Accounting question

[Dean Gibson]

On 2016-06-26 16:49, Buddha Buck wrote:
> ...
>
> But... what questions are you asking of your accounting system?
>

Exactly.  Presumably one is tracking expenses, and rebates are 
integrally tied to a particular expense.  Often the decision to make a 
particular purchase is based on the consideration of receiving the 
rebate, so most people (outside of accounting) consider that the price 
they paid to be offset by the rebate.  Thus, the rebate is an adjustment 
to a particular expense, and should be so recorded.  Of course, I record 
the pending receipt of the rebate in my "rebates receivables" asset account.

As for income taxes (not mentioned by the OP), I mark any income tax 
withheld as a pre-paid taxes asset account.  Since you don't know the 
AMOUNT of your tax liability, you shouldn't record it as one, in my 
opinion.  Recording it as a pre-paid liability seems artificial to me.  
When I finally compute my taxes, I record the total tax amount as an 
expense, offset against pre-paid taxes.  The difference is either a 
payment from, or a refund to, my cash account.