Client Expenses - how to account for

[Des Dougan]

Marc,

Firstly, you should Reply All, so that the thread continues on the  
mailing list.

On 31 Jul 2009, at 13:20, Marc Croteau wrote:

> Hi Des,
>
> Thanks for replying.
>
> The way I've set up my business (I'm incorporated) is that I'm a  
> vendor to my business.  I incur some costs working on behalf of  
> specific clients.  When I record these costs, I create a bill to the  
> corporation.  When I set up the bill, I record the the client  
> chargeback information and the client job information on the bill  
> and I also tick off the last column in the bill (the bi field).   I  
> post the bill to A/P:marc- clientExpenses.

What does the "Bi" field do - I've never used it.

Generally, though, what you have done here is fine. I don't create  
bills for my own time, but I do for goods I resell (hardware and  
software).

>
> The problem happens when I want to invoice a client.
> When I start a new invoice and insert the client and job name, the  
> posted expenses show up automatically in the invoice.  That's a good  
> thing.  However, the income account is blank, the GST information is  
> lost, and the Invoice Attached (2nd column) is blank. ...I can fix  
> up the GST info but I'm at a lost for what income account to use (I  
> could create an income account called reimbursed expenses).

I wouldn't say GST is lost - it's just not yet calculated, as it's not  
necessarily a field that should be automatic. For example, here in  
Canada, I am registered with my main vendor so that I do not pay PST  
(Provincial Sales Tax) on stuff I buy from them. I do, however, pay  
GST. When I charge my client for the equipment I've acquired for them,  
I charge PST and GST (it's set up as a single tax type). So there is  
not an automatic relationship there.

I have a number of different income accounts - Income:Consulting  
Services for my billable time; Income:Sales:Hardware Sales and  
Income:Sales:Hardware Sales:Server Hardware for different types of  
hardware (and similar account types for software). It's basically what  
makes most sense for you (and for your accountant).

>
> Forgetting for a moment that I need to take care of the above  
> issues, I want to add my time to this invoice.  My time goes against  
> Revenue: Consulting Income.  Now, without expenses in the mix, I  
> would post this invoice to A/R: Consulting.  When I have a mixture  
> of expense and consulting income, would I create a new kind of A/R  
> called Consulting&Expenses.

I just have one AR account, under Assets. Not sure why you would need  
more - the granularity is in the Income and Expenditure accounts if  
you need to do analysis. Do you have Income and Revenue account types,  
from what I read above? Not sure why you need two types for what are  
basically the same thing.


Regards,

Des


>
> So... all to say, I'm at a lost on how best to proceed.
>
> Do you have any thoughts on the matter?
>
> Regards,
> and thanks for the help so far
> Marc
>
> On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 2:05 PM, Des Dougan  
> <des at douganconsulting.com> wrote:
> Marc,
>
>
> On 30 Jul 2009, at 15:57, Marc Croteau wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> I run a small business and some months ago decided to use Gnucash  
> for my
> books.
>
> I've had a small problem and it may be conceptual more than anything
> else.  It has to do with client expenses.
>
> I bill clients for my time (I'm a consultant) and occasionally for
> expenses (such as travel, photocopying etc).  I don't seem to have a
> good way to record the expenses such that I can produce a single  
> invoice
> that records both my time and my expense against a client.  This would
> allow me to receive payments against an invoice and have both my time
> and the expenses paid for.
>
> Can you suggest a way of recording expenses against both a category of
> expense AND a client?
>
> Any insights would be greatly appreciated.
> Thank you in advance
> Marc Croteau
>
>
>
> You can create a client expense type or types in the Expenses  
> Account and add a line to the invoice for each type of expense you  
> bill for. Unless I'm missing something, it's fundamentally the same  
> as me billing for a hardware sale as well as the set-up consulting  
> cost.
>
> Regards,
>
> Des
> --
>
> Des Dougan
> Principal
> Dougan Consulting Group Inc.
>
> Office:         604-628-5434
> Cell:           604-866-2848
> Email:          des at DouganConsulting dot com
>
>        www.DouganConsulting.com
>
> Peace of Mind, One Computer at a Time.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

--

Des Dougan
Principal
Dougan Consulting Group Inc.

Office:		604-628-5434
Cell:   	604-866-2848
Email:  	des at DouganConsulting dot com

         www.DouganConsulting.com

Peace of Mind, One Computer at a Time.