Red ink is commonly used for negative financial statements, while black ink is used for positive statements. Synonyms for red ink would include negative balance, deficit, shortfall, and loss. These terms are often associated with financial statements and indicate that the balance sheet or income statement shows a negative result. Other synonyms for red ink might include scrutiny, criticism or condemnation. When referring to the use of red ink in writing, synonyms could include corrections, edits or revisions as adding red ink to a document typically signifies that changes are needed. Nonetheless, one should always focus on staying in black ink as much as possible to signify positive financial stability.