How to handle expense checks that include per-diem
Bill Michal
portabill at bak.rr.com
Wed Nov 7 10:17:11 EST 2007
Sorry about the direct reply. I missed changing it.
Thanks for the great explanation, it should become a How-To in the
documentation! ;)
I was close to getting it, but showing the transaction flow pointed out how
to handle the reimbursement check itself.
I think I'll expand this a little and create the accounts Asset:Reimb:Hotel,
Asset:Reimb:Airfare, Asset:Reimb:Auto Rental, ...., Asset:Reimb:Misc and
Asset:Reimb:PerDiem, because I'm nuts. Actually I would like to see how
much per diem is coming in. I'll record the CC liabilities to the correct
Asset:Reimb: account and split the reimbursement check to come from the
right accounts as it goes to checking. Using your examples, Asset:Reimb:Per
Diem would look like
In your credit card account register, enter a transaction like this:
Date Description Account Payment Charge Balance
1/1/07 Dinner Asset:reim:Food 10.00 10.00
This is for the work related, reimburseable expense paid with your
personal credit card. From the other side of the transaction, in
Asset:reim. it looks like this:
Date Description Account Increase Decrease Balance
1/1/07 Dinner Liability:CC 10.00 10.00
Now, your credit card comes due but you haven't been reimbursed yet,
so you pay the credit card bill, like this from your checking account
Date Description Account Deposit Withdrawal Balance
1/20/07 Pay CC Liability:CC 10.00 -10.00
Which makes credit card register look like this:
Date Description Account Payment Charge Balance
1/1/07 Dinner Asset:reim:Food 10.00 10.00
1/20/07 Pay CC Asset:checking 10.00 0.00
Then a few days later, the company reimburses you with a check, which
you deposit in you're checking account which now looks like this:
Date Description Account Deposit Withdrawal Balance
1/20/07 Pay CC Liability:CC 10.00 -10.00
1/25/07 Reimburse! Asset:reim:Food 10.00 0.00
Asset:reim:PerDiem 5.00 5.00
Which makes the Asset:reim:Food account register look like this:
Date Description Account Increase Decrease Balance
1/1/07 Dinner Liability:CC 10.00 10.00
1/25/07 Reimburse! Asset:reim:Food 10.00 0.00
And makes the Asset:reim:PerDiem account register look like this:
Date Description Account Increase Decrease Balance
1/25/07 Reimburse! Asset:reim:PerDiem 5.00 -5.00
The $5 has already been moved to checking, so it is available. The per diem
amount is less than or equal to the allowed per diem limit, there are no
taxes to be worried about. So my last question is do I just let the
negative balance build in Asset:reim:PerDiem, knowing that is how much I've
"gained" from per diem? It does seem weird that its negative.
Thanks,
Bill (checking that the right sent-to address is listed)
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Sackville-West [mailto:andrew at swclan.homelinux.org]
Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2007 11:05 PM
To: Bill Michal
Cc: gnucash-user at lists.gnucash.org
Subject: Re: How to handle expense checks that include per-diem
Please be sure to reply to the list.
On Tue, Nov 06, 2007 at 05:22:26PM -0800, Bill Michal wrote:
> So, when I deposit into CC, from Asset:Reimb, then I can pay down the
> liabilities from checking. Correct?
>
I'm never good with these terms, so I'll try to draw it out.
In youre credit card account register, enter a transaction like this:
Date Description Account Payment Charge Balance
1/1/07 work expenses Asset:reim. 10.00 10.00
this is for the work related, reimburseable expense paid with your
personal credit card. From the other side of the transaction, in
Asset:reim. it looks like this:
Date Description Account Increase Decrease Balance
1/1/07 work expenses Liability:CC 10.00 10.00
Now, your credit card comes due but you haven't been reimbursed yet,
so you pay the credit card bill, like this from your checking account
Date Description Accoutn Deposit Withdrawal Balance
1/20/07 Pay credit card Liability:CC 10.00 -10.00
which makes credit card register look like this:
Date Description Account Payment Charge Balance
1/1/07 work expenses Asset:reim. 10.00 10.00
1/20/07 Pay credit card Asset:checking 10.00 0.00
Then a few days later, the company reimburses you with a check, which
you deposit in you're checking account which now looks like this:
Date Description Accoutn Deposit Withdrawal Balance
1/20/07 Pay credit card Liability:CC 10.00 -10.00
1/25/07 reimbursement! Asset:reim. 10.00 0.00
which makes the Asset:reim. account register look like this:
Date Description Account Increase Decrease Balance
1/1/07 work expenses Liability:CC 10.00 10.00
1/25/07 reimbursement! Asset:checking 10.00 0.00
that completes the whole thing. notice that each accounts up back at
zero. This is as it should be because you are only a conduit for this
money to pass through. Its not your money or expenses, it is the
company's. You are only a temporary resting point for it on it
journey.
