Maybe this will help a little
(balance) = negative
balance = positive
Lets say I have item A with a value of $54. When I sell it… that value of $54 walks out the door so my Sales balance would be ($54)
My payments Balance would be $54 because that is money that replaced the sale value. Money out money in.
receivables should always balance to 0 because it is not an actual MONEY account.
Cash should always be positive balance unless you take money out of the drawer with a transaction.
A refund would reverse it… and it would show in your sales by increasing the sales balance but decreasing the actual sales dollars.
It would decrease the numbers in receivables but balance would still be 0
Refund receivables numbers would go up but again balance = 0 because its not an actual money account.
Refund payments would show a positive amount but it would Decrease your actual Cash Drawer balance because it is now running through refunds accounting for tracking. This is for tracking purposes since Refunds Payment account is not the actual till like Cash payment account is.