Negative Liability on Balance Sheet (2024)

Updated: Apr 3

A Balance Sheet gives you a financial snapshot of the company as of the specific date. It calculates how much the company worth (its equity) by subtracting all money it owes (Liability) from the money it owns (Asset). Balance Sheet complies the accounting equation:

ASSET = EQUITY + LIABILITY

Liability is an obligation toward another party to pay money, deliver goods and render service. In this blog, we discuss 2 common situations of Negative Liability.

Negative Liability on Balance Sheet (3)

1. ACCOUNTS PAYABLE is NEGATIVE.

Accounts Payable is a current liability that is used to ensure that you will not miss any opening bill. Every time we create a bill, QuickBooks records a credit with the bill amount. When we pay bills, QuickBooks records a Debit with the payment amount. Therefore, 2 figures should be matched. If the amount is POSITIVE, we still owe the vendor. But, why do we have the negative amount here? Maybe the company overpaid Vendors.

Let’s analyze this situation:

  • On 05/01/2020, we create a bill that equals $300 for Merrill Communication. When recording the vendor’s bill, the Accounts Payable increased $300.

  • On 05/25/2020, we paid that bill. Unfortunately, we paid with the amount of $334.71, the exceed = $6.00 makes the Accounts Payable NEGATIVE.

In order to avoid this type of situation, the Owner or accountant/ bookkeeper should pay the bill with the amount that remained.

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2. Another Liability Account is NEGATIVE

Besides the Accounts Payable, other liability accounts could be negative. Every time we pay the loan, we create a debit amount to decrease the loan account. One day, we pay off all the loans and make the balance is $0.00. If the liability account is Negative, there are 2 situations:

- We overpaid the loan, or we paid much more than the loan amount.

- Or: there is no opening balance, all loan payments were recorded as debit, and make the balance is negative.

Let’s take a car loan as an example for the second situation. The image below shows how to record a new car into QuickBooks.

Negative Liability on Balance Sheet (6)

From this case, we can see that the total value of the car is $36,974.15. Therein, the total loan is $28,224.15; The down payment amount or the prepaid amount is $5,000. The rest is money for manufacturer rebate.

The total loan is recorded in the Car Loan as the beginning balance of this loan, which means a credit transaction. Then, every period the company will exceed the loan amount as every DEBIT until the loan amount is $0.00

Negative Liability on Balance Sheet (7)

So, in order to avoid the negative liability balance, we need to enter the total loan amount. If not, the account balance is always negative or worse, we will pay this loan without end.

Negative liabilities can throw off a company's financial analysis, which can change liquidity numbers and could give stakeholders the wrong idea about the company's financial health. To keep up with accurate financial reporting standards and protect the integrity of your financial records, you need to take care of these problems right away.

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Negative Liability on Balance Sheet (8)

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Negative Liability on Balance Sheet (2024)

FAQs

Negative Liability on Balance Sheet? ›

If the liability account is Negative, there are 2 situations: - We overpaid the loan, or we paid much more than the loan amount. - Or: there is no opening balance, all loan payments were recorded as debit, and make the balance is negative.

What does a negative on a balance sheet mean? ›

A negative balance sheet means there have been more liabilities than assets, so overall there's no value in the company available to you at that point in time.

Why is my account payable negative on my balance sheet? ›

The negative balance means the company has paid over the amount accrued. Therefore, a negative Accounts payable balance does not necessarily mean the payables balance has been reduced. Rather it indicates that the business paid off more than accrued.

Should payroll liabilities be negative on a balance sheet? ›

Some small business owners book those expenses to a category called “payroll liabilities.” If this account shows a negative balance, it's most likely your payroll was set up wrong.

Is it okay to have negative cash on a balance sheet? ›

However, cash cannot be a negative number on the balance sheet. Instead, the extra $1,500 would increase the liabilities – perhaps as an increase in the bank loan or a new payable account would be created, such as “Due to Suppliers” or “Overdraft”.

What do you mean by negative liability? ›

Meaning of Negative Liability. Negative Liability means in case of any negative entry in the present quarter that shall be carried forward to the next quarter. The Details of Sales & Purchase under Reverse Charge [RCM] to be reported in CMP-08 and GSTR-4 must be on-net basis after making certain adjustments if any.

Are liabilities negative or positive? ›

Answer and Explanation: Sometimes the balance sheet might show current liabilities as negative balances as such liabilities may have been paid in excess over the actual liability amount. Negative liability usually means an asset to the company.

Is a negative account payable good? ›

It all depends on the circ*mstances of the individual company and why the balance is negative. However, if a company consistently has a negative accounts payable balance, it could be a sign of financial trouble and should be investigated further.

How do you fix negative accounts receivable on a balance sheet? ›

If accounts receivable is negative, review for errors like overpayments or misallocations. Adjustments should be made to rectify and reconcile the balance. You need to review transactions, contact the Customers, provide refunds or make adjustments, update your accounting records, and monitor A/R balances.

Should a liability have a negative balance? ›

A negative number (debit balance) in the liabilities section of the SOFP is not normal and should be questioned and explained. Below are questions you might want to ask when looking at the liabilities balances to ensure that you understand the commitments your organization has made and when payments are due.

Why would payroll liabilities be negative? ›

If you've voided paychecks after paying liabilities, doing so can cause negative balances. You can recreate the checks if necessary. In the event an adjustment is needed, you'll want to get in touch with our Customer Care team.

Can assets and liabilities be negative? ›

While preparing your performance report, you may find that when adding together the items in the categories on your Statement of Financial Position, the resulting value is negative. Usually what this means is that the asset or liability should actually be reported in the other grouping.

Is negative cash an asset or liability? ›

Assuming that the entire bank account is negative, then the company should present the negative cash balance as a current liability on the balance sheet.

What do you call negative cash on a balance sheet? ›

In the balance sheet, show the negative cash balance as Cash Overdraft in the current liabilities. Or you can also include the amount in accounts payable.

Can you have a negative balance in accounting? ›

A negative balance occurs when the ending balance in an accounting record is the reverse of the expected normal balance. This expectation is based on an account's classification within the chart of accounts. A negative balance should arise relatively rarely.

What does a negative change in accounts payable mean? ›

As you might now expect, it's the opposite of an increase in accounts payable. If the accounts payable has decreased, this means that cash has actually been paid to vendors or suppliers and therefore the company has less cash. For this reason, a decrease in accounts payable indicates negative cash flow.

Why is my account negative if I have money? ›

Usually, this happens by accident—your bank account may have been drafted for an item you weren't expecting, or an automatic deposit that is normally put into your account didn't go through. In most cases, if a bank account drifts into negative territory, it's for a small amount of money.

How does accounts payable affect balance sheet? ›

Accounts payable is a liability since it is money owed to creditors and is listed under current liabilities on the balance sheet.

Why does my account say negative when I have money? ›

Why is my available balance negative when there are funds in the Reserves? Your Available Balance will be negative when you make a debit card purchase or external withdrawal that exceeds your Available Balance, but not your Total Account Balance as your Reserves hold sufficient funds.

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