zero balance, the entry could cause incorrect tax information to be filed.

I've included a few couple detailed resources about reconciliation and inactivating accounts which may come in handy moving forward:
 

• Reconcile an account
• Make an account inactive

I'll be here to help if there's any additional questions. Have a great Friday!

I was told by my accountant to contact QB's since this is a QB's issue. 

 This can marked as Not Solved.

Keeping your account accurate and helping you make the sub-accounts inactive in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) is my priority, Renee. I also appreciate you for returning to this thread. 

I've read your previous posts, and it seems to me that I still need to clarify a few things. This helps us trim down the possibilities of the non-zero balance and resolve it quickly.

Please know that cleared transactions are those that you have marked as reviewed and compared to your credit card statement, but they haven't been formally reconciled.

If you only clear transactions but do not complete the reconciliation process, they will still show in the Balance Sheet report.

Reconciling the appropriate account and the correct transactions should result in a zero balance. Note that you can write a check to pay your credit card charges before or after the reconciliation. Feel free to use this article for further guidance: Set up, use, and pay credit card accounts.

Since you already reconciled them, I also want to confirm whether you reconciled the sub-account or the parent account. This ensure the financial report accurately reflect the correct account balances too.

Here's how you can make the sub-account inactive:

1. Navigate to the Lists menu and click on Chart of Accounts.
2. Locate the account you wish to deactivate, right-click on it, and choose Edit Account.
3. In the account editing window, check the box labeled Account is inactive.
4. Finally, save your changes by selecting Save & Close.

If you need more help investigating why it happened, our Support Team can also review your account in a prompt manner so please feel free to give us a short call. Go to the Help menu and select QuickBooks Desktop Help F1.

We're all right here to assist you with any other concerns you may have regarding your transactions.  I'll make sure your needs are properly addressed and taken care of. Feel free to reach out anytime.

Hi Sarahannc,

I want you to know that the transactions have been reconciled. All of these transactions show as Cleared Transactions on the Reconcilation report.   I have formally reconciled to each credit card statement so I have completed the reconciliation process. The question remains how to get them not to show on the balance sheet as they should not be showing so I can make these sub-accounts Inactive. 

Chiming in on this conversation to further assist you, Renee. I completely understand the impact of the balance sheet issue in QuickBooks Desktop on your operations. I also want to express my sincere appreciation for your continued communication and for providing us with additional information about your issue. Your proactive involvement enables me to delve deeper into the matter and find a solution that meets your needs effectively.

Since these transactions are still showing on your Balance Sheet even if it has been cleared let's perform some troubleshooting steps.

Before we proceed, I'd like to emphasize that if you have recorded any money-out transactions under the main account, your overall balance will decrease, while the balances of the sub-accounts will remain unaffected. With this, I'd suggest reviewing your main account to identify any transactions that have not been assigned to a sub-account, as this may have caused the discrepancy. I would advise collaborating with your accountant to ensure that no other accounts will be impacted.

However, if you've confirmed that your transactions were posted correctly, let's proceed and perform the troubleshooting steps.

Note that as Balance Sheet reports can be complex, I'd suggest consulting your accountant first. If you don't have one, check out this link: Find a ProAdvisor. Also since we might have to edit transactions to fix this issue, make sure to create a backup of your company file first.

1. First, let's run the Balance Sheet report in accrual basis, if you haven't:
2. From the Reports menu, select Company & Financial and then Balance Sheet Summary.
3. Select Customize Report.
4. On the Display tab, select Accrual under Report Basis.
5. Select OK.

If your balance sheet is not balanced in accrual basis, the first step is to rebuild your company file. However, if the imbalance persists in cash basis or remains unresolved after the rebuild, let's continue and find the date when your balance sheet went out of balance. You can skip this part if you've already located the transactions.

Once you find the transaction or transactions causing the problem, change the dates on them:

1. Please record their present dates and modify the date on each transaction to a day that is 20 years ahead.
2. Save each transaction.
3. If you have identified the correct transactions, refreshing the report will result in the Paid Amount column displaying a value of zero.
4. Find the transactions that you initially dated in the future and revert them to their original dates. This process of re-dating will reconnect the transactions and potentially fix any issues.

If this doesn't work, proceed to Step 5 which is to delete and reenter the transactions. 

Additionally, I've included an article that'll help you with what to do if your accounts in QuickBooks Desktop don't match your bank statements at the end of reconciliation: Fix issues when you're reconciling in QuickBooks Desktop. 

I am available to answer any additional inquiries you may have about managing your bank transactions in QuickBooks Desktop. I would be delighted to assist you in accomplishing your tasks. Stay safe.

Hi Renee, 

I am having the same problem.  Did you ever get this resolved and if so can you please share it with me.  

Thank you

Hi Renee, 

I am having the same problem.  Did you ever get this resolved and if so can you please share it with me.  

Thank you

Hi Renee, 

I am having the same problem.  Did you ever get this resolved and if so can you please share it with me.  

Thank you

Thanks for bringing this to us, DJ-C.

I want to make sure this is taken care of. Have you tried the troubleshooting steps provided above? If the problem continues, let's consider trying additional troubleshooting measures.

The process of recording transactions in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) varies depending on the type of transaction you wish to document. Moreover, if you have an accountant or bookkeeper, they may take care of this procedure on your behalf. It is essential to refer to QuickBooks documentation or seek expert assistance if you come across any challenges.

Posting transactions to the sub-account impacts the parent account, but posting to the parent account doesn't affect the sub-account. For example, recording a check to the parent account decreases its balance while leaving the sub-account balance unchanged. You can review these transactions in the parent account if they are linked to the sub-account.

To add a sub-account, you can follow the steps below:

1. Go to the Lists menu and then Chart of Accounts.
   
2. From the Account drop-down arrow, select New.
   
3. Select an account type, then click Continue.
   
4. Enter the account details.
5. Click the Subaccount of checkbox.
6. In the Subaccount of drop-down arrow, choose the parent account.
7. Put the other information needed.
8. Select Save & Close.
   

Let me know in the comment below if you have other questions. I'm always willing to help. Take care!

The way to resolve this is to do a journal entry. You need to debit the sub-account and credit the parent account. The next time you reconcile your credit card you will reconcile these posting as well and it will show a 0 balance in the sub-account so you can make the sub-account inactive. 

does this mean when applying a credit card payment, it should be divided among the subaccounts rather than entered as a payment just to the parent account?