Travel Expense Advice...

[David Reiser]

On Dec 31, 2010, at 4:44 PM, Alan Anderson wrote:

> David,
> 
> Thanks for the prompt response.  I hadn't thought of using the Action field, but it certainly seems like a simple approach--depending on what is needed.  The only catch might be that if the field is used for something else I cannot enter a new action--right?!  For example, if I write a check while on the trip, I would want to put the check number in the Action field, but I couldn't put both the check number and a trip identifier--correct me if I'm wrong.

The check number is associated with the transaction (on the same line as the Description). The Action is associated with an individual split (on the same line as the Memo). The Action and Num are displayed in the same column in the register view, but when you're in that column, the header at the top of the column changes according to whether you're in a Num field or an Action field. You can type any text you want in the Action field, even though it does display a popup with precoded values.

If you're tabbing through data entry, the cursor goes to the Action field either after you leave the Description (if viewing the register in Basic mode), or after you leave the Notes field (Double Line mode).
> 
> Anyway, it got me thinking about what exactly I want to accomplish; unfortunately, now I'm just more confused. ;)  There are two aspects of what I want to accomplish.  The first is to track expenses associated with this particular trip.  While I'm not getting directly reimbursed--I'm self-employed--I do need to know what expenses were associated with that trip.  In a former life, I would simply fill out an expense report and submit it to my employer.  Now, I just want to be able to give a similar expense report to my tax accountant--although it might be nice to see how it all fits together if I'm doing multiple trips per year.  I guess I was thinking of entering the transactions into GnuCash and then running a report that generated an expense report-like result.

When you search, you get a register view with transactions that meet the search criteria. You can print a report from that view. Depending on how complex you want to get, you could start all Action/tripIDs with "tr-" and then add a suffix for an individual trip or month -- something like "tr-ORD" for a Chicago trip. You can set date ranges in the search options, so you shouldn't need to try to date code the action entry.
> 
> The second is to keep my bank balances reconciled.  Using a trip-specific account solves this problem, but it also changes all of my remembered transactions--and I have quite a few.  I could give each description an extra string of text, but that requires me to be very fastidious about entering the same string. 

If you only enter splits for places that the money actually goes, and leave the other sorting to the Action tags, then reconciling shouldn't be a problem.
> 
> Right now, I have 100 or more receipts to enter, so I'm a little daunted by the task.  I especially do not want to have to reenter all of the receipts if I decide there's a better approach later.  I'm also not that keen on entering them all as split transactions because that seems a little tedious as well.  Having said all of that, in the time I spent researching this, I could probably have entered all of the transactions and been done. ;)

That's usually true the first time you change recording strategies. But once set, the subsequent runs are much faster.
> 
> I didn't follow the Tag/Categories discussion too deeply, but in retrospect I could see how that might work.  I could tag each of the transactions with a trip-specific identifier, and then they would be easier to find later.  This could make generating an expense report easier to because you would simply filter by tag and then sort/aggregate by account.
> 
> Thanks again.
> 
> Al
> 
> 
> On Fri, Dec 31, 2010 at 1:02 PM, David Reiser <dbreiser at earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
> On Dec 31, 2010, at 2:06 PM, Alan Anderson wrote:
> 
> > I'm looking for the best way to deal with transactions that have multiple
> > purposes.  For example, I recently traveled for work, and I collected a ton
> > of receipts for gas, food, and groceries.  I want to enter them as I
> > normally would--in both A:Checking and E:Auto:Gas, etc.  But, I also want to
> > be able to pull out those specific transactions as having been part of that
> > specific trip, so that I can itemize those expenses separately.  My initial
> > though was that I'd create a new account for that trip, e.g. E:Travel:Fall
> > 2010, and I would enter the transaction in the Checking register using that
> > account.  Then I'd have to go into the register for E:Travel:Fall 2010 and
> > balance out those transactions by adding another transaction that subtracts
> > it from the E:Travel:Fall 2010 account and then puts it in the appropriate
> > expense account, e.g. E:Auto:Gas.
> >
> > I've tried a couple of test entries, and it appears to do what I want--at
> > initial glance.  However, it seems a little tedious.  Is there a better way
> > to do this?  I also tried simply balancing the transaction in a split
> > transaction when I initially enter it.  For example, the split transaction
> > in the A:Checking register would have
> >   A:Checking =                     -$10.00,
> >   E:Auto:Gas = $10.00,
> >   E:Travel:Fall 2010 =            -$10.00,
> >   E:Travel:Fall 2010 = $10.00.
> >
> > This eliminates some of the entry error because it's all done at once, but
> > it's still a little tedious.  Is there any way to make a template for this
> > split transaction, so that I only have to change the amount?
> >
> > How do most people deal with these types of tracking issues?  What are the
> > "best practices" for tracking travel expenses?
> >
> > Thanks in advance from a non-accounting person.
> >
> > Al
> 
> As long as it is just another categorization for you, you could add a tag in the Action field. Then when you want to see those transactions, just search for all Actions = to whatever your tag is.
> 
> If there is some reimbursement involved, I use a BusinessTravel asset account to hold the splits for which I'll be reimbursed. That way I can just transfer money from that asset to my checking account when I get reimbursed rather than have to find a way to reconcile a bunch of scattered splits with offsetting transactions. This plan does interfere with the concept of finding out how much money was spent on gas for my car regardless of who paid for it (but then I have a separate mileage tracker for gas purchases and car maintenance).
> 
> By the way, you question seems to fit exactly the discussion on the mailing list recently about implementing Categories/Tags (Categories is the term Quicken uses to describe the use of additional categorization of transactions beyond accounts associated with the cash flow). While it isn't implemented in gnucash yet, there seems to be enough interest in it that someone might do the programming in the foreseeable future.
> 
> Dave
> --
> David Reiser
> dbreiser at earthlink.net
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 

--
David Reiser
dbreiser at earthlink.net