Two separate accounts with shared credit card activity

Michael Hendry hendry.michael at gmail.com
Thu Dec 3 09:55:20 EST 2015


> On 3 Dec 2015, at 14:15, EngineInstitute <info at chinablueart.com> wrote:
> 
> Thanks Dorel, but that does not quite work for my situation. This was an
> online payment to the credit card account. When I post it as income to the
> credit card account of the wife it shows up also as income in the checking
> account. So, this cannot be reconciled since there was no income directly
> into the checking account. 
> 
> Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I suggest you set up a new Liability account in the wife’s book called Liabilities:Husband (for example).

The transaction you describe, where the husband paid cash into her credit card account, should be recorded in her book as taking place between the credit card account and Liability:Husband.

Presumably she will reimburse her husband eventually, and the Liability:Husband account will return to zero.

The husband’s books could include a Current Asset (Assets:Current Assets:Wife) which would deal with his view of this set-up, but as this kind of traffic might go in either direction, I’d recommend a Liabilities:Wife account in his books - there’s no reason why a Liabilities account shouldn’t go negative, and you would avoid hurting anyone’s feelings by making both parties Liabilities!

And then again, a more positive spin would be applied if you regarded them both as Assets…

Michael




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