I hope the pictures came through okay.
note also that these transactions can happen in any order. For
example, the company could know in advance that you're going to spend
$10.00 for them and give you the money in advance, which you would
handle in exactly the same way. The key is that all the accounts it
touches get back to wear they started.
A
> -----Original Message-----
> From: gnucash-user-bounces at gnucash.org
> [mailto:gnucash-user-bounces at gnucash.org] On Behalf Of Andrew
> Sackville-West
> Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2007 4:58 PM
> To: gnucash-user at gnucash.org
> Subject: Re: How to handle expense checks that include per-diem
>
> On Tue, Nov 06, 2007 at 04:38:00PM -0800, Bill Michal wrote:
> > Thanks
> >
> > I've been thinking about this. I can understand that the expenses are
> > owed to me, but I still have a liability on my credit card for the
> > costs. When I enter a transaction in Assets:Reimbursable, do I put
> > Liabilities:Credit Card on the line?
> >
> > Also, I will be transferring from Checking to Liabilities:Credit Card
> to
> > pay off the card balance before I receive the reimbursement check.
> Your
> > comment seems to say that I deposit the reimbursement check into
> > Assets:Reimbursable.
>
> close. when you deposit the reimbursement check into your checking
> account, the money for that check comes from
> Assets:Reimbursement. That is the other side of the split from
> checking account will be Assets:Reimb. That wil complete the
> circle. its a three part circle. Each of the three parts can be
> completed at any time so long as all three get done.
>
> $ from CC to asset:Reim.
> $ from checking to CC
> $ from asset:reim to checking.
>
> the money owed to you is an asset, as is your checking account. The
> repayment of that money owed to you (reimbursement) is simply
> transferring that asset from one asset account to another: from a form
> you can't really use to one you can use.
>
> make sense?
>
> A
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: gnucash-user-bounces at gnucash.org
> > [mailto:gnucash-user-bounces at gnucash.org] On Behalf Of Andrew
> > Sackville-West
> > Sent: Friday, November 02, 2007 12:54 PM
> > To: gnucash-user at gnucash.org
> > Subject: Re: How to handle expense checks that include per-diem
> >
> > On Fri, Nov 02, 2007 at 08:49:43AM -0700, Bill Michal wrote:
> > > Hello,
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > I would like to run an idea past the experts. I have expenses
> related
> > to
> > > travel for my employer (airfare, hotel, car rental, cell phone, .)
> > plus I
> > > receive a per-diem for each day I travel. I created a new account
> > called
> > > Expenses:Work to record these specific expenses and a new account
> > called
> > > Income:Reimbursement to record expense checks. My idea was that
> when
> > I
> > > received an expense check, record it in Income:Reimbursement then
> > transfer
> > > an amount equal to the current balance of expenses (or all of it if
> > expense
> > > total exceeds check). Any balance in Income:Reimbursement is
> > transferred to
> > > Income:Checking Account.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Does that sound right?
> >
> > not to me. I would create an asset account called "Reimburseable
> > expenses" or some such. When I make a work related expense, it would
> > be a transfer to that asset account. Then when I get reimbursed, it
> > would likewise be transfered to that account. The theory is that money
> > owed to you is an asset. Money you pay on behalf of your employer
> > increases the value of that asset. Money paid to you by your employer
> > as a reimbursement reduces the value of that asset.
> >
> > At some point you have to deal with that account, if yoiu have
> > recieved money in excess of what you are owed, then at some point you
> > either have to pay it back, or write it off as income. LIkewise if you
> > never get reimbursed for some expense, then you write it off as an
> > expense later.
> >
> > hopefully, that makes sense, and I understood your question.
> >
> > A
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