You explain the problem precisely. Charges do increase the balance owed. The problem is that payments increase the balance owed regardless of whether the balance is displayed as a negative number or a positive number. I understand everyone thinking it is a data entry error but the opposite side of the double entry transaction calculates correctly.
On Mon, Mar 6, 2023 at 10:43 AM R Losey <rlo...@gmail.com> wrote: > From reading the posts on this list, I still think this is a data entry > issue... It is correct that payments should lower the balance... > > But are charges being entered correctly? > > When you enter a credit card payment, it "has" to be correct, because you > know it takes money away from your bank account and is applied to the > credit card balance. > > However, when you enter charges, they could be reversed; one entry is on > some "Expense" item, and the other is against the charges. > > In other words, are your charges showing up in the same column as the > payments? If so, then that's your answer. > > I am not using formal accounting labels; I don't *think* I have the > Reverse Balance Accounts set (I can't find it, but I'm using the default). > > As I add charges, my credit card balance increases, and is positive. > Payments are negative, and decrease the balance. > > > > On Mon, Mar 6, 2023 at 11:20 AM Custom Shots <customsh...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> I'm going to answer your questions one by one but for clarification, I've >> been using GC for years. I always balance my accounts monthly. GC has >> always performed flawlessly. Yes, I have made mistakes now and again and I >> resolved them with adjusting transactions. >> >> I don't remember when I opened the accounts. I balance accounts monthly so >> this is new. >> >> No, I did not err in opening the account. I charge things and pay the bill >> entirely every month. It has always been accurate. Balancing a checkbook >> is >> easy for me to do and that side of the transactions is correct. It is only >> in this one credit card account that I"m having problems. A charge >> increases the balance owed. A payment increases the balance owed. I don't >> understand how that can happen. >> >> My computer recently automatically upgraded the OS to Ubuntu 22.04.2 and >> Linux kernel to 5.19.0-35. I may be grasping at straws here but could that >> be the problem? I may have been working in GC at the time of the upgrade. >> >> I would see a positive number in the payment in the column and then a >> larger balance due, a negative number in the balance column. >> >> >> On Mon, Mar 6, 2023 at 9:49 AM Stan Brown (using GC 2.6.19) < >> stan+gnuc...@fastmail.fm> wrote: >> >> > Thanks for confirming that you selected Reverse Balance Accounts: Credit >> > Accounts. That's the setting I use, so I can speak confidently about how >> > GC works in our case. >> > >> > I'm assuming (I think we all are) that when you created the account and >> > entered your opening balance, you owed money on the credit card or >> > perhaps had a zero balance. Please confirm whether that's accurate. >> > >> > Someone asked if perhaps you initially made an error by entering the >> > opening balance as a negative rather than a positive. Is that a >> > possibility? >> > >> > Look at that account's register, scroll up to the top if necessary, and >> > look at the very first entry. If you owed money on that credit card when >> > you started with GC, the first entry should have a positive number in >> > the Credit (middle) column of the three money columns, and the Balance >> > (third) column should also be positive. >> > >> > If you see a positive balance in the Debit (first) money column and also >> > in the Balance (third) column, something is very wrong and I can't >> > advise you. I think that's pretty darned unlikely, and I'm mentioning it >> > only for completeness. >> > >> > If you see a positive balance in the Debit (first) money column and >> > negative balance in the third column, there's your problem. There are >> > two ways to fix this. >> > >> > (option A) Delete the number from the Debit column and put (still as a >> > positive) in the Credit column. That will of course put your books out >> > of balance by double the amount, which you'll need to fix. If you don't >> > see all the splits of the transaction, click Split in the menu at the >> > top of the GC window, then figure out what the reversing entry should be >> > and edit accordingly. Run a balance sheet to make sure everything is in >> > balance now. >> > >> > (option B) The conservative practice would be to make an adjusting entry >> > as of today. Assuming the opening balance was -123.45, the entry would >> be: >> > Description: Correct opening balance of _____ credit card, entered >> > backward by mistake >> > Debit to Equity:main Equity account: 246.90 (double the opening >> > balance) >> > Credit to Liabilities _____ credit card account 246.90 >> > The numbers will still be wrong from the start to yesterday, but there >> > will be no question about what haoppened and how you fixed it. >> > >> > HOW TO CHOOSE: Some people don't like changing historical records, and I >> > see their point because it can make changes harder to track. Also, with >> > the old pen-and-ink bookkeeping, which GC generally emulates, prior >> > entries couldn't be changed. If these books are just for your own use, >> > tracking is less of an issue because I daresay after all this kerfuffle >> > you'll remember what you did. But a real accountant would most liklely >> > choose option B even so. >> > >> > Stan Brown >> > Tehachapi, CA, USA >> > https://BrownMath.com >> > >> > On 2023-03-06 08:09, Custom Shots wrote: >> > > In GnuCash Preferences: Accounts: Reverse Balance Accounts: Credit >> > Accounts >> > > is selected. That shows amounts owed as negative numbers. >> > > After adjusting settings as others have suggested, I have seen another >> > > anomaly. This is happening with only one credit account. I have four >> > credit >> > > accounts. The other three are working properly. This one in question >> is >> > the >> > > only one that is incorrect. I am attaching a screenshot of the >> register >> > as >> > > it is after changing settings. Like this or with reverse balance >> accounts >> > > credit selected the balance should go down after a payment. It >> doesn't it >> > > goes up. Even with negative numbers, the negative balance owed goes up >> > > meaning I owe more after a payment. >> > >> _______________________________________________ >> gnucash-user mailing list >> gnucash-user@gnucash.org >> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: >> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user >> ----- >> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. >> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. >> > > > -- > _________________________________ > Richard Losey > rlo...@gmail.com > Micah 6:8 > _______________________________________________ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user ----- Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
