My Starbucks challenge

[Dustin Henning]

On 11/14/2015 5:12 AM, Maf. King wrote:
> On Fri 13 November 15 23:35:28 Steve wrote:
>> One of my asset accounts is my Starbucks card.
>>
>> If I want to load the card with $10 from my checking account, it's an easy
>> allocation to my Starbucks asset account.  If I later spend $5 off my
>> Starbucks card, it's an easy deduction from my Starbucks asset account and a
>> credit to my dining expense category.  Works well.
>>
>> Here's my question.  I buy a Groupon (or similar promotion) for Starbucks
>> for $10, worth $15 (which I transfer at the Starbucks site onto my Starbucks
>> card).  I pay the $10 for the Groupon out of my checking account and it's
>> credited to my Starbucks asset account.  What's the best way to get the
>> other $5 to show up in the Starbucks asset account?  For the time being,
>> I've been putting an entry for the $5 in this example in the Starbucks
>> asset account and allocating it to equity open balance which I realize
>> makes no sense.
>>
>> Ideas?
>>
>
> Hi Steve.
>
> Income:GrouponOffers  ?
>
> Just remember to exclude it from your reports at tax time!
>
> 0.02, IANAA
> Maf.
>

I am also not an accountant, but personally, if I wanted to track 
something like that, I would take the $5 from the dining expense account 
to the starbucks account (which I probably wouldn't be using asset for). 
I would do this because I would consider the $5 to be promotional or a 
rebate (rebates come back from expenses, and promotions are usually 
sales, which aren't typically tracked to begin with). In either case, 
it's not income in my mind, and when used, it's not an expense in my 
mind. By using the dining expense account for both transactions, when it 
is "spent", it cancels itself out appropriately.

In reality, though, tracking that would be about like tracking cash, so 
I just wouldn't do it unless I had an exceptional reason to. I would 
send the money that went to Groupon straight from the account that I 
paid from to the dining expense account.

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