[GNC] Paying an exmpense that will be pertially re-imbursed.

[Geert Janssens]

Op vrijdag 21 september 2018 16:33:46 CEST schreef jjlwork:
> When I get my power bill I pay the whole thing from my checking account. I
> send my girlfriend how much I paid and she transfers me her share and it
> gets deposited back in my checking account. So the first transaction is for
> example $100 from checking to Electricity expense. How should I record the
> e-transfer from my GF to my checking account? My thoughts right now are:
> 
> 1. $100 from Checking to Electric expense
> 2. $50 from Electric Expense to Asset:GF Money Owed
> 3. When she pays me her share transfer from Asset:Money owed to Asset:Bank
> Account.
> 
> This way I track that I paid the full expense initially, but I got back half
> and ultimately I paid half in the end.
> 
> Does that make sense or is that the wrong way to go about it?
> 
Technically that is correct, though I would merge your step one and two 
transactions into one multi-split transaction. That matches the reality a bit 
closer. The $100 electricity bill is only $50 a real expense for you. The 
other $50 is a real expense for your girlfriend, but you pay it on her behalf, 
creating the liability.
You can model that in one single transaction with 3 splits:
Assets:Bank account                    $100
Expenses:Electric            $50
Assets:GF Money Owed  $50

> Also can I apply the same logic to a joint account we use:
> 
> 1. Create Asset: GF Joint Account Contributions
> 2. When she puts money in Joint Account I credit the joint account and debit
> the GF Joint Account Contributions
> 3. The joint account will have the correct balance, but with respect to my
> total assets the GF Joint Account Contributions will be debit for that
> amount so will offset my total assets.
> 4. When a expense comes out of the joint account record the expense being
> paid from that account as normal.
> 5. Credit the GF Joint Account Contributions with her share of the expense
> and debit the expense. So for my books it shows the amount I actually paid
> to the expense.

For me this is pretty confusing as you are trying to model two entities in one 
book: your personal accounting and the common accounting. But if it works for 
you that's fine. As long as you can keep track of your finances every system 
is ok (at least in personal use).

Geert