Hi QuickBooks Team, could you explain why my invoice is listed as a liability and why the amount in the purchase list shows as negative.

Hi Chloe,

Thanks for reaching out about the negative amounts in your purchase listings. Let’s clarify how this works in QuickBooks and explore some solutions together!

In QuickBooks, invoices should be recorded in the Accounts Receivable account, which is an asset account, not a liability. If your invoices are appearing as liabilities, it might be due to how the accounts are set up or categorized.

When you receive a bill from a vendor, it goes into Accounts Payable, which is a liability. If the bill remains unpaid, it shows as an outstanding liability. Negative amounts can occur if a bill is recorded without a corresponding payment.

To ensure correct categorization, please check the transaction type. If any invoices were mistakenly recorded in a liability account, you can edit them by going to the invoice, selecting Accounts Receivable, saving the changes, and then verifying that everything reflects correctly.

For the negative amounts in your purchase list, check for any unpaid bills related to those invoices:

1. Navigate to Reports.
2. Search for Accounts Payable to find any unprocessed or outstanding bills.

If the negative amounts relate to inventory, follow these steps to review:

1. Go to Reports.
2. Open the Inventory Valuation Detail report.
3. Select All Dates from the report period dropdown and click Run report.

Look for any products with negative quantities and make sure that purchases are recorded before sales. Also, confirm that all payments for recorded bills are applied in the Expenses section.

For further troubleshooting, check out this article: Fix negative inventory issues in QuickBooks Online.

I’ve also included a link for more information on managing purchase orders: Create and send purchase orders in QuickBooks Online